World Cup Ilca 7: "No room for complacency" - so much is at stake for Buhl and Willim
Tatjana Pokorny
· 24.01.2024
The omens for a successful start to the Olympic year could hardly be better for Germany's Ilca 7 aces: Their World Championship starts on 26 January in the dream spot off Adelaide. Just around the corner in Melbourne, Germany's most successful Laser helmsman Philipp Buhl celebrated his first World Championship title in February 2020.
A perennial favourite with a hunger for medals
Back then, the Allgäu native was the first German laser sailor to win historic world championship gold. The often windy and wavy Australian waters suit the 34-year-old, who competes for the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein and the local Alpsee-Immenstadt sailing club. On course for a third Olympic appearance in Marseille this summer, the perennial favourite has recently found his way back to his old strength in convincing fashion following the World Championship setback in The Hague in the summer of 2023.
At the Ilca 7 Championship for Oceania and Australia in mid-January in Down Under, Buhl demonstrated that he is a force to be reckoned with in the battle for World Championship medals. After a good series with two victories on the final day, he catapulted himself to third place on the podium behind Olympic champion Matt Wearn from Australia and New Zealander Tom Saunders.
Ilca 7 World Championship: Down-Under summit with 153 starters from 52 countries
"The championship went amazingly well in all conditions. That was a nice booster. You want to prove yourself before a world championship so that you can start with a lot of self-confidence. That was good," was Buhl's initial assessment after the successful prelude in Adelaide. Buhl's team-mate Nik Willim finished 15th in the open national championships.
Buhl and Willim will continue their duel at the Ilca 7 World Championships as part of the three-part national Olympic elimination, which Buhl leads by four points after part one and before the start of the World Championships. One of the most exciting questions ahead of the World Championships is therefore: Can Philipp Buhl force a preliminary decision in his favour at the world title fights with 153 starters from 52 nations? Or can Nik Willim from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein hold his own, make the three-part race exciting and even take the lead himself?
German Sailing Team: German quintet flanks the two top performers
As in other Olympic sailing disciplines, the final decision on who can win the only Ilca 7 ticket for the Olympic regatta (28 July to 9 August) and fill the already secured German national starting place in Marseille will be made at the Mallorca classic Trofeo Princesa Sofía by 6 April at the latest.
Five more up-and-coming German Ilca 7 helmsmen complete the strong German group in Adelaide. Justin Barth (Berliner Yacht-Club), Tim-Felipe Conradi (Duisburger Yacht-Club), Julian Hoffmann (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee/Segelclub Alpsee-Immenstadt), Nico Naujock (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) and Philip Walkenbach (Seglerverein Potsdamer Adler) are in action. The young Ilca 7 quintet will be coached at the World Championships by Austrian Andreas Geritzer, while DSV coach Alex Schlonski will be focussing on the two top performers Buhl and Willim.
Philipp set the bar so high with more wind that even top guys like Matt Wearn or Micky Beckett had no chance against him" (Alex Schlonski)
They have been working together in Down Under since the end of December to achieve World Cup success. "We've been here for almost a month. It's been a good month. The boys have acclimatised well. It was right and important to take part in the Australian championship. Philipp had a good series and a very, very good last day. He set the bar so high with more wind that even top guys like Matt Wearn or Micky Beckett had no chance against him," reports Alex Schlonski.
The weather forecast for the World Championship is promising, at least for the first few days. "According to current forecasts, we are expecting 15 to 20 knots of wind to start with," said Alex Schlonski. However, light wind days are also possible as the World Championship progresses. Can the current national Olympic elimination and the associated rivalries in the German camp already be felt?
The territory here is very similar to that of Melbourne. It's good territory for us" (Alex Schlonski)
"They certainly resonate a little," says Schlonski, "but there is no great suspicion in the group. The boys have worked well together. I'm particularly pleased that we have such good players in the game. Both can perform very well." When asked whether Buhl's 2020 World Cup triumph in Australia's neighbouring territory was a good omen for the upcoming mission, Ilca-7 coach Schlonski said: "I think so. The territory here is very similar to Melbourne. It's good territory for us."
Nevertheless, Matt Wearn is likely to start the series of ten fleet races and the double medal race on 31 January as the World Championship favourite and number one hunted. The Australian 2021 Olympic champion, who also became world champion for the first time last year in The Hague, wants to capitalise on his home advantage. At the same time, however, the Australian will also remember the painful home defeat that Philipp Buhl inflicted on him in 2020 in the heated duel for the World Championship throne in Australian waters.
Ilca 7 World Championships: at least a dozen medal candidates
The situation before the start of the World Championships is clear: Matt Wearn wants to become world champion at home. His British rival Micky Beckett, who was still in action in the 2021 TV production for the Olympic regatta in Enoshima, but has now been shaking Wearn's throne at the highest level for a while, wants to finally win a major title on course for Marseille 2024.
New Zealander Tom Saunders, Australian Luke Elliott, Buhl's and Willim's trusted training partners Jean-Baptiste Bernaz (France) and Hermann Tomasgaard (Norway) and other top helmsmen will be involved in the World Championship match. The Croatian Tonči Stipanović and Pavlos Kontides from Cyprus are also never to be underestimated.
There's no room for rumination" (Philipp Buhl)
The boats will be provided at the World Championships, just like at the Olympic Games, and are already in the hands of the sailors. Alex Schlonski says: "We already have the boats. They are all checked. The boats are good, everything is fine." On this basis and on the attractive Australian sailing stage, what is the most important goal for the German players at this World Championship?
Philipp Buhl says: "The most important thing is the Olympic qualification. There's no point if you don't go there in the end. But: as I'm not just aiming to start in Marseille, but to win a medal, and Nik has only beaten me in two regattas so far, I'm going to make the second most important goal number one: sailing a strong World Championship! There's no time to mess around."
This is one of the biggest milestones of my Olympic campaign. If not the biggest" (Philipp Buhl)
Philipp Buhl continued: "A place in the top ten is also an important step, because otherwise you don't fulfil the criteria of the German Olympic Sports Confederation for Olympic nomination. I've seen from my performances here that it's possible." A few days before the start of the World Championships, Buhl is under no illusions about the upcoming test: "This is one of the biggest milestones in my Olympic campaign. If not the biggest."
Germany's most successful laser sailor had even subordinated his Christmas, which he celebrated with his girlfriend Sophia and his family on 23 December, to the World Championships. Buhl has been in Australia since 26 December, also known as "Boxing Day" down under. The world championship sailing boxing match in the Olympic Ilca 7 starts exactly one month later on Friday and promises pre-Olympic excitement.
