470 Mixed World Championship: Gone with the wind - Diesch/Markfort fourth after cancellation of the final
Tatjana Pokorny
· 03.03.2024
Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort were three points short of a medal in the final World Championship standings. The helmsman from the Württembergischer Yacht-Club and his foresailor from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club only just missed the podium at the 470 Mixed World Championship. Their hopes of being able to fight for precious metal in Sunday's final off Mallorca with a promising starting position were dashed after hours of waiting when the medal race was cancelled.
Final cancelled in 30 knots of wind and three metre waves
Strong winds and roaring waves prevented the World Championship showdown in the newly Olympic 470 mixed discipline from taking place. "I don't know whether to laugh or cry," said Anna Markfort shortly after the official World Championship cancellation, which came around three and a half hours after the final was originally scheduled to start at 1 pm. Anna Markfort continued: "For many reasons, we would have loved to compete in the final and fight for the medal. But if someone had offered us fourth place before the start of the World Championships, we would have taken it with a kiss."
The passionate 470 sailor also spoke and said: "The 470 is one of the few Olympic sailing disciplines that can survive in such conditions. It would certainly have been an exciting race." On the other hand, the German crew, who were robbed of their medal hopes, also understood the cancellation of the final, as it would have been more than a challenge to send the race committee and coaches' boats through the surf onto the course.
In winds of around 30 knots and three-metre swell, the organisers didn't want to take any risks and ended the world championships at the host club Nàutic Arenal Mallorca without a final. Which is why the medals went to the top three after a total of eleven races in the preliminary and main rounds. The world champions were the Spaniards Jordi Xammar and Nora Brugman (67 points) ahead of the Brits Vita Heathcote/Chris Grube (67 points) and the Japanese Keiju Okada/Miho Yoshioka (72 points). The organisers' headline was "Xammar and Brugman reign in Spain".
"Chocolate medal" for Diesch/Markfort
Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort (Württembergischer Yacht-Club/Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) were only three points short of bronze with 75 points. Their series is impressive: 3, 1, 5, 3, 7, 26, 22, 11, 15 and 17 were the places they sailed to. They clearly show that three very strong World Championship days and two weaker ones led to the "chocolate medal", as Anna Markfort said with a smile.
The foresailor, who also competes for the Joersfelder Segel-Club, realised: "Our upward trend, which we are of course planning with the summit in the summer, is continuing. We were particularly strong at the World Championship on the days when we understood the conditions well and implemented our plan properly."
The 30-year-old also cited the increased team spirit in her crew as another reason for her World Championship success: "We invested a lot of time in working with our sports psychologist. That improved our mutual understanding even more and made us even stronger together than we already were." Helmsman Simon Diesch's initial assessment: "We came here to give our best performance. What we delivered here definitely shows that our performance is good enough to win medals. We're not on the podium now. But that's where we want to be in the summer. There are plenty of tasks ahead of us."
World Championship disappointment for two top German crews
DSV sports director Nadine Stegenwalner was delighted for the athletes and said: "Simon and Anna have had an outstanding World Championships. It's a shame that after so many days in the blue or red bib, they didn't get the chance to get it back on the final day. But that doesn't change much about their impressive performance."
The other Olympic squad crews from the German Sailing Team's world-class training group led by coach Steve Lovegrove, on the other hand, were unable to score as they had hoped. Malte and Anastasiya Winkel (Schweriner Yacht-Club/Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) and Luise Wanser and Philipp Autenrieth (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein/Bayerischer Yacht-Club) started the World Championships well prepared but fell short of their own standards and expectations.
Neither the silver medallists from the 2023 Olympic test regatta nor the 2022 world champions managed to break into the top ten at this world title competition with 61 boats from 25 countries. Malte and Anastasiya Winkel were able to shine with two daily victories, but like Luise Wanser and Philipp Autenrieth, they conceded too many double-digit results. The Winkels ultimately missed out on a place in the final of the top ten World Championship crews due to a painful early start in the penultimate race and finished twelfth. One place behind them, Luise Wanser and Philipp Autenrieth finished the World Championships, which were held early in the year.
All in all, we made too many gross and avoidable mistakes this week" (Malte Winkel)
Malte Winkel shed light on the weaknesses and strengths of his crew shortly after the end of the World Championship: "The fact that we were able to win the last race gave us confidence and showed that we can deliver in these conditions. But the early start was super, super annoying. All in all, we've made too many gross, sometimes avoidable mistakes this week and, from our point of view, are rightly not in the top ten. So you also have to look at it from the other perspective: Under the circumstances, we're happy to have started the elimination round as the second-best team."
Luise Wanser also made no secret of her disappointment: "We are very disappointed at the moment not to have made it into the top ten. But we will try to rectify our mistakes for the next two elimination regattas." When asked whether he was surprised by the weaknesses of the two high-calibre crews from his own strong training group, Simon Diesch said: "I wouldn't call them weaknesses. They had their construction sites, perhaps confronted with higher demands than would have been necessary. But I would also say that both teams had strong individual moments."
Diesch/Markfort lead the Olympic qualifiers
In the first of three regattas, Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort have now taken a clear lead with 17 points in the national elimination in the battle for the 470 mixed Olympic ticket, which started with the World Championship. "Of course it's a great feeling to have these 17 points," said Anna Markfort on Sunday in Kiel. Simon Diesch added: "The 17 points are very valuable, but of course we know that they are far removed from any guarantees or possibilities. The tide has shifted slightly in our favour. But the other two crews are also in a very good position to move forward in one or two events."
The most successful German 470 mixed crew at this World Championship also observed the naturally increased competitiveness of the top crews working together intensively and trustingly in a training group. Anna Markfort says with a smile: "Of course we realised that our national competitors here at the World Championships already have the knife between their teeth. You don't get free lanes for free anymore." However, this first regatta of the three-part elimination remained fair right to the end.
In the internal elimination ranking, Malte and Anastasiya Winkel followed in second place with nine points and Luise Wanser and Philipp Autenrieth with eight points. Theres Dahnke and Matti Cipra (Plauer Wassersportverein), who train with Marek Chochian, and Theresa Löffler and Christopher Hoerr (Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club/Segelclub Breitenbrunn Chiemsee) also made it into the top 20, finishing 17th and 18th respectively. Dahnke/Cipra collected four points for the national Olympic qualification, Löffler/Hoerr three. The German Sailing Team was thus the only nation with five crews to sail into the top 20.
Part two of the elimination takes place at the beginning of April with the Spanish classic Trofeo Princesa Sofía in the same area as the World Championships. The decision as to which crew can secure a ticket for the Olympic regatta in Marseille will be made at the latest at the European Championships off Cannes in May.
