470 Mixed World Championship: With tears at the finish - silver for Diesch and Markfort

Not winning World Championship gold on equal points with the old and new world champions - that hurts at first. At the same time, the performance of Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort at the 470 Mixed World Championship in the Polish waters off Gdynia - as the equal points score with the Spanish world champions also shows - was an impressive showcase for the DSV crew. "There were tears of joy and melancholy on board at the same time after crossing the finish line," said Anna Markfort, summarising the mixed feelings on board the 470 "Sunny" with the sail number GER 11 after the thrilling World Championship showdown in Gdynia.

470 Mixed World Championships: Silver balm for Diesch/Markfort

Jordi Xammar Hernàndez has won a 470 Mixed World Championship for the second time in a row. After winning the title last year with Nora Brugmann, the Spaniard was successful this year with his new foresailor Marta Cardona Alcàntara. At the last moment, ESP 44 was able to overtake the best boat from the German Sailing Team in the final and secure the World Championship gold. Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort won silver, crowning an outstanding first season on course for LA 2028.

After silver and gold at the Sailing Grand Slam regattas in Spain and France, this is Diesch/Markfort's third podium finish this year. This is a convincing start to their second joint Olympic campaign, in which they aim to settle their outstanding score with the Games after finishing 14th in Marseille last summer.

"We keep grounding ourselves from time to time, we know where we've come from, the Olympic experience we've picked ourselves up from. The fact that the season has now ended with three out of four possible podium places is of course balm for the soul," said Anna Markfort, explaining her joy at the realisation that her team is rock solid at the top of the world in Olympic 470 mixed sailing.

The thriller final: two starts, two cancellations, showdown

Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort (Württembergischer Yacht-Club/Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee/Joersfelder Segel-Club) would have preferred to be world champions in the final of the 470 Mixed World Championship, but the Spaniards prevented this at the last minute in the fickle winds of the medal race. After a World Championship week with often powerful winds, the double scored final was influenced by light, but above all strongly shifting winds.

After two starts and two cancellations, the race committee searched for and found a course a little further out that was just about sailable. More than an hour after the first starting signal, the medal race was completed on the third attempt. Initially, it looked as if Diesch/Markfort could go for gold. As in the two previous attempts, they were again well positioned. But then the wind shifted further and further to the left and became weaker. The field shifted together.

The Spaniards were able to overtake the Germans at the last mark before the short reach to the finish and crossed the line in fourth place. Diesch and Markfort followed in fifth place. This one place better was enough to win the Iberian title. Jordi Xammar Hernàndez and Marta Cardona Alántara won the World Championships with just 48 points to their name. Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort finished runners-up with the same number of points. Great Britain's Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris won world championship bronze with just one point more. They had finished third in the medal race and were therefore also close to a World Championship coup.

Head coach Tom Tidey praises the teams

"The fact that all three of us finished one after the other says it all," explained Anna Markfort after the close decision. Head coach Dom Tidey, who was in charge of the strong 470 squad of the national sailing team in Gdynia, said after the final: "If Simon and Anna ever thought they had a light wind weakness, I didn't see it today. They got themselves into strong positions. Then in the final they had a Portuguese crew upwind, where the foresailor went overboard. That opened up a small gap for the Spaniards..."

Dom Tidey also said: "I'm super impressed with Simon and Anna's performance. They really stood up on the final day in particular with an outstanding performance. I'm also pleased with the performance development of Theres and Paco, the resilience of Theresa and Christopher, the race wins of Malte and Paula, who were even ahead one more time when a race was cancelled. I'm delighted with other good individual performances and also the performance of the coaches. We knew that we were competing here with a good basis and want to continue this work in a focussed manner."

The head coach's general praise for the 470 mixed sailors from the German Sailign Team looked like this in figures: Theres Dahnke and Paco Melzer (Plauer Wassersportverein/Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) defended their eighth place at the World Championships in the final. Coxswain Theres Dahnke said: "It was our first medal race together. After a long and exhausting week, it's great that we managed eighth place. The intensive winter work has paid off for us. Of course, we haven't had as many hours in the water as the others, but we're slowly getting up to speed." The Dahnke/Melzer crew have only been in a boat since November 2024.

470 Mixed World Championship: A damper on the silver lustre

Theresa Löffler and Christopher Hoerr (Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club/Segel-Club Breitbrunn-Chiemsee) narrowly missed out on the final of the top ten at the 470 Mixed World Championship after a mixed start and good comeback successes, finishing just one point behind in tenth place after eleven World Championship races. Team-mate Theres Dahnke commented: "It's unusual that they didn't make it to the final with 83 points. It was a real low-point event."

The likewise newly formed crew of Malte Winkel and Paula Schütze (Schweriner Yacht-Club/Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) had competed remarkably strongly in the first half of the World Championship with two race wins despite an early start, and were even ahead in another race when it was cancelled. However, after a self-inflicted collision with damage and overnight repairs, they were unable to get back into their winning rhythm.