German Olympic sailors successful in test regattas: "Things are going really well for the German Sailing Team"

The German Sailing Team entered the Olympic home straight 77 days before the Olympic sailors' first starting shot in Enoshima at the weekend with further successes in the skiff and mixed catamaran. In Portugal, the 49erFX European champions Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke (Chiemsee Yacht-Club/Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) won the Cascais 49erFX Championship with its strong Olympic line-up. After a convincing series and a tactically cleverly sailed medal race, the German duo finished one point ahead of the Olympic favourites from Spain: Former Olympic match race champion, world champion and circumnavigator Tamara Echegoyen and Paula Barcelo had to admit defeat to the crew from the German Sailing Team, as did the Brazilian Olympic champions Martine Soffiati Grael and Kahena Kunze in third place and the Dutch double world champions Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz in fourth.

For Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke, the success came at the ideal time after a long break from competition due to the pandemic and the cancellation of major traditional regattas with only a few smaller coach and test regattas. "We didn't know exactly where we stood. Now we are very happy that we were able to show the others. They didn't really have us on their radar before. Now they do." While most of the top international sailors in Cascais were competing with new equipment, Lutz/Beucke were able to convince themselves and the observers of their good level of performance even with an older boat. The Germans' top equipment is already on its way to Japan.

There were good reasons why the Olympic 49erFX elite met in the Portuguese waters for the self-created and, thanks to Clube Naval de Cascais, official regatta test. "It's wavy and windy there. We were looking for this to prepare for the very similar Olympic area in Enoshima," explains foresailor Beucke, "plus there were also a few tricky races at this regatta, all in all it was a very good Olympic test package that also included current sailing like in Japan. We Germans don't really have that in our blood..." Mentally, Lutz/Beucke treated the regatta for preparation purposes as if it were the Olympic summit itself. "We consciously imagined that we were already in Tokyo, because you rarely get to experience situations like this." The message of the result is unmistakable: the best German skiff sailors can and must be counted among the medal contenders in their personal Olympic première.

After a lot of hard work, Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer have put themselves in a similarly good position with their latest regatta success off Santander. The Nacra 17 crew from the Kieler Yacht-Club demonstrated their strong level of performance in Spain with second place in a field of twelve Olympic teams. Behind the Danes Lin Cenholt/Cp Lübeck and ahead of the Americans Riley Gibbs/Adele Anna Weis and the Rio silver medallists Jason Waterhouse/Lisa Darmanin from Australia, the German mixed catamaran crew finished the regatta confidently on the podium. The keys to the North Germans' success: impressive consistency, the smallest string of all the top ten teams and fourth place in the medal race.

"We feel good, are highly motivated and, thanks to the thorough and extended preparation, not too nervous yet," Kohlhoff and Stuhlemmer noted in their latest newsletter shortly after the regatta. After a short break in Kiel, Germany's best mixed catamaran sailors will fly to Santander for a two-week training camp and then start the final spurt in their home waters. At the same time, the youngest members of the Olympic catamaran field are warning against exaggerated expectations. Paul Kohlhoff said: "These test regattas are helpful, but should be assessed completely independently of the Olympic regatta. The Olympics is a mountain that needs to be climbed with a lot of work and consistency. There can be no automatic expectation of medals. As a team, we still feel like we are at the beginning of our journey, planning beyond this year until 2024 and 2028." The overall good results of the German Sailing Team at the start of the Olympic season are also felt by the mixed crew. Kohlhoff says: "It's really cool and inspiring."

Like the top catamarans, the Olympic 49ers also met for a revealing prelude in Santander. With two New Zealand teams and the Spaniards Diego Botín/Iago López Marra on the podium, two findings came as a surprise: Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, 2016 Olympic champions, Olympic favourites this summer, round the world sailors and America's Cup dominators, had to concede to their victorious compatriots Logan Dunning Beck and Oscar Gunn after a long absence from the class as overall runners-up. And: Germany's 49er aces Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel did not make it past ninth place. However, this was not due to the leadership skills of the bronze medallists from Rio de Janeiro, but to a sailing accident: Thomas Plößel had broken his nose during a "nose dive" one day before the start of the regatta. As a result, the duo was unable to compete in the first three races. The other results would have easily put the reliably good crew from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein in the top three - where they would have liked to be at the Olympic regatta. Helmsman Erik Heil said when asked about his assessment of New Zealand's top favourites Peter Burling and Blair Tuke: "There weren't many moments when you thought they were going to totally wet us. They hit the lanes extremely well on the second day of the regatta. Those were key moments. On the other hand, the Kiwis also had to experience how you can be sailed backwards leg after leg in tricky conditions. Even Pete doesn't know the answer to that."

The national sailing team's results this weekend were very promising. "Things are going really well for the German Sailing Team right now," said Susann Beucke, summarising the successful days of the German players. The German sailing team is competing in Japan with a small but very fine team, competing in six of the ten Olympic disciplines. The medal prospects are better than they have been for a long time.