Anyone who is in second place after ten of eleven races at a top-class European Championship and starts the final race with a chance of gold must have done a good job beforehand. And that's exactly what Philipp Buhl did. Reliably, as so often. But this time there was no happy ending for the man from Sonthofen in the rain final in La Rochelle. Burdened by two early starts in ten races, the 28-year-old active spokesman for the German Sailing Team approached the eleventh and final race too cautiously. And what the Allgäuer left behind at the start added up to a devastating 38th place in the course of this decisive race, which Buhl was unable to cross off due to the early starts. The fact that he finished seventh in the classification with such a result once again points to the credit side of his European Championship account: seven top five results - in this field. However, the final result remains unsatisfactory. Especially for himself. There was much more in it. When asked how he would describe this black race day, on which his medal hopes were dashed, the runner-up said from the bottom of his heart in the pouring rain of La Rochelle: "It was a mangy race."
From the coach's perspective, it was no different. National coach Alex Schlonski suffered with his protégé and said: "It had already started on the final day with his second, very close early start. Nevertheless, Philipp was within striking distance of winning the European Championships until the last race. He then made a very cautious start to the final race, in which there were simply too many mistakes. That was bitter. We'll analyse it carefully and get motivated again."
In 2012, Philipp Buhl was the first and so far only German sailor to win a Laser European Championship. World Championship bronze (2013 in Oman) and World Championship silver (2015 in Kingston) followed. Now he is driven by the dream of winning the Olympics or the World Championships. "I'm going to win my title," Buhl announced immediately after missing the European Championship final and was able to smile again. He will continue to be a force to be reckoned with. The World Cup final in France kicks off in just three weeks' time. From 20 to 24 June, he will be one of the favourites in his training area at Kieler Woche. This year, however, these are "only" the attractive preludes to the actual highlight: Philipp Buhl and his team mates from German Sailing Team want to fight for medals at the joint World Championship of all Olympic disciplines, which is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors in Aarhus, Denmark, from 1 to 12 August. The area suits them because it is very similar to the training waters in Kiel.
In Aarhus, Buhl will once again be up against his strongest opponents, including the new European champion Pavlos Kontides (Cyprus), European runner-up Michael Beckett and bronze medallist Jesper Stalheim from Sweden. And with those who did even better in the open classification in La Rochelle: Trophy winner Matthew Wearn from Australia and Sam Meech from New Zealand. Plus Australian Olympic champion Tom Burton, who finished fifth in the open classification in France, and double world champion Nick Thompson from Great Britain, who did not finish higher than 15th in these European championships.
However, the final day at the European Championships proved to be one to forget, and not just for Philipp Buhl. His team-mate Svenja Weger had also imagined her final sprint to be different. Starting the last two races in ninth place, the 2014 European champion crossed the finish line in 39th and 35th place in races 11 and 12, losing her good top ten position and finishing the European Championships in 14th place. The European title was won in dominant fashion by Olympic champion and three-time world champion Marit Bouwmeester ahead of her compatriot Maxime Jonker and Belgian Emma Plasschaert.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
