Sailing World Championship: "Legendary": Fischer/Graf in the 49er on the wave of World Championship success

Tim Fischer and Fabian Graf continue to sail on the wave of success at the World Championship off Aarhus. After six preliminary races, the Kiel-based 49er sailors move into the main round in third place overall. The 23-year-old helmsman and his one-year-younger co-sailor proved their world-class credentials once again on Monday in light, shifty winds by finishing third and second.

"These were conditions in which you had to be smarter than the rest of the fleet. And they were," said 49er national coach Max Groy from Fleckeby, paying tribute to his protégés. However, because the preliminary round was held in groups and only the Fischer/Graf group was able to sail the seventh race, while the other two groups only managed six races in the extremely light winds, the seventh race was cancelled late in the evening after a lot of back and forth, a lot of lobbying behind the scenes and conflicting information in the meantime in order to create equality. In the end, it was a decision in line with the rules, but it did not work in favour of sport that was appropriate for a world championship and as intense as possible. For the German team, the cancellation of the seventh race not only meant the loss of Fischer/Graf's beautiful and valuable second place, but also the end of the gold fleet for Jakob Meggendorfer and Andreas Spranger, who no longer have a chance of improving on their 32nd place in the preliminary round.

Nevertheless, the performances of the German skiff sailors are more than impressive. With two teams in the top ten on the fifth day of the World Championships, they represent the most successful fleet in the German Sailing Team and are starting the main round eager to attack. The experienced Erik Heil said: "At the last World Championship, an average of five points was enough to win the title. We are now at around seven and on a good course." The performance of his younger team-mates Fischer/Graf was enthusiastically described as "legendary" by the Berliner, who finished in ninth place together with his co-skipper Thomas Plößel. The mood in the skiff camp is correspondingly good. But the 49er sailors are under no illusions. Tim Fischer said: "The best sailors in the world are now coming together in the gold fleet. Even the tiniest mistake will be penalised." Will his crew have the nerve for the showdown? Fischer's answer comes without hesitation: "Definitely!"

There were also two successful starts from Silas Mühle and Lea Spitzmann. The son of Thomas Friese, who has only just turned 16, and his fore-sailor challenged the internationally renowned competition at the start of both races of the day and were able to put themselves in the limelight.

After the first doldrums in a row, the Danish World Championship organisers are facing major challenges on Tuesday, because apart from the 49er sailors, all World Championship starters are required to take part in catch-up races or races according to plan. Eight courses will be activated for the mammoth programme. The highlights from a German perspective: Finn helmsman Phillip Kasüske starts the main round in ninth place. After two days without a race, the helmsman from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club still has every chance of achieving early national qualification for his class for Tokyo 2020. Laser ace Philipp Buhl from Segelclub Alpsee-Immenstadt continues the World Championship in seventh place and still has his sights set on his dream of winning the title.

Click here for the interim results.