Olympic sailing: "I really messed that up"

Philipp Buhl still had everything under control in the preliminary round of the European Laser Sailing Championship, sailing to single-digit results in a row. For four days, he had coped well with the lulls and performed at world level, finishing on the podium. The next medal for the guarantor of success seemed close. But then the main round, shortened to two days, began and with it the collapse. Nothing seemed to work out for Buhl. High double-digit rankings caused the 2015 European Championship runner-up to stumble in the rankings and fall further and further behind. In the end, the European Championship with 125 starters from 41 nations ended without a "happy ending" for the active spokesman of the German national sailing team. Buhl had to admit defeat in 13th place because his starts on the two final days were not compelling enough and he was unable to find suitable lanes to catch up with the front runners.

He himself described the result as "beyond all expectations" and had a hard time with himself. "I really messed that up," he said after the last race. Buhl had wanted to stand out and not finish the European Championships outside the top ten. "The result simply doesn't meet my expectations," said Buhl, who also said: "I'll get over it." Before that, a thorough analysis will take place with coach Thomas Piesker, who agreed with his protégé: "13th place doesn't meet our expectations, but it's not a disaster either. We came from full training. The European Championships were not a highlight for us and we now know what we need to work on." Philipp Buhl's starts are one of them. "In the six starts in the main round, I had four bad ones, one good one, but on the wrong side, and two successful ones." In a field as strong as the Laser European Championships, this record was not enough to secure the medals.

At the same time, Buhl described the European Championship as an "eye-opener" for him. He was able to play to his cross strength in the fresher winds of the preliminary round. In the light, shifty winds of the final round, in which he no longer had a speed advantage, he lost his races, especially on the crosses. This was also because he lacked his otherwise outstanding feel for the turns and was no longer able to find his way around the European Championship course. "I really struggled," the runner-up world champion summarised frankly.

Jesper Stålheim from Sweden became European Champion for the first time, ahead of Jemin Ha from Korea and Kristian Ruth from Norway. In the field of Olympic Laser Radial sailors, Marit Bouwmeester from the Netherlands won European Championship gold ahead of Sweden's Josefin Olsson and Tuula Tenkanen from Finland. Svenja Weger from the Potsdam Yacht Club was the best starter for Sailing Team Germany in 29th place, while 20-year-old Lena Haverland from the Schwerin Yacht Club came 43rd.