The new European runners-up have never experienced such a final spurt themselves: starting the final day of the 49erFX European Championship and the last two fleet races of the gold fleet in twelfth place, Berliners Vicky Jurczok and Anika Lorenz sailed to silver, catapulting themselves ten places up the podium in the space of just a few hours. It was the outstanding happy ending to a series that had by no means been bad up to that point, but also not as compelling as the duo had often sailed this season.
Here once again the winning race of Victoria Jurczok and Anika Lorenz to enjoy
"We started the final fleet races in twelfth place and finished seventh in the final. We still can't believe what we've just achieved," said an overjoyed Vicky Jurcok. "We hadn't had any real slip-ups up until then, but we hadn't had any particularly good results either. We thought throughout the whole series that it didn't feel bad, but that we just had to do better." The knot burst right on time on the last day and gave the world number four another nice piece of precious metal in her collection. Anika Lorenz laughed and said: "I may have missed my flight due to the late medal race, but it was worth it."
For the Olympic ninth-placed team from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club, the success came at just the right time after their unusually hapless home match at Kieler Woche shortly before the World Championships for all Olympic sailing disciplines in Aarhus, Denmark. With their resounding success, they have strengthened their position in the battle for the first nation tickets for the 2020 Olympic Games, which they want to lead at the World Championships together with their team-mates Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke, who had to be satisfied with 12th place at the European Championships after taking silver in Kiel.
In the men's event, Justus Schmidt and Max Boehme from Kiel, who were sailing together again for the first time after a long break due to their studies, finished fifth as the best German 49er team. "We didn't make many mistakes and are very happy that we were able to get back on track so well shortly before the World Championships," said helmsman Schmidt from the Kiel Yacht Club. Jakob Meggendorfer and Andreas Spranger from the Bayerischer Yacht-Club achieved 12th place, Tim Fischer (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) and Fabian Graf (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) sailed to 15th place.
In the Nacra 17 catamaran, the German mixed teams only just missed out on a medal in the top ten. Paul Kohlhoff/Alica Stuhlemmer from the Kieler Yacht-Club finished eleventh overall after a successful final day (5th/6th) in stronger winds, missing out on a place in the final by just a handful of points. Johannes Polgar (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) and Caro Werner (Kieler Yacht-Club) finished the European Championship in 14th place. These two teams are also relying on the motto "Together we are strong" with a view to the national qualification for the 2020 Olympic regatta off Enoshima, because to secure an Olympic starting place for the foiling German Nacra 17 sailors, it is enough for one of the two teams to finish among the top eight nations at the World Championship. "That will be a tough task," says Carolina Werner, "but we believe in our chances and will fight for them."
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
