It could have been so nice, but at the end of the fourth regatta day at the Olympic Games, the German sailors were left with more frustration than pleasure. Toni Wilhelm had opened the day with a bang with the first German race win in Guanabara Bay. It was not only the victory, but also the furiously won thrilling duel with the Brit Nick Dempsey, with whom the 33-year-old Wilhelm impressed and had worked his way up to sixth place. When he crossed the finish line in sixth place one race later, the man from the Black Forest had even moved up to fifth place and taken another step closer to the medal he had hoped for.
But then came race nine for the RS:X surfers, in whose fleet the "Flying Dutchman" and Olympic champion Dorian van Rijsselberge and Brit Nick Dempsey seem to glide almost flawlessly over the courses. "I took a gamble in that race and missed out on a lot of stupid points," said Wilhelm, and the anger was written all over the face of the athlete from the Württemberg Yacht Club, who was still suffering from a severe cold and cough. Now, in his third and final Olympic participation, Wilhelm not only has to surf three outstanding races himself in the last three races on Friday, but also hope that his opponents slip up once on the way to the medal race on Sunday. "I have to take my hat off to them. They are hardly making any mistakes at the moment," said Wilhelm fairly. He knows that he has a tough task ahead of him in the final sprint.
However, the frustration of the German 470 teams on their second day of the regatta was far greater. After a mediocre start on Wednesday, Annika Bochmann and Marlene Steinherr as well as Ferdinand Gerz and Oliver Szymanski experienced a day to forget on the Niteroi outer course. In borderline strong winds of up to 26 knots and some stiff gusts, both fields capsized in series in waves two to three metres high. The German women were caught out in their second race of the day. The mast broke when they capsized. For Bochmann/Steinherr it was the second lost rig after a broken mast in training. They had to measure an old mast in the evening in order to be ready to sail again on Friday. After their first two Olympic regatta days, the VSaW crew is only in penultimate place in 19th place overall.
Ferdinand Gerz and Oliver Szymanski also experienced the rough Atlantic conditions on Thursday, which Austria's medal hopeful Lara Vadlau, who likes it stormy, called "the most brutal sailing day of my career". A torn rudder led to two consecutive capsizes for the Munich helmsman and his Berlin foresailor in race four, resulting in a heavy 23rd place. Gerz was so disappointed that it took him a while to talk about this setback. Then he collected himself and reported that the team would be replacing the rudder in the evening. On Friday, the 470 men want to attack again with fresh courage.
Paul Kohlhoff and Carolina Werner also capsized because the helmsman's harness strap came undone twice. After another strong start, the young crew from the Kiel Yacht Club were annoyed that they had not yet found a good recipe for the shifting winds of this Olympic regatta. "We just can't get into the groove with these turning winds," said Carolina Werner. The rest day suits the Nacra 17 teams at their Olympic premiere, as they had to complete the most extensive programme on Thursday with four races. They will start the next races on Saturday in 13th place.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
