Trofeo Princesa Sofía: Two silver linings on the horizon for the new Olympics

German-Maltese Richard Schultheis, who is only 19 years old, and his ten-year-older co-skipper Fabian Rieger from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club stood out with an outstanding performance in their first regatta together. After just three weeks in the same boat, the crew performed "phenomenally" according to DSV head coach Dom Tidey.

The ultimate goal: an Olympic medal

Schultheis was born in Berlin but grew up in Malta, for which he has previously competed internationally. The 49er Youth World Champion from 2024 and fifth in the most recent Moth World Championships is regarded as an exceptional talent, is now contesting his first Olympic campaign under the German flag and has been a member of the German Sailing Team's perspective squad and the NRV Olympic Team of the North German Regatta Association in Hamburg since the start of the year.

"The ultimate goal is to compete at the Olympic Games and fight for a medal," said Schultheis, who Dom Tidey described as "highly focussed and powerful". After just three weeks in a boat, the duo Schultheis/Rieger shone this week in the bay of Palma, performed at world-class level, sailed with the yellow jersey of the leaders on many days and, after a commanding victory in the medal final, took silver on their debut.

At the Trofeo Princesa Sofía, they were only beaten by the French world champions Erwan Fischer and Clément Péquin. In addition to Richard Schultheis' impressive quality, Fabian Rieger brings 49er routine and experience as helmsman and foresailor to the team. Fabian Rieger won World Championship bronze in Aarhus in 2018 with his then helmsman Tim Fischer and the European 49er Championship in 2020.

New crew, new perspectives

After Fischer's retirement from Olympic sailing, Rieger himself switched to the helm of the 49er for a year and a half before forming a promising new crew with Richard Schultheis and moving back to the position of skipper.

Together they form a world-class team with a bright future." Dom Tidey

Dom Tidey describes what makes the combination of Richard Schultheis and Fabian Rieger so exciting and promising: "What an interesting combination the two of them make: We have the youthful enthusiasm with a highly concentrated focus and high credibility due to previous achievements combined with Fabi's broad range of experience, who has seen it all and done it all."

With their final victory in the medal race, Richard Schultheis and Fabian Rieger were once again able to show their class and determination on the final day. "We tried to put the French under pressure in the final so that they wouldn't put us under pressure. We did that until one minute before the start and then found a good gap. When someone was whistled out during the race due to an early start, the theoretical chance of victory was also gone. But we were able to realise our plan and put in a good medal race," reported Fabian Rieger after the final.

Successful comeback for Diesch/Markfort

Rieger's conclusion after an outstanding series for his crew: "The week suited us both with technically demanding conditions." Richard Schultheis agreed: "It was a great start to our campaign, but there is still a long way to go. The 49er is a boat that is great fun to sail, but you also have to put a lot of time and work into it."

The second silver medal went to the experienced 470 mixed duo Simon Diesch/Anna Markfort (Württembergischer Yacht-Club/Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee). After finishing 14th at the Olympic regatta in Marseille, they decided to mount another joint Olympic campaign last autumn at the German Championship on Lake Constance. Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort have now got off to an almost ideal start with second place.

We definitely proved once again that we can fight our way forward." Anna Markfort

According to Anna Markfort, her team has "turned a few screws half a turn further". However, she did not want to reveal any details. But other keys to success at the Trofeo Princesa Sofía: "The mindset was definitely important here: it's not over until the finish line is reached. There were often offshore conditions, which are rather atypical Palma conditions."

Seventh place for Team Germany in the nations ranking

The 470 mixed team mates Theresa Löffler and Christopher Hoerr (Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club/Segelclub Breitbrunn Chiemsee) also mastered the associated challenges very well. They had started the final in sixth place and were able to work their way up to fourth place with third place in the medal race.

While not all of the top players were active again in some classes at this early stage, but will only gradually return, only a few heavyweights were missing from the 470 mixed. However, as in many Olympic disciplines, there are also many new faces to be discovered here on course for the 2028 Olympics.

Great Britain (5 x gold, 2 x silver, 2 x bronze) confidently won the nations' ranking of the first regatta of the Sailing Grand Slam ahead of Australia (2 x gold) and China (1 x gold, 1 x silver, 1 x bronze). The German Olympic sailors finished in seventh place behind France (1 x gold, 1 x bronze), Singapore (1 x gold) and Italy (4 x silver, 1 x bronze) with two silver medals and a total of five top ten placings out of 55 countries. All Final results and the national mirror can be found here.

Food poisoning in two service providers

An even better team result was spoilt by food poisoning from different sources and with different consequences for two key players: kiter Jannis Maus, a brilliant Olympic fifth-placer in Marseille, had already fallen ill at the weekend before the first start of the Trofeo Princesa Sofía. The man from Oldenburg still managed to get through the first day, but then decided to give up in consideration of his health and with an eye on the next regatta.

Olympic sixth-placed Theresa Steinlein was caught out in the middle of the Trofeo Princesa Sofía. The poor results on just one day show the consequences of a heavy and sleepless night. However, Germany's best iQFOiL windsurfer fought her way back and finished fifth at the first summit of the Olympic sailors in the new season.

Review! The highlights from the fifth day show how the Olympic sailors battled for a place in the medal races: