Last Chance Regatta: All for one - the last Olympic starting places are at stake off Hyères

It was just three years ago that Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke crowned their Olympic career with silver in the 49er FX in Enoshima on 3 August 2021. On the same day, 49er aces Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel won their second bronze medal in Japan after 2016 in Rio. The German skiff sailors have long been among the best in the world. Now they have their backs to the wall.

At the Last Chance Regatta off Hyéres, which will be held alongside the French classic Semaine Olympique Française in the same area, they will be competing from 21 April for the last two national starting places that the German Olympic sailors are still missing on their 2024 Olympic course. The last three national starting places in each of the ten Olympic sailing disciplines will be awarded before Hyères.

Maximum GER contingent at Last Chance Regatta

The German Sailing Team has entered the maximum permitted contingent of three crews for the Last Chance Regatta in both the 49er and the 49er FX. The conditions for the GER women and men could hardly be more different. No team of 49er sailors was able to fulfil the individual Olympic qualification requirements in the national qualifying series that has already ended.

This meant that the Olympic dreams of Jakob Meggendorfer/Andreas Spranger (Bayerischer Yacht-Club), Max Stingele/Linov Scheel (Kieler Yacht-Club) and Fabian Rieger/Tom Heinrich (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee/Kieler Yacht-Club) were shattered for the time being. The three crews still want to show what they are capable of at the Last Chance Regatta.

For the 49er FX women, the situation is much more hopeful before the start of the Last Chance Regatta. Marla Bergmann and Hanna Wille won the national elimination with the recently concluded final at the Trofeo Princesa Sofía off Mallorca. They have thus cleared all the qualification hurdles on course for Marseille 2024.

As promised: all for one crew

The Elbe sailors from Mühlenberger Segel-Club (MSC) will be fighting for their Olympic dream from Sunday at the Last Chance Regatta off Hyères. They will be joined by Maru Scheel/Freya Feilcke (Kieler Yacht-Club) and Sophie Steinlein/Jill Paland (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein), who lost out in the elimination round. The crews from the German Sailing Team had promised each other this before the start of the elimination: Whoever comes out on top can count on the support of the others.

The beaten crews are now keeping their word, competing in Hyères for Marla Bergmann and Hanna Wille, even though they can no longer realise their own Olympic dream. The plan is clear: there is a better chance of success together. Because it doesn't matter which German crew finishes in the top three nations to secure one of the last three starting places for Team D, it is also conceivable that Scheel/Feilcke or Steinlein/Paland will secure the starting place that only Marla Bergmann/Hanna Wille can fill. Part two of the motto: one for all, all for one crew will apply to the German 49er FX crews from Sunday.

Only Japan, Poland and Germany have exhausted the maximum number of starters for the Last Chance Regatta in the 49er FX, sending three crews each into the race. With one crew each from Argentina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Israel, Malta and Singapore, a total of eleven nations are vying for the three national starting places in the 49er FX. Hanna Wille says about the strengths of the competition: "Poland will definitely get a ticket. The Finns have what it takes. The other nations are more mixed. There are also young and inexperienced crews."

Our group gives us mega support" (Marla Bergmann)

The two sports soldiers Marla Bergmann and Hanna Wille feel well prepared for the fight for their Olympic dream, even though a powerful mistral blew away the planned training week for all crews on site. It was not possible to train until the end of the week because winds of up to 50 knots roared across the Mediterranean. All the more reason for everyone to long for the first starting signal on Sunday. "But we are relatively calm because we can cope well in all conditions," said 22-year-old helmswoman Marla Bergmann.

Marla Bergmann and Hanna Wille find it inspiring that they are competing in the German trio at the Last Chance Regatta. Marla Bergmann says: "Everyone in our group has the potential to get a starting place. That gives us mega support. The Last Chance Regatta is a completely different event to all the others. It means more pressure for everyone. But I think we're in a very good position precisely because of our strong group. We had a lot of pressure throughout the entire elimination. We have learnt how to deal with it. As a group, we now have an advantage over the others."

Click here for the Entry lists for the Last Chance Regatta (abbreviated to "LCR") and the results of the Semaine Olympique Française, in which other starters from the German Sailing Team such as Philipp Buhl (Ilca 7), who has already qualified for the Olympics, and iQFoil windsurfer Sebastian Kördel are taking part.

A look back at Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke's silver final at the 2021 Olympic regatta in Enoshima: