Semaine Olympique Française: Buhl outstanding, 470 strong: World Champion Buhl: "The art is to stay in the moment"

Philipp Buhl is in a good mood and in a really good position at the Semaine Olympique Française in France. With 128 ILCA-7 starters, he is leading the largest fleet of all ten Olympic disciplines at the French classic in dominant fashion. With just ten points in his regatta account, the 32-year-old perennial favourite has created the best prospects for the remaining two main round races and the medal final. Behind him are his fiercest rivals, the Cypriot of the same age, Olympic silver medallist (2012) and double world champion Pavlos Kontides (21 points) and the Australian Olympic champion Matt Wearn (25 points), who have already collected more than twice as many points as the helmsman from the Alpsee-Immenstadt sailing club.

"The results are great, I'm happy to take them with me. But it's still not easy. Of course, I'm pleased with my comfortable position at this point. But I still have to concentrate on the next two days." Because Buhl is someone who can also generate his enthusiasm from the successes of fellow sailors, the fourth day was a special one for him. The champion was happy to see his younger team-mate Nik-Aaron Willim celebrate the best daily result of the entire fleet with 6th place and a win on Thursday alongside Brit Elliot Hanson (4, 3). "Nik has shown so often in training how strongly he sails. It makes me incredibly happy when you experience a day like this together. It makes everything twice as much fun for me! It was a tough battle out there. In the gold fleet, it's about every boat length. Everyone goes round the first windward mark within 35 seconds. Five boat lengths can quickly decide over 20 places. Nik put up a great fight today." Willim is in eighth place in the outstanding field with 39 points.

Buhl's new training partner is ninth: Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Bernaz, sixth at the Olympics in Enoshima, brings new impetus to Buhl's already high-calibre training group. "He's humorous and open, a real asset," says Buhl. Like Buhl, who also competes for the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, Bernaz also copes best in medium to strong winds. However, both have largely been able to switch off their light wind weakness in recent years. Nevertheless, they are considering bringing in one or two light wind experts for training in the future. The winds off Hyères this week are with Buhl, who is in his element and seems to be unleashed. One month before the start of the World Championships in Mexico, he is fuelling his self-confidence for the world title fights with outstanding performances. But he is deliberately not thinking about that just yet: "The trick is to stay in the moment and only think about what's relevant." And that's what he intends to do over the next two days.

The new German 470 mixed formations once again performed remarkably well in France. In third place overall, Luise Wanser/Philipp Autenrieth kept their chances of victory alive at the Olympic week in the French waters. After eight races, Sweden's Anton Dahlberg/Lovisa Karlsson (20 points) are in the lead ahead of France's Hippolyte Machetti/Aloise Retornaz (25 points) and the German mixed duo with 26 points. Once again, Luise Wanser is the best helmswoman in the field before the last two main round races and the medal final, in which it is up to the teams to decide whether a man or a woman steers. Austria's Lara Vadlau is in fifth place with Lukas Mahr as the second-best coxswain. The previous Spanish class leaders Jordi Xammar and Nora Brugmann look slightly disenchanted in the stronger winds. Malte and Anastasiya Winkel are the second-best German team in the 470 Mixed with 50 points in twelfth place. Click here for the intermediate results in all disciplines (please click!).