Olympic sailing: Off Enoshima in Kuhweide's historic stern waters

Successful start in Olympic waters: The German Sailing Team took part in Enoshima Sailing Week with four crews and won its first medal in the area where Olympic medals will be up for grabs in 2020. These are historic waters, as it was here that Willy Kuhweide won his legendary gold medal with his Finn dinghy "Darling" in 1964. Today it was the strong 49erFX sailors Victoria Jurczok and Anika Lorenz who shone with silver at the first test event in Japan. The world number two and European Championship bronze medallists compete for the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club, just like Willy Kuhweide once did.

999 days before the start of the 2020 Olympic Games, the small DSV selection did well in Enoshima and made a first informative acquaintance with the Olympic area. In addition to the podium finish for the Berlin team behind New Zealand's Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech, the 470 sailors Simon Diesch and Philipp Autenrieth (Württembergischer Yacht-Club/Bayerischer Yacht-Club) also put in a good performance with fourth place. Malte Winkel and Matti Cipra (Schweriner Yacht-Club/Plauer Wassersportverein) sailed to 13th place, while world number one Philipp Buhl secured the third top ten place in the Laser. The active spokesman for the German Sailing Team from Segelclub Alpsee-Immenstadt finished the series in ninth place after just seven races.

Enoshima is around two hours' drive from the future Olympic capital of Tokyo. "The bay reminds me a little of Weymouth at the 2012 Olympic Games," says Philipp Buhl. After a strong season, his focus was not on the result, but on familiarising himself with the area where he wants to be hunting for Olympic medals in three years' time. "After the World Championships and the European Championships, I flew straight to Japan for the World Cup final so that I could then see the Olympic area for 2020. I finished both regattas some distance from the podium and was unable to realise my full potential after very intense times in recent months. On the plus side, however, I was able to get to know the Olympic sailing centre and the country a little." With a wink, Buhl added: "I had a good debriefing with my coach, because we had plenty of rainy days here..."