Trofeo Princesa Sofía: Fulminant strong wind start for DSV teams - two victories for Buhl
Tatjana Pokorny
· 01.04.2024
This is how you want to start a very important regatta as an Olympic sailor on Easter Monday: Philipp Buhl opened the Spanish classic with two victories in the largest Trofeo field of 184 boats in the Ilca 7 dinghies. In crisp conditions between 17 and 25 knots of wind, the helmsman, who competes for the Alpsee-Immenstadt sailing club and the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, was in his element. So much so that he even managed to avoid a capsize on the reach in the second race of the day and still win the race by a wide margin.
Philipp Buhl fights for third Olympic start
Philipp Buhl said in Can Pastilla: "Solid starts and a very good boat speed made life a little easier for me today. The conditions were really nice and very challenging. A challenging wave pattern with 17 to 25 knots of wind and sunshine made for a great start to the regatta. From tomorrow, however, the conditions will look very different ..." Buhl's training partner Nik Aaron Willim initially had to line up in 37th place. Niko Naujok placed 13th in 3rd and 9th place.
For the Ilca 7 helmsmen, the regatta in the bay between Can Pastilla and S'Arenal, as well as for the women in the Ilca 6, the iQFoil surfers, the skiff sailors in the 49er and 49er FX and the Nacra 17 duo Paul Kohlhoff/Alica Stuhlemmer, marks the last of their three elimination regattas in the national battle for an Olympic ticket. Philipp Buhl leads the internal rankings in the Ilca 7 with 26:12 points after finishing fourth in the duel with Nik Aaron Willim, and has a 14-point lead ahead of the decision in Spain.
The situation is very different for the Ilca 6 sailors. Although they were also able to secure a place on the national starting grid for the 2023 World Championships early on, they have been struggling to overcome the other qualification hurdles with dwindling chances ever since. The Trofeo Princesa Sofía offers the last opportunity to fulfil the qualification requirements of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) for an Olympic start after all. At least a twelfth place in one of the three qualifying regattas must be achieved. It is still missing.
High hurdles on course for the Olympics for Ilca 6 sailors
If he succeeds at the Trofeo, there is another hurdle to overcome, which has now become even higher: The candidate must be placed among the top ten nations in the final internal DSV ranking of the three elimination regattas (World Championship 2024, European Championship 2024, Trofeo Princesa Sofía). Sailors such as Hannah Anderssohn, who made waves in Spain on day one with a third place and a win on the opening day, and Julia Büsselberg, who started the series in 18th place with 13th and 7th place in the field of 114 starters, will be fighting one last time in Spain for that elusive Olympic ticket.
The strong wind day at the end of Easter allowed the "chocolate sides" of some of Germany's top sailors to shine. In the fiercely contested national Olympic 470 mixed class, it is clear that Germany's best are sailing towards the decision in their elimination. After the first of the three elimination regattas before the start of the Trofeo, Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort were in the lead with 17 points, ahead of Malte and Anastasiya Winkel (9 points) and the 2022 World Champions Luise Wanser/Philipp Autenrieth (8 points).
The Winkel sailing couple storms to the top
The opening power play at the Trofeo on Easter Monday was best achieved by the married and sailing couple Malte and Anastasiya Winkel with a win on the day and second place. The helmsman from the Schweriner Yacht-Club and his fore-sailor from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein led the classification in the evening. Theres Dahnke and Matti Cipra (Plauer Wassersport-Verein), who opened their series strongly in fifth place, also won the day and finished eighth. Not far from them, Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort also got off to a good start in the Spain regatta with ninth place and a win on the day. Luise Wanser and Philipp Autenrieth were initially in 24th place.
Malte Winkel described well in the evening just how much all the crews and the Formula kiters were challenged on Monday: "The conditions were really great. It was great fun. It was also super challenging, super technical, really tough for junior teams, some of whom were in survival mode. Many capsized, but this is the baptism of fire for the Trofeo. It went really well for us. We were fast on the water today. Speed was a factor. We started well in one race, not so well in the other, but led at the cross buoy in both races. We are very happy with 2nd and 1st place. But it's only the first day and the regatta is still a long way off."
Leonie Meyer (NRV) was in eighth place after the first two races. Her male team-mates found the conditions a little more difficult. Florian Gruber (13th), Jan Vöster (19th) and Jannis Maus (26th) want to attack again on Tuesday in more moderate conditions.
Tough start, milder conditions in sight
The German Sailing Team has made a successful start to the Spanish week with a total of six daily victories in five of the ten Olympic sailing disciplines. It ends on 6 April with the medal races and the first Olympic decisions for the German candidates. A total of almost 850 boats with 1,100 athletes from 76 countries are competing in the Bay of Palma. Many other sailing nations also organise part of their Olympic qualification here. The early date in the year makes the Trofeo Princesa Sofía a regular hotspot for Olympic athletes.
The organisers summed up just how tough the first day of the six-day regatta was for the athletes in the headline for their daily report in the evening: "'Full throttle', '...crazy', '...nuclear', '...extreme' - 'Big Monday' opens the 53rd Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by Iberostar". Softer conditions are expected for the coming days.
The trailer for the 53rd Trofeo Princesa Sofía - the world's best Olympic sailors in action:
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
