Sailing World Championship: "These are Kiel Week conditions"

The German skiff sailors were in their element on Sunday in the Bay of Aarhus. Even if others capsized in the difficult turning conditions and gusts, they came through. And they did so with flying colours. Tim Fischer and Fabian Graf (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein/Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) achieved the best overall result. The duo moved up to 7th place with 5th and 4th place. Just one place behind them after five races were the Rio bronze medallists Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein). The Berliners took the only German victory of the day on Sunday, after foreskipper Plößel had already stated before the races with a happy smile on his face: "These are Kiel Week conditions!" Which was tantamount to a challenge.

With two crews in the top ten and Justus Schmidt/Max Boehme (Kieler Yacht-Club) and Jakob Meggendorfer/Andreas Spranger (Bayerischer Yacht-Club), who got back into the race after their unsuccessful start on Sunday with 4th and 8th place, the 49er sailors were the most successful fleet of the German Sailing Team on Sunday. Tim Fischer summarised the ideal way forward for the 49er sailors on Monday: "No scratch results! No early starts!"

At the same time, Philipp Buhl also kept his chances alive in the battle for titles and World Championship medals. He always knew that his announced assault on the summit would not be an easy one. The Sonthofen native is in 7th place after six races, but is in good contact with the top and did not waver on Sunday with two sixth-place finishes. "It wasn't quite a perfect day for me, but a solid one. Some of my competitors lost ground today. If I can show a good performance in the main round from Tuesday, then everything is still possible." Buhl wants to use his rest day on Monday in the original sense: "I want to clear my head and also catch up on some sleep." The 28-year-old lay awake for a long time on Saturday evening. "I couldn't fall asleep. But maybe it's a good experience to be so fired up for this regatta that you can't get to sleep."

The Kiel helmsman Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer achieved two sixth and one eleventh place on their first World Championship day and are in 14th place at the start. The lead has been taken over by the Italian permanent winners Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti from the Argentinian Olympic champions Santi Lange and Cecilia Carranza Saroli. Johannes Polgar and foresailor Carolina Werner initially sailed to 20th place with 9th, 23rd and 7th.

For Finn dinghy helmsman Phillip Kasüske, the main round begins on Monday. After winning the day on Saturday and having Sunday off, the Berlin native wants to continue sailing on the wave of success at the World Championships, starting his final World Championship sprint in ninth place with a good chance of qualifying for the Olympic regatta in Enoshima and even with contact to the medal ranks.