They started the final day with two fleet races and the medal race in twelfth place. Then Paul Kohlhoff and Alicia Stuhlemmer made Sunday their day in their chocolate conditions with winds between 15 and 18 knots: in the last races of the main round with the world's best Nacra17 teams, the North Germans initially improved to 9th place with strong individual finishes of 5th and 6th, earning themselves a ticket to the medal race in the top ten. They left stars such as the Olympic champions Santi Lange/Cecilia Carranza (13th) from Argentina and the Australian silver medallists Jason Waterhouse Lisa Darmanin (11th) well behind them. The North Germans then won the final itself with aplomb, storming to 5th place at their first joint World Championships - a world-class performance.
As the youngest team in the final, 22-year-old Paul Kohlhoff and his 18-year-old foresailor Alicia Stuhlemmer impressively underlined their joint Olympic ambitions for Tokyo 2020. The mixed duo have only been in the same boat for four weeks, training with British coach Marcus Lynch. In addition, former Nacra17 helmswoman Alicia Stuhlemmer had to change her role considerably. "She put in an outstanding performance," said Paul Kohlhoff, "she learns extremely quickly and brings a lot of strength with her." The Youth America's Cup helmsman had a whole host of good reasons to celebrate on Sunday: "It was my first victory in a medal race. That's really something special." Going into the final in ninth place, the GER team had set their sights on "full throttle" and realised their plan in rousing fashion. Still in fourth place at the first windward mark, they were already in the lead at the leeward mark, "because we were the only ones to hit the layline exactly, while the others were all a bit over". They reached the finish line with a clear lead over their closest rivals.
While coach Lynch reported that his team was the only one to consistently foil on the new boats on the wind, Kohlhoff reported that the World Championship had tested its participants with a wide variety of conditions. "It wasn't just our favourite conditions this week - as in the final. There were also some light wind races. That's why this success was no fluke for us. We were able to show consistent performances overall and are very happy about that! But we still see room for improvement."
World Championship gold was secured by the experienced Brits Ben Saxton and Katie Dabson ahead of Spain's Fernando Echavarri Erasun and Tara Pacheco van Rijnsoever. Bronze went to the Italian European champions Tita Ruggero and Caterina Banti. With their fifth place behind the New Zealanders Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders, the team from Kiel left several Olympic and world champions behind them in this world title series. Spanish Olympic champion Iker Martinez, for example, was unable to finish the medal race with Olga Maslivets and slipped to ninth place after starting the final with medal hopes.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
