Two days before the final of the Trofeo Princesa Sofía, light winds tested the 1259 members of the record fleet on Thursday. At the World Cup season opener, some of the previously successful DSV crews also had to battle hard with the flat conditions. Having started day four of the series as front runners, the 470 mixed Anna Markfort and Simon Diesch (Württembergischer Yacht-Club/Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) found themselves in eleventh place in the evening after finishing 32nd, 25th and 25th.
The 470 World Champions Luise Wanser/Philipp Autenrieth (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein/Bayerischer Yacht-Club) and Malte and Anastasiya Winkel (Schweriner Yacht-Club/Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) in fourth and fifth place are still within medal reach at the Trofeo Princesa Sofía.
Light winds challenge Philipp Buhl
The Laser world champion Philipp Buhl (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein/Segelclub Alpsee-Immenstadt), who had been in second place the day before, also had to make up ground. The Allgäu Ilca-7 helmsman slipped back to tenth place in the light winds, finishing 28th, 9th and 21st. Burdened by a premature start in the preliminary round, the double-digit results in the series with only one stringer were a complete loss.
But while the Trofeo Princesa Sofía is part of the national qualifiers for the Olympic test event and the World Championships in The Hague for the other disciplines, the Ilca 7 sailors are free to make the adjustments they still need in preparation for the important pre-Olympic season.
I start with a gun to my head." (Philipp Buhl)
The international Ilca 7 training group led by Philipp Buhl, Nik Aaron Willim and the reigning French world champion Jean-Baptiste Bernaz prepared for the season together during the winter. Light wind training and starts were neglected. Both of these will now take them further at the Spanish regatta classic, says Buhl. "I'm starting here with a gun to my head due to the early start on the first day," he explains the scenario that challenges him.
The tenth-placed hunter Buhl describes his starting point for the final day as follows: "If I sail well, I can secure a place in the medal race. If it goes very well, there might be more in it." Buhl's young Allgäu club mate Julian Hoffmann moved up to 18th place on Thursday. Like Buhl, Nik Aaron Willim (43rd) and other promising squad sailors, the 20-year-old Ilca-7 helmsman trains under the direction of national coach Alex Schlonski.
Surfer with strong nerves: Sebastian Kördel leads in the iQFoil
The best DSV competitor of the day in the Bay of Palma after two thirds of the regatta was iQFoil ace Sebastian Kördel. The 32-year-old has taken the lead among the new Olympic surfers on foils. The 1.91 metre tall athlete from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein wants to win an Olympic medal for German sailing off Marseille in 2024. At the season opener in the Balearic Islands, Kördel once again proved to be in top form in light winds of seven to nine knots at the start of the main round.
He also survived an unsuccessful race in which he only just missed the start on the front row and subsequently did not make it to the finish in the time limit. "Now we need a good race that we can include in the classification," said Kördel's British coach Dom Tidey afterwards. Kördel showed strong nerves and delivered. The 1.91 metre tall reigning world champion leads the gold group in the field of 135 iQFoil competitors ahead of the final day.
Bavarian 49er aces on the advance
Jakob Meggendorfer and Adnreas Spranger from the Bayerischer Yacht-Club advanced to sixth place on the fourth day of the first World Cup of the new season. In the 49erFX, Marla Bergmann and Hanna Wille slipped back to fifth place as the best crew of the German Sailing Team, but are still on course for a medal race.
Holland's exceptional sailor Marit Bouwmeester is once again one of the international stars of the Trofeo Princesa Sofía. The young mother has already won a complete set of Olympic medals with gold, silver and bronze. After her comeback, she looks even stronger, leading the Ilca 6 classification ahead of her compatriot Maxime Jonker. With another Olympic victory in 2024, Marit Bouwmeester could replace Hannah Mills (2 x gold, 1 x silver) as the most successful female Olympic sailor in sporting history.
For me, there is only one ranking that counts: I want to win a gold medal." (Marit Bouwmeester)
Rinsing off her boat in the sunshine in Palma's C'an Pastilla neighbourhood, Marit Bouwmeester smiled and said: "It's nice to be back in Palma, but the days on the water feel very long. But today was a good day. Only in the third race I was a bit upset because I had a good start and then dropped my mainsheet and got caught on the pin end. That was a bit of a bummer, but overall I feel like I'm making progress."
Bouwmeester said: "I want to qualify for Paris 2024 and finish my career in style. For me, there is only one place that counts: I want to win a gold medal. I believe I can still do that. That's why I'm here and why I'm still doing it. And I'm very grateful to my boyfriend, who gives me this chance and takes great care of our child. And I'm grateful to my coach, who believes in me. He does a lot of work for me because I can't train as much as I'd like. I probably only do half of what I did before."
I didn't want my career to end like this." (Marit Bouwmeester)
Holland's most successful sailing medallist says: "Having a baby puts everything into perspective. I am so grateful to be a mum, I really am. It's not usual to sail at this level and be a mum at the same time. So I really have to make the most of all my time on the water."
Bouwmeester's interim assessment of the 2024 Olympics: "It's an addiction to want to get better every day. After Tokyo, the Games are an unfinished business for me. Because I travelled to Tokyo after winning the 2020 World and European Championships. Then the Games were postponed. And then I had a serious arm injury and could only sail one competition. That was the Olympic Games. I didn't want my career to end like that."
The new Olympic kiters fight for a place in the final rounds
In the Nacra 17, it is two Brits who have kept three Italian chasing crews at bay in the final race at the Trofeo Princesa Sofía: John Gimson and Ana Burnet lead the classification ahead of Vittorio Bissaro/Maelle Frascari, the Olympic champions Ruggero Tita/Caterina Banti and Gianluigi Ugolini/Maria Giubilai. Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer from the Kieler Yacht-Club initially dropped back to ninth place with 16th, 7th and 8th. The bronze medallists from the Olympic Games in Japan thus also paid tribute to the light conditions.
Leonie Meyer (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) was in twelfth place in the new Olympic formula kiters before the last two days of the regatta. Florian Gruber from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein is also in the same position in the men's race, fighting for a place in the final rounds. Jannis Maus from the Cuxkiters will have to start from 20th place on Friday.
