Aarhus Sailing World Championships: Philipp Buhl leads the DSV fleet as flag bearer

The first starting shots will be fired on Wednesday for the 470 sailors, with the opening ceremony taking place on the same evening. With 60 German athletes, the German Sailing Association (DSV) is sending one of the largest fleets to the Hempel World Sailing Championships in Aarhus. Denmark's second-largest city and the Bay of Aarhus are the stage for the joint world championships of all ten Olympic disciplines, which are held every four years this hot summer. There will also be two world championship series for male and female kiters in 2018.

This clip was created a year ago and is a small declaration of love from the hosts to their sailing area. From Wednesday there will be up-to-date pictures from the Danish sailing metropolis

At stake for the participants are 36 medals and already 40 per cent of the national starting places available for the 2020 Olympic Games. The first World Championship starting shots will be fired on 2 August for the Finn Dingy, 470 Men and 470 Women disciplines. On the same day, the world title series will be opened in the evening in the newly designed harbour district of Aarhus Ø. The new Aarhus International Sailing Centre was only opened in this district on 23 May this year by Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik and World Sailing President Kim Andersen. In Denmark, the hosts are preparing for one of the biggest sporting events in their history. Around 1400 sailing athletes from 90 nations and their support teams are expected, as well as up to 400,000 visitors, which would exceed the total number of 324,000 inhabitants in Aarhus.

Torsten Haverland, DSV Vice President and responsible for competitive sport, says: "Looking at the course of the season so far and some outstanding results, we as a team have set ourselves the target of two medals. As far as the battle for a place on the national starting list for the 2020 Olympic regatta in Enoshima is concerned, I'm confident that our team will take at least 60 per cent of these opportunities." As athletes from the German Sailing Team are competing in eight of the ten disciplines, this would be equivalent to securing five of the ten possible national starting places at an early stage.

"I want to fight for the World Championship title in Aarhus and secure my place on the national starting grid early," says World Cup and Kiel Week winner Philipp Buhl, setting the pace, "this World Championship is almost a home game for us, the conditions there can be very similar to those in our training area off Kiel." The Laser helmsman and world number two from Segelclub Alpsee-Immenstadt, who was chosen by his team colleagues as the flag bearer of the German national sailing team, is one of the medal favourites in the Olympic single-handed dinghy Laser and has been preparing intensively for the world championships, which begin for his discipline on 3 August. Buhl will be joined by Nik Aaron Willim (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein), Theodor Bauer (Röbeler Segler-Verein Müritz) and Eric Malach (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) in the series of ten races with the medal final on 10 August.

The Laser Radial sailors Svenja Weger (Potsdamer Yacht-Club), Lena Haverland (Schweriner Yacht-Club), Pia Kuhlmann (Schaumburg-Lippischer Segler-Verein), Julia Büsselberg (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee), Laura Bo Voss (Mühlenberger Segel-Verein) and Pauline Liebig (DSMC Konstanz) have the same schedule. Svenja Weger, 2014 European champion, explains the challenges of the sailing area: "Off Aarhus there are mostly flat water conditions with a steep choppy wave. These are extremely challenging conditions for us: In the Laser, you have to hang on continuously to sail the boat as upright as possible. With larger waves, you can also take some pressure off the edge in the wave trough. You can also regulate the heel by working with the sheet. In general, however, from a certain wind strength upwards, hanging is simply the most important factor for good boat speed. In order to be able to hold my own in a world-class field, I was very active in the gym during the winter."

The German Finn sailors Phillip Kasüske (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee), Max Kohlhoff (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein), Simon Gorgels (Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club) and Lars Haverland (Schweriner Yacht-Club) as well as the 470 sailors will start before the Laser sailors. Simon Diesch/Philipp Autenrieth (Württembergischer Yacht-Club/Bayerischer Yacht-Club), Malte Winkel and Matti Cipra (Schweriner Yacht-Club/Plauer Wassersportverein), Jan Jasper Wagner/Julian Autenrieth (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee/Bayerischer Yacht-Club) and Daniel Göttlich/Linus Klasen (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee/Potsdamer Yacht-Club) will be competing in the men's race. Nadine Boehm/Ann-Christin Goliaß (Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club), Frederike Loewe/Anna Markfort (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) and Fabienne Oster/Anastasiya Winkel (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) will be competing in the 470 women's field, Luise Wanser/Helena Wanser (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein), Constanze Stolz/Anna Reinsberg (Düsseldorfer Yacht-Club/Warnemünder Segel-Club) and Theresa Löffler/Lena Stückl (Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club). The series for Finn, 470 men and 470 women will end on 9 August with the medal races.

The German skiff sailors are among the favourites. European runners-up and world number four Vicky Jurczok and Anika Lorenz (Verein Seglerhaus am Wansee) and the 2017 European champions, Kiel Week runners-up and training partners Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke (Chiemsee Yacht Club/Hannoverscher Yacht-Club) have big plans for the World Championships. "We always want to improve, so after 6th place at the last World Championship, we're aiming for a place in the top 5," explains 49erFX helmswoman Vicky Jurczok from Berlin, "and together with Tina and Sanni, we also want to secure the national ticket for Tokyo 2020. I think that we should be able to do that if we join forces." In addition to the two top German crews, Natsumi Ando and Fenja Valentien from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein will also be competing.

The 49er sailors are pursuing the same goal. Kiel's Justus Schmidt/Max Boehme (Kieler Yacht-Club) were able to return to top form after a long break due to their studies with 5th place at the European Championships just in time for the World Championships. "We were surprised ourselves about this successful return," says helmsman Schmidt, "in Aarhus we now want to help secure the national starting place for the Olympic Games. If we could sail into the top 6 as a crew, it would be an impressive result from my point of view." Rio bronze medallists Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) are also fully focussed on their Olympic campaign again following their interim focus on their studies. Jakob Meggendorfer/Andreas Spranger (Bayerischer Yacht-Club), Nils Carstensen/Jan Frigge (Flensburger Segel-Club) and Tim Fischer/Fabian Graf (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein/Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) want to show that they are getting closer and closer to the world's best. The skiff sailing series begins on 4 August and ends with the medal races on 11 August. Like the RS:X surfers, they will complete 14 races before the final instead of the usual ten in the other disciplines.

The World Championship races for the mixed catamaran teams in the Nacra 17 begin on 5 August. The German Sailing Team will be represented under the German flag by Paul Kohlhoff/Alica Stuhlemmer (Kieler Yacht-Club), Johannes Polgar/Carolina Werner (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein/Kieler Yacht-Club) and the young helmsman Silas Mühle and Lea Spitzmann (Hamburger Segel-Club/Flensburger Segel-Club), who are only 16 years old. If the foiling twin-hulled specialists want to secure an Olympic starting place for Germany, they will have to sail into the top 8 nations. "That will be a tough task," says Carolina Werner, "but we believe that we can do it together." Nacra 17 helmsman Johannes Polgar says: "Paul and Alica are the strong-wind rockets. Together we should be able to secure the Tokyo starting place for Germany in the Nacra 17." The first races of the Nacra 17 fleet begin on 5 August, with the final on 12 August being one of the last three World Championships.