470 Mixed World Championship: Comeback for sailing and married couple Winkel, setback for Diesch/Markfort

For the 470 mixed aces in the German Sailing Team, the World Championship in the Bay of Palma is turning into a rollercoaster ride. While Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort (Württembergischer Yacht-Club/Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) had to digest two setbacks on Thursday with 26th and 22nd place after two days of top results in qualifying, Malte and Anastasiya Winkel (Schweriner Yacht-Club/Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) were able to free themselves from the bottom of the rankings.

With fighting spirit into the second half of the World Cup

With a race win and seventh place, the Winkels made a strong start to the main round after narrowly qualifying for the gold fleet. The married and sailing couple catapulted themselves from 30th to 16th place at the halfway stage of the World Championships. Helmsman Malte Winkel said: "We didn't start the World Championships as we had hoped. We struggled a lot on the first day, although we had good starts. But we just couldn't get into the rhythm. So we were pretty far down the field."

Malte Winkel continued: "The second day was more about putting in a series of solid races, which is normally quite unusual for us. But yes, we definitely managed to do that. So today we started the main round in 30th place and penultimate in the gold fleet. And then things started to go really well. So we're on the way to where we want to be. We just hope that we can continue like this over the next few days." Smiling, Anastasiya Winkel added: "We don't want to get any worse, we want to maintain our form. The only way is up!"

Theresa Löffler and Christopher Hoerr (Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club/Segelclub Breitbrunn Chiemsee) were one place ahead of the Winkels in 15th place after a total of seven races on Thursday evening, while Theres Dahnke and Matti Cipra (Plauer Wassersportverein) also remained in the top 20 in 19th place. 2022 World Champions Luise Wanser and Philipp Autenrieth, on the other hand, dropped back. The helmswoman from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein and her coxswain from the Bayerischer Yacht-Club have not yet found their gold form, have only managed one single-digit race result so far and were in 24th place after the first half of the World Championships.

The best Austrians in the top ten

The Austrians Lara Vadlau and Lukas Mähr started tenth in the gold fleet of the best 31 boats on Thursday. Both races were held on time, but in lighter winds than on the previous days. The red-white-red team initially had to accept its weakest individual result so far at these title fights with 16th place. In the second race of the top group, the experienced mixed duo took eighth place. In the overall standings, the 2023 World Championship runners-up made up one place and are now in ninth place.

On the first day in the Goldfleet, everyone literally sails with a knife between their teeth" (Lara Vadlau)

Lara Vadlau reported: "It was also brutally difficult today. On the first day in the Goldfleet, everyone is literally sailing with a knife between their teeth. It's extreme, you can't leave a millimetre of space or you'll be passed. The level of competition is incredibly high. The first race didn't quite work out for us, we lost crucial metres at the start. The second race was better, we opened well and were able to create a bit more. So far we haven't been able to play to our strengths - we want to change that over the next few days. We'll keep at it and do everything we can to improve in the remaining races."

This is also the goal of the German crews, for whom the World Championship is not only about top placings, but also important points for the national elimination in the battle for just one Olympic ticket for the 470 mixed aces of the German Sailing Team. The main round continues on Friday. Four races - two per day - are scheduled in the gold fleet until Saturday. The best ten crews in the main round will contest the medal final on Sunday.

Click here for the results of the 470 Mixed World Championship.

A look back at the end of qualifying on Wednesday - the highlights of day 2 later: