Dear readers,

The 2024 sailing super year is as packed with major events as the Easter baskets this weekend: In the second half of the year, the Olympic Games in Marseille. More than two months America's Cupaction in Barcelona will follow in mid-August, before the Vendée Globe from 10 November with Boris Herrmann and Isabelle Joschke. These and many other regattas promise thrilling sport, but above all captivating protagonists in their element.

None of the three sailing sport summits, not even the SailGP or other regattas, would exist without their challengers. It is the sailors who characterise regatta sport and make it a celebration, an excitement, a thriller and often a source of inspiration for us too. They do us good.

Inspiration from sailing

In a world full of crises and uncertainties, competitive athletes can be strong rocks in the surf. Just like Boris Herrmann, who, at his Vendée Globe premiere in the austere times of coronavirus, gave a rapidly growing fan base adventures and experiences such as exciting excursions into freedom and rose to become a hero.

Top sailors are good role models for all generations when it comes to fighting, commitment, achieving ambitious goals and a forward-looking, positive attitude to life and work.

This is how Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer won an Olympic bronze medal in 2021. The two from Kiel have inspired many people. Children and young people emulate them. Now the two nationally unrivalled Nacra 17 tamers want to do it again at the Olympic regatta in the Bay of Marseille. Their goal this Olympic summer is a second medal. They are going "all in" for it.

• Paul Kohlhoff: A portrait of Kiel foiling expert and Olympic hopeful

That her trainer Marcus Lynch unexpectedly left them in the lurch at the beginning of the year and switched to the American sailing association US Sailing six months before the Olympicscaught them cold. Abruptly, their trio of successes was history. Instead of letting their shock reign, the dynamic duo looked for and found a new coach in Australian Andrew Palfrey in no time at all. Now they are turning onto the Olympic home straight with a determined "now more than ever" attitude.

A thought-provoking article from Kiel

This week, the Kohlhoff/Stuhlemmer team published a thought-provoking article about professionals in sailing, humility and gratitude. It also explains why it is more difficult to use the term "professional athlete" in sailing than in other sports. It says:

"Due to the low popularity of sailing compared to football, we prefer to call ourselves full-time athletes in Olympic sailing. We consider ourselves lucky and see it as a great privilege to be able to call the Nacra 17 our office and currently call sailing our profession. We are proud and humbled to have received so much encouragement and support over such a long period of time after our time as children and juniors at the Kiel Yacht Club - especially because many of our most loyal companions have become long-term, hopefully lifelong mentors and friends. As a particularly multi-faceted and complex sport, sailing is a very popular meeting place for people with successful and/or inspiring backgrounds of all kinds, which allows us sailors to look beyond the membrane of the Olympic bubble and get to know other perspectives first-hand."

There is a lot of good in this confession, which is hard to imagine coming from the mouths of one or two saturated football millionaires.

Competitive athletes don't know a 40-hour week

It is the stories of the sailing sport protagonists that also allow us to learn, dream, share in the excitement, joy or tears. We identify with them, suffer with them, rejoice with them. It is easy to overlook how much hard work is behind their achievements and successes.

Sailing performance athletes do not know a 40-hour week. Their working weeks have at least six days. The days start early in the morning in the gym and end after energy-sapping hours on the water with debriefings, press enquiries, technical challenges and logistical homework.

Germany's historically most successful laser sailor Philipp Buhl had channelled his never-ending work and dedication into an equally a timeless clip worth seeing.

Buhl's video is not about faster, higher, further, but about dedication and commitment to the big goal: an Olympic medal. Three years ago in Enoshima, he came fifth in the largest Olympic field of Ilca 7 sailors, but despite a strong performance, he didn't get it. The infectious joy of his sport has remained. Philipp Buhl is currently fighting for his third Olympic opportunity. The 2020 world champion is not just a role model as a top athlete. He inspires with his perseverance and convincing fair play on the water.

Boris Herrmann: hard-earned success

Just like Boris Herrmann in his domain of offshore sailing in conjunction with Team Malizia's efforts to protect the climate and the health of the oceans. The man for whom the Google search engine now spits out more than 2.7 million results in a third of a second was not born a sailing star and five-time circumnavigator.

• Boris Herrmann honoured with the Federal Cross of Merit
• Boris Herrmann with new wings - refit comeback for "Malizia - Seaexplorer"

He too, who is now a welcome guest on Germany's major talk shows, has worked hard for his successes and had to go through deep valleys before he became what he is today with strong supporters at his side: an approachable professional and internationally renowned sailing player who, like the Olympians and other sailing pioneers, is more of a role model than many a sapless and powerless politician in our time, who seem to find it so difficult to tackle and do things, to exemplify a positive attitude to life.

Clever minds in a complex sport

At this point, one could and should mention many German sailing athletes who act with encouraging vigour, overcome hardships and overcome obstacles in order to achieve their goals. Anastasiya Winkel is one of them: The native Ukrainian and sports scientist is fighting for her second Olympic start with her husband and helmsman in the 470 Mixed and is committed to helping Ukrainian refugees in her new home country of Germany, using the sailing scene and her fellow members of the German Sailing Team to find flats and accommodation. The Sailing Germany network has proved its worth.

Because this sailing sport is a complex sport for clever minds, you meet an above-average number of multi-talented people with the ability to look beyond the horizon. One like Buhl's younger challenger for an Olympic ticket: Nik Aaron Willim is a competitive athlete and author ("Green Tigers") who has also suffered from bruximus, the unconscious grinding and clenching of teeth, as well as the associated headaches and sleep problems, for a long time. Nevertheless, the 27-year-old pursues his goals unwaveringly - and optimistically.

Just like Germany's new Olympic top kiter Leonie Meyer, "Leo Löwenherz", who, as an athlete, doctor and mother, is tackling her mammoth Olympic programme with such a big heart and inspired by her family. Her son Levi was born with a lower leg deformity and has already undergone several operations with specialists in the USA in his young life. His mum is always there, saying of him: "He's a ray of sunshine, a happy child." She also draws the strength she gives him from sport.

• Portrait: Leonie Meyer - mum with a lion's heart on course for the Olympics
• Parental support: German Sailing Association remains the only pioneer in elite sport

No profession without passion

Every athlete has their own exciting story. As top athletes, they are motivators for their fans. The fact that, as so-called professionals, their passion is sometimes denied because they earn money with their sport is absurd. The opposite is the case. A few have managed to turn their vocation into a profession because they are particularly good at what they do. The vast majority of successful German top athletes in many sailing fields do not get rich from the profession that is also their passion.

There will be plenty of opportunities to get to know them in 2024. People like the two-time Olympic bronze medallist Erik Heil, who is fighting for promotion to the Formula 1 of sailing in Sebastian Vettel's young German SailGP team. Erik Heil is a clever and humorous man of quiet tones who, despite his Olympic successes, stands with both feet on the rough North German ground that he cultivates as a farm owner near Strande. Oh yes, he is also successfully completing his medical studies at the same time. Erik Heil is not the only one to show that so much is possible if you want it.

We are happy to report on the well-known and upcoming sailing personalities. It's worth getting to know them.

Pre-Olympic summit in Palma

The national Olympic qualifiers are currently raging towards their decisions. These final weeks are all about who will be allowed to compete for Olympic medals among the five rings in the summer. All candidates have subordinated their lives to this goal. They have worked hard, sacrificed a lot, sometimes manage with very little money and are chasing their dreams, which in the end can only be realised for one German boat or board in each of the ten Olympic sailing disciplines.

From Easter Monday, the Spanish classic Trofeo Princesa Sofía will get down to business. In many of the ten Olympic disciplines, decisions or preliminary decisions on the allocation of Olympic tickets will be made there, and not just for the German team. We will be there to report for you from the sailing paradise between Can Pastilla and S'Arenal.

If you're currently on Mallorca yourself, you'll get a good impression of the world of Olympic sailing, where more than 1,000 men and women from 71 nations, sailors, iQFoil surfers and kiters are chasing their Olympic dreams around four months before the first Marseille starting shot. Each with their own story on board. It's fun to get to know them.

I wish you a wonderful Easter weekend and inspiring encounters!

Tatjana Pokorny,

YACHT author

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