World Sailing Championship: The Silbermann - Kördel wins the medal for Team Germany

Sebastian Kördel was the best member of the national sailing team at the Allianz Sailing World Championships in The Hague and won the only precious metal. He celebrated in the world championship harbour arena in Scheveningen. "I'm happy and delighted that I was able to win a medal for Germany," said Kördel on the sunny North Sea beach.

The wrong setup slowed Kördel down in the battle for gold

On Saturday, the 32-year-old iQFoil windsurfer from Radolfzell initially qualified for the final with second place in the semi-final, although he had to brake shortly before the start of the race to avoid a false start. The subsequent race to catch up succeeded efficiently with second place, securing his place in the final.

In the subsequent three-way medal fight with the Dutchman Luuc van Opzeeland and the Italian Nicolo Renna, who dominated that day, Kördel "had the wrong setup". He later said: "When we realised that the wind had dropped significantly, it was already too late. Orange was already going up. Kördel explained that it usually takes four or five minutes to change the angle of the rear wing. He no longer had that time. The consequences were even clearly visible on the screens on land. Kördel was too slow at the start. It almost looked as if he had fallen into a wind hole. And that's how it felt for him.

The fourth runner-up this year

The fast Dutchman pulled away immediately. And Sebastian Kördel initially even had to line up behind Nicolo Renna. However, when the Italian got caught in a turning mark in the final after approaching it too forcefully and got stuck there like a butterfly desperately flapping its wings, Kördel was able to overtake him and take second place behind the new world champion Luuc van Opzeeland.

"It's my fourth second place in a major regatta this year. But each time, someone else has finished ahead of me. So my consistency is good," said Kördel, who competes for the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein. He looks back positively on the World Championship week, which was a difficult one for many national sailors: "I went into the semi-final with a blue bip and came out of the final with a blue one. That's all right. A few things went wrong on the water that shouldn't have gone wrong if you want to get to the top. I accept that and will work on it."

Kördel starts confidently into the last year until the Olympic Games

When asked about his prospects for the 2024 Olympic Games, where the iQFoil windsurfers will make their debut in the bay of Marseille, Kördel said: "I think I'll be one of the top contenders for a gold medal in Marseille, even though a lot can always happen with us, of course." The format with short quarter, semi-final and final heats is merciless. Early starters are out straight away and mistakes can usually not be rectified.

While silver surfer Sebastian Kördel enjoyed his final day, was honoured by the spectators on the World Championship podium and celebrated by his team, Ilca 7 helmsman Philipp Buhl was unable to make this World Championship his own on the last day of the main round. Although he started his final battle with a promising sixth place, he was still able to make the top ten and reach the medal race. However, 39th place in the tenth and final race finally dashed all hopes of a conciliatory end.

We are extremely disappointed" (Alex Schlonski)

Nik Aaron Willim, who won the day and finished twelfth on Saturday, ended the World Championship in 16th place. For the two Ilca top performers of the German Sailing Team, the World Championship marked part one of their national elimination, which Buhl now leads ahead of Willim. The placings were also enough to secure a place on the national starting list for a German Ilca 7 start at the 2024 Olympic regatta.

However, neither of the Ilca 7 helmsmen were satisfied with their performance. "We are extremely disappointed," said coach Alex Schlonski without sugarcoating it. He continued: "We made some big mistakes here that don't normally happen. The strong current certainly played a role. The rule is: the slower a boat class, the stronger the current. It's possible that we lacked racing routine in these conditions, even though we trained in the current."

Six out of ten national starting places are secured for the 2024 Olympics

Berlin's Julia Büsselberg also managed a win on the last day of the Ilca 6 main round. However, in 13th place overall, she was also unable to qualify for the top ten final on Sunday, in which the Dutch top favourite Marit Bouwmeester will have to fight for fourth place if she wants to win on her home turf.

At the end of the Sailing World Championships in The Hague, a total of six out of ten national starting places for the 2024 Olympic sailing regatta have been secured early, which is a good result. Nevertheless, one day before the end of the nine-day North Sea summit of Olympic sailors, it is already clear that the national sailing team has performed worse than hoped. With one silver medal and a further four top ten placings, to which the 470 mixed crews alone contributed three, although they did not win a medal but were strong as a group, the DSV's best sailors fell short of their own expectations this time.

Click here for the results of the Sailing World Championships in The Hague.