European Championship Nacra17, 49er & 49erFX: Successful European Championship start for Kiel crew Kohlhoff/Stuhlemmer

At the European Championship of the three fastest Olympic boat classes Nacra17, 49er and 49erFX off Kiel, Paul Kohlhoff and Alicia Stuhlemmer made a strong start to the title fights with fourth place after three races as a newly formed team just a few days ago.

The Kiel-based Youth America's Cup helmsman and his new fore-sailor even finished well ahead of the Olympic bronze medallists Thomas Zajak and Barbara Matz from Austria, who are in eighth place. Fernando Echevarri and Tara Pacheco, the Spanish Tornado Olympic champions from 2008, are in the lead after the first qualification day for the mixed catamaran crews. Jan Hauke Erichsen and Ann-Kathrin Wedemeyer from Flensburg opened the European title fights in 17th place in the field of 25 new full-foilers, which are celebrating their regatta world premiere off Kiel and will be making their first appearance at the 2020 Olympic Games.

In the 49er, the 2015 European champions from Kiel, Justus Schmidt and Max Boehme, were able to work their way up to ninth place on the second qualifying day for the high-performance dinghies. In the first race of the second qualifying day for the 49er, a less than optimal start had prevented a better result for Schmidt/Boehme. "The qualifying series is not weighted that highly. It's important that we make it into the Goldfleet," says Schmidt. The two are missing the pre-season preparation. As Max Boehme is studying in Poland, they haven't had many training hours on the water. "We're using the European Championships to see where we stand." For Schmidt/Boehme, their second Olympic campaign is about pushing ahead with their studies on the one hand and not losing touch with the world's best on the other. "We feel good. The others are not too far away," is their conclusion after the second day. The highlight of the season for the North Germans begins in four weeks' time with the World Championships in Portugal. From October they want to get stuck into their studies. Max Boehme will return to Kiel next summer, and then they will get fully involved in the 2020 Olympic campaign.

In the women's 49erFX, Tina Lutz/Susann Beucke from Holzhausen and Strande are in eighth place after seven qualifying races, while Olympic bronze medallists Vicky Jurczok and Anika Lorenz from Berlin are in 14th place. The European title fights end on 4 August.