So beautiful were the pictures, so thrilling the sight: For almost two thirds of their first Olympic race, Robert Stanjek and Frithjof Kleen dominated the fleet of 16 star boats with a lead of up to around 100 metres. But then a 30-degree turn got in their way, causing the French Xavier Rohart and Pierre-Alexis Ponsort in particular to slip from 15th place to first. Four other teams overtook the boat with the black, red and gold flag in the sail before the youngest Starboat team in the field also reached the finish line. Sixth place at the start - that was something to be proud of. And it was to continue in the same vein.
However, the Berliners thoroughly botched their second start. For an agonising lap, they chased after the field in 15th and penultimate place before their furious race to catch up finally paid off. The duo were able to work their way up to 9th place. In the overall standings, the men from the NRV Olympic Team and the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club came 8th on the evening of their Olympic premiere. "That makes us the hero of the midfield for the time being," said Frithjof Kleen with a wink, "but seriously: we're actually quite happy. It can happen that you drop from the top to sixth place. It wasn't possible to cover all the chasers. If they then also get a 30-degree spin and the French, for example, move from 15th place to the top as a result, then there's little you can do about it. Of course, you're not overjoyed when you lead for so long and then finish sixth."
Kleen did not want to judge the ninth place in the second race negatively either. "Yes, our starts were mediocre today. And that applies even more to the second race. But the fact that we were able to move up from 15th to 9th gives us a good feeling for the coming days. We know that we are fast." DSV Sports Director Nadine Stegenwalner, Deputy Chef de Mission for the sailors in Weymouth, said: "We have seen today what the team is capable of. We trust the sailors and believe that there is still a lot to be achieved."
The two helmsmen Iain Percy and Robert Scheidt, who have already won two gold medals each, lived up to their reputation as the top favourites in the Star boat on Sunday. Although Percy and his co-skipper Andrew "Bart" Simpson faltered in the first race with 11th place, while Scheidt scored solid points with 4th place, the first spectacular sabre-rattling took place in the second race. Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada fought a thrilling duel for the lead with Percy and Simpson, in which neither crew gave away a millimetre until the finish. In the end, a photo finish with a lead of less than a second - indicated as "0:00" on the results lists - decided the victory in favour of the South Americans, who lead the classification after the first day ahead of the Irishmen Peter O'Leary and David Burrows and the Englishmen. However, because the decision on first and second place in this second race was changed several times and Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson were also listed as winners in the meantime, the British sailor got too upset and lodged a protest against the race organisers. Invited witness: Robert Scheidt. The hearing and decision were still pending that evening.
The positioning of four-kilogramme TV cameras or corresponding dummies on board the boats also caused some discussion among the sailors. "They are sometimes positioned in such a way that they can actually interfere with manoeuvres," said Finn Dinghi coach Luca Devoti. The German sailors also thought they had lost sight of these cameras on some of their competitors during the first race. Oops - accidentally gone overboard? However, there have been no protests so far.
The Finn dinghy sailors completed their first two races on Sunday without any German participation, and the results in the leading group were surprisingly similar on both occasions: Jonas Hogh-Christensen surprisingly put England's sailing star Ben Ainslie in his place twice, winning both races ahead of the Briton and the Croatian Ivan Kljakovic-Gaspic. Hogh-Christensen said after his opening coup: "On the spectator-friendly course in front of The Nothe fortress, I felt like a footballer running into a stadium". The Dane said with a smile that he was also quite prepared to defend the Olympic record of his compatriot Paul Elvström (4 x gold) against top favourite Ainslie, who could knock Elvström off the throne of the best Olympic sailor of all time with another gold medal. Ainslie himself commented on his two second places with dry humour: "I was better, but the decisive factor is how you finish a regatta."
Three more German crews will start the second day of the Olympic regatta on Monday: Laser helmsman and hopeful Simon Grotelüschen from Lübeck, Laser Radial helmswoman Franziska Goltz from Schwerin and the Kiel 49er crew Tobias Schadewaldt and Hannes Baumann will start their Olympic premiere.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
