470 Mixed World Championship: Medal possible - Diesch/Markfort in attacking mood

The tension is rising in the Polish World Championship area off Gdynia. The 49 crews from 19 nations had to master three races at the 470 Mixed World Championship on Thursday. "As you could probably see from the results, it was relatively windy here in Gdynia today. A little less in the first race, but later 16 to 18 knots from the north-north-west," said Anna Markfort with a little twinkle in her eye.

470 Mixed World Championship: German power players score points

The race day went accordingly for the strong wind aces Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort, who moved up to third place with 13th place and two wins on the day. "It was mainly about speed, which we know we have quite well in a bit more wind. That helped us a lot today," said Anna Markfort, highlighting the successful race day in line with the motto: "We step on the gas and have fun. The 13th place in the first race was "a bit painful", but the two subsequent race wins in the second half of the 470 Mixed World Championship tasted sweeter.

Anna Markfort said two days before the World Championship final: "It was a fairly open racetrack today with relatively few shifts. This means that positioning played an important role. What we didn't manage quite so well in the first race, we managed all the better in the second and third races of the day. Of course, that makes it fun to race!"

With a total of three daily victories in eight races, Diesch/Markfort have only collected 22 net points so far. The leading Spanish defending champion Jordi Xammar with Marta Cardona and the Brits Hannah Bristow/James Taylor in second place have just one point less each on their 470 Mixed World Championship accounts. Everything points to a thriller final on 14 June. You can read how the series began here.

Plenty of wind in the Polish World Cup area

"Tomorrow is the big day, so to speak, with another three races. A lot of points will be awarded again. We have to make sure we come through solidly. We haven't had any huge slip-ups so far and of course we want to keep trying to keep our total points as low as possible," announced Anna Markfort. The 31-year-old Olympian, who competes for the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club and the Joersfelder Segel-Club, had this to say about her strategy for the final sprint: "We will definitely tackle race after race, and we have to."

Markfort's view of the scenario in the final sprint: "The top three boats are virtually level on points with a one-point difference. There is a tiny buffer towards the back, but a lot can still happen in three races. We are delighted that we can sail three more Goldfleet races. In view of the many postponed starts at the European Championship, it is all the more pleasing that we will probably get our full number of races here at the World Championship despite the difficulties at the start. We are looking forward to tomorrow!"

The sailors at the 470 Mixed World Championship can expect wind from a similar direction on Friday as on Thursday, but less pressure. Anna Markfort says: "Ten to twelve knots are forecast for tomorrow. That means: just about at the pumping limit, where we will be allowed to pump. It will probably be sunny again, which of course makes us happy after the last few days have been relatively wet. From above, not just from the water. We'll see tomorrow what we actually get."

470 Mixed World Championship: GER duos remain hungry

Other team-mates from the German Sailing Team are also taking the same approach at the 470 Mixed World Championship. They too could catapult themselves into medal reach with a strong final day: Theres Dahnke and Paco Melzer (Plauer Wassersportverein/Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) have the best prospects after Diesch/Markfort, lying in sixth place with 42 points after eight races.

Theresa Löffler/Christopher Hoerr (Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club/Segel-Club Breitbrunn-Chiemsee) are fighting for a place in the medal race after a mixed World Championship campaign in thirteenth place. After eight races, they were nine points behind tenth place. The same was true for Austria's Olympic champion Lara Vadlau and her new co-sailor Niklas Haberl, who will be fighting for a place in the final of the top ten 470 duos on Friday, one place behind Löffler/Hoerr.

Malte Winkel and Paula Schütze, who finished in the top ten the day before after two day wins, will also be looking to make up for their Thursday setbacks on Friday, starting from 17th place. Click here for the interim results of the 470 Mixed World Championship. Many preliminary decisions will be made in Gdynia on 13 June, but precious metals will only be distributed on Saturday after the medal race.