Sailing World Championship: Difficult times for the German sailors in Aarhus

The German Sailing Team is struggling at the World Championships in the Bay of Aarhus. No GER boat was able to qualify for the first three medal races for the top ten crews in the Finn, 470 men's and 470 women's classes, which will be held on Thursday. The three national tickets for the 2020 Olympic Games also went to other nations. Fabienne Oster and Anastasiya Winkel from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein were six points short of reaching the final. They finished the World Championships as the best German 470 women's crew in 13th place. Neither the German 470 women's sailors, who were so successful at the European Championships with silver (Frederike Loewe/Anna Markfort) and bronze (Nadine Böhm/Ann-Christin Goliaß), nor the 470 men's sailors were able to secure the hoped-for early national qualification for Tokyo 2020. Phillip Kasüske from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club was also unable to do so, although the 23-year-old sailed to 15th place in the world-class field of Finn dinghy sailors with some outstanding finishes and a win on the day, thus achieving his own target.

On Wednesday, Philipp Buhl, who had shown so much promise so far, also suffered a setback in his attempt to reach the summit, but it was not yet a knockout blow. Buhl returned to the harbour in the evening in 23rd place after the ninth and only Laser race of the day in light winds. Although the 28-year-old from Sonthofen was able to defend his sixth place in the intermediate classification, his big dream of becoming world champion has receded into the distance. Ahead of the tenth race, which has been postponed to Thursday, the German world number two is 30 points adrift of leader Pavlos Kontides (29 points) from Cyprus. Buhl is even 25 points off third place, which is held by Australian Olympic champion Tom Burton (34 points) one race before the medal final scheduled for Friday. The account of the active spokesman of the German Sailing Team has 59 points.

However, the Allgäuer is not thinking about giving up, he only briefly quarrelled with his own mistake and the race cancellations on Tuesday and Wednesday: "I was doing well in both cancelled races. In particular, I couldn't quite understand today's cancellation in sailable four knots, that was really bad luck. In the race that went through, I hadn't positioned myself perfectly at the start - my mistake. Everything worked out for Theo Bauer one metre downwind of me, but unfortunately not quite for me. I was already missing one or two boat lengths at the start." Buhl will start the tenth race on Thursday with a renewed sense of optimism: "I have to remain optimistic. With a really good race, I can still catch up with the top three. Then a lot would be possible in the medal race on Friday."

The normally strong performers of the German 49erFX teams, whose fleet was the only one to complete three races in complicated conditions on Wednesday, also failed to find their form. Although Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke from Kiel were able to improve over the day in the fragile shifting winds, finishing 25th, 16th and 12th respectively, they did not sail as compellingly at this World Championship as they did at their European Championship triumph in 2017 or as runners-up at Kieler Woche this year. The runners-up at the European Championships and fourth in the world rankings from Berlin are finding it even more difficult in the Danish World Championships: Vicky Jurczok and Anika Lorenz, ninth at the Olympics in Rio, lack the recipe for success at the World Championships. "I have no explanation for this," said helmswoman Jurczok, "I'm now so insecure that I no longer really trust my own decisions." The fact that teams such as the Brazilian Olympic champions Martine Grael/Kahena Kunze and the Rio silver medallists Alex Maloney/Molly Meech also missed the mark several times on Wednesday in the unpredictable winds is no consolation for the German FX sailors. "We had imagined it would be very different here," said Jurczok. However, Jurczok is not worried about the early national qualification for the 2020 Olympic Games in the women's skiff, which is currently in serious jeopardy: "We'll secure it. If not here, then later." These words were a flash of her fighting spirit, which is severely lacking in 29th place in the interim World Championship rankings. Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke are also anything but satisfied with 21st place after nine races. What can they do better on Thursday? "Just sail well," said Susann Beucke.

The German 49er sailors, who have performed convincingly so far, did not get a chance on Wednesday. Their first race of the day, which was only held early yesterday evening after a long wait, was cancelled again due to unfair wind conditions. The Rio bronze medallists Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel had just raced across the course in the leading group. For them, the battle for a place in the medal final continues today. Tim Fischer/Fabian Graf and Erik Heil/Thomas Plößel will start the main round from Thursday afternoon in third and ninth place respectively. Kiel's Justus Schmidt and Max Boehme, in 25th place, have nevertheless set themselves the goal of reaching the medal final after their unsuccessful start.

Click here for the interim results