Ten weeks before the first Olympic starting signal, the two giants of the traditional keelboat class once again fought a furious duel for the gold star at the Starboat World Championship off Hyères. Double Olympic champions Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada from Brazil were crowned world champions for the second time in a row, just ahead of double Olympic champions Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson. Although the Brazilians did not win the day, they had the more consistent series. A two-point lead over the Brits was enough for triumph.
The Danes Michael Hestbæk and Claus Olesen caused a surprise in the field of 72 starters from 28 nations, sailing to third place on the podium after just six long races over six days and thus securing their Olympic ticket. The teams from New Zealand, Greece and Croatia also secured their Star boat tickets to Weymouth, which Hans Spitzauer and Gerd Habermüller from Austria narrowly missed out on by just two points. Eliminated in the battle for one of only 16 Olympic starting places in the Star boat were such well-known helmsmen as Diego Negri from Italy and Spain's Fernando Echavarri. "It's crass to see who has to stay at home now," said helmsman Robert Stanjek.
Robert Stanjek and Frithjof Kleen, who travelled to France as vice world champions, no longer had to worry about their starting place at the Olympic Games - the German sailors of the year had already earned it in December with their outstanding performance. And their eleventh place at the World Championships would have earned them a starting place.
However, the Berlin duo did not manage a top five finish. As a result, the German Olympic starters missed out on a place in the top ten. Nevertheless, Stanjek was optimistic. "Eleventh place is okay. You don't have to justify it in a field like this. The area and conditions were very difficult to read - typically Mediterranean. It was difficult to win a flower pot if you took a conservative approach to the races like we did. I enjoyed sailing with Frithjof and the Mediterranean series is now over," said Robert Stanjek after the title fights. "Our time is now coming with the World Cup in the Olympic area, Medemblik and the Olympic Games."
Johannes Polgar and Markus Koy sailed to 16th place off Hyères, while Hubert Merkelbach and Nils Hollweg caused a sensation on the final day, ending their six-day "rollercoaster ride" with a one-day win (32, 46, DSQ, 5, 60, 1).
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
