He can still do it: Philipp Buhl has won a major regatta for the first time since his World Cup victory in Hyères in 2016. At the World Cup final in the future Olympic venue of Marseille, the Allgäu native won the gold medal in a thrilling medal race. The 28-year-old didn't get off to a good start and initially only sailed after the medal he had hoped for. Having started the final in second place, one point behind the leading Norwegian Hermann Tomasgaard, Buhl was forced to roll up the field from behind. But he increasingly did so as if unleashed. "My plan A, to start well and control the field, didn't really work out," said the "Bayern Express" with a smile after his victory, "so I told myself that I now had to fight for every metre right up to the finish." And the active spokesman for the German Sailing Team did just that in a rousing manner.
After a successful race to catch up, he attacked his Norwegian sparring partner Hermann Tomasgaard on the last long downwind section. The two lasers jibed back and forth almost synchronised. At the last turning mark before the short reach section to the finish, Buhl went around the outside of his rival, drew level with him and reached a final wave shortly before the finish line, which allowed him to cross the finish line half a metre ahead of Tomasgaard. The furious photo finish was so close that the two sailors had to wait minutes for the decision before Philipp Buhl was finally declared the winner and could celebrate. Before that, however, he travelled to the Norwegian to congratulate his beaten opponent and thank him for a great race.
"For me, it's the first big win since 2016. It comes at the right time and sends a good and strong signal to the competition. Mentally, it was important for me!" Buhl's coach Alex Schlonski said: "He did really well, even if the first part of the race didn't go quite as planned. Philipp waited for his chance, worked for it and then took it. This victory will give him additional self-confidence." In a week and a half, Philipp Buhl and the German Sailing Team will start the Kiel Week and thus also the last dress rehearsal before the World Championship in Aarhus in the first two weeks of August. Buhl wants to hunt for the title there: "I'm working hard for it. I want the title."
Following Buhl's brilliant performance, Malte Winkel and Matti Cipra were challenged in the medal race of the 470 fleet. The 24-year-old helmsman from the Schwerin Yacht Club and his 25-year-old coxswain from the Plauer Wassersport-Verein had even worked themselves into a medal chance with third place before the final after an outstandingly sailed regatta week. In the flat final, however, the North Germans only finished ninth and slipped back to fifth place in the overall classification. Nevertheless, helmsman Winkel was positive: "It was our first World Cup final and we would have signed up immediately if someone had offered us fifth place beforehand. Of course you get annoyed about a race like this final. Especially because we were clearly in silver place at the first start attempt when the race was cancelled due to a signalling error. But that will soon be forgotten. We had a very good week and are positive about our chances of qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Games at the World Championships in Aarhus." Simon Diesch and Philipp Autenrieth, whose 15th place before Marseille was not quite ideal, also want to contribute to this.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
