The ultimate competition: Moth World Championships on Lake Garda: "The competition is fierce, the fun is maximum"

He is world champion in the Laser and on his way to the top in the foiling Moth: Philipp Buhl sailed to 16th place in the "flying" field of 140 participants at the Moth World Championship on Lake Garda as the best of the 15 German participants. At first glance, this may not sound like a huge success, but it marks an important step for the man from Allgäu on his way to the top in an outstanding fleet that is brimming with more Olympic champions and America's Cup winners than the America's Cup and SailGP combined.

The title was secured by the Australian perennial favourite, America's Cup winner and Laser Olympic champion Tom Slingsby with an incredible 13 victories in 14 races in the fantastically beautiful sailing area off Malcesine. The likeable and down-to-earth Slingsby only had to let his America's Cup colleague Kyle Langford pass him once during the last World Championship week on Lake Garda, finishing "only" in second place. British sailor Paul Goodison, who recently stood in for Sir Ben Ainslie in the SailGP during his maternity leave and won the final of the Star Sailors League (SSL) in 2017 as a newcomer to the Star boat with Berlin-based Frithjof Kleen, took bronze in Italy behind Slingsby's silver-winning compatriot Iain Jensen. Jensen, in turn, clearly outperformed his former 49er gold medallist and friend Nathan Outteridge (World Championship Eight).

Fourth and fifth places were secured by America's Cup aces Kyle Langford (Australia) and Francesco Bruni (Italy), who are also experienced foilers. Sixth place went to match race world champion Phil Robertson from New Zealand, who sails for the Spanish team in the SailGP. Seventh place went to Ruggero Tita, the Italian Nacra 17 Olympic champion from Japan, with whom Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer shared the medal winners' podium as Olympic bronze medallists in Enoshima. Olympic 49er champion Dylan Fletcher took tenth place in the elite field of the world's best moth tamers behind Italy's Simone Slavà.

Philipp Buhl is not yet satisfied with his 16th place, but has only been active in the Moth for a few years. He still has a lot of experience to catch up with the best, who naturally find foiling easier after intensive commitments in the America's Cup or the SailGP. "It's not easy to catch up," says Buhl. Nevertheless, his conclusion is enthusiastic: "The competition is fierce, the fun is maximum." His view of his favourite single-handed discipline, chosen by the international professional elite and so highly competitive: "The class is developing incredibly quickly. Sailing alone is great fun. When it takes place with such high-calibre competition on such an area, it's something extraordinary." Neither the competition nor Philipp Buhl would have thought that Tom Slingsby would be able to dominate the field so clearly, as he did in 2019. "What Tom has shown is an almost unbelievable performance. I would have bet before the start that it wouldn't be possible again." Despite his many successes, this 37-year-old Thomas David Slingsby from Wahroonga in Down Under has remained an approachable and open helmsman who is happy to share his knowledge with like-minded people on an equal footing. "While waiting for the wind on land, I wanted to understand more," says Buhl, "so Tom took me to his boat, unpacked his foils and explained everything to me calmly and openly. Including why his foils are faster than mine. That was really nice. Like the whole atmosphere at the World Championships, where professionals and amateurs sail together and help each other. The whole thing on such a great sailing area."

Buhl knows: "If you want to make it to the top in the Moth, you have to train for many, many years and put a lot of work into the boat and set-up. It's not an easy game in a classic development class. You really have to have all facets of sailing down pat. Slingsby and Iain Jensen, for example, have exactly the same material. One still dominated the other." Top ten and winning material is available from around 30,000 euros, with 15,000 to 20,000 euros being a good and solid start. "The loss in value when buying a Moth is not very high," says Buhl, explaining what he considers to be a worthwhile investment. The Allgäu native thinks it's "a shame that there isn't yet a larger fleet in Germany". Like Olympic champions Dylan Fletcher and Paul Goodison, Buhl sails a British Exocet moth, while Slingsby sails a Bieker from MacKay in New Zealand. Two sets of foils, two masts and two sails can be measured for the Moth at a World Championship. Here, too, the top players draw on a wide range of material that has been developed and tested over the years. For a place in the top ten, which he is now confident of, Buhl would have needed a little more wind last week. However, the light to medium conditions have not dampened his enthusiasm for his moth.

It is often discussed whether a foiler as spectacular and attractive to look at and as much fun to sail as a Moth could become an Olympic discipline in the future. "If you made it a OneDesign, then of course yes," says Buhl, who at the same time continues to appreciate the much closer, tougher competition in the Ilca 7 (ex-Laser standard). "In Olympic terms, I would tend to keep the laser. You have a lot of fun in the Moth, but in the Laser everyone goes round the windward mark within a minute. It's tactically and mentally challenging and also very attractive." The second-best German participant on Lake Garda was Fabian Gielen (LSC) in 31st place, just ahead of Maximilian Mäge (31st, BYC), who finished fourth in the World Championship amateur rankings. His club mate Kai Adolph sailed to 36th place. Max Lutz from Kieler Yacht-Club took 46th place. The Hamburg veteran Andreas John took 69th place on his moth named "Zicke". Click here for the World Cup results (please click!).