World Championship 49er, FX & Nacra 17: Thrilling final format, Steinlein/Bartelheimer shine

At the World Championships for 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17, a new final format was tested for its suitability for the Olympics for the first time this Sunday: the so-called "4-point race". Behind this somewhat unwieldy title was the showdown of the best four boats after the fleet race series and an interposed "Gold Umpired Fleet Race" of the best 20 boats with a non-cancellable result. What initially sounded complicated in theory proved to be a catalyst for tension in reality.

World Championship 49er, FX and Nacra 17: High tension until the end

Torn between the desire of the athletes for as many race results as possible to determine their champions in the natural sport of sailing as fairly as possible on the one hand and the desire of the IOC, broadcasters and the public for excitement right to the end on the other, sailing is looking for ways to fulfil both requirements on the LA2028 course. The current World Championship test has shown that it is basically possible.

Here we explained the new format that was used for the 49er, FX and Nacra 17 at the World Championships.

At the world championships off the coast of Sardinia on Sunday, the organisers added a "Gold Fleet Umpired Race" between the completed fleet race series and the new "4-point final". They wanted to simulate an Olympic field on the way to the all-important final race. In fact, both the "Gold Fleet Umpired Race" with the top 20 and the "4-point final" offered intensity and high tension.

For the first time, one of The final was held in a format designed by the sailors, which combined the traditions of a series-based regatta with a final in which the winners could not - as has often been the case in the past - be decided in advance. On the contrary: everything was at stake in the final. All four participating boats could win world championship gold with a race victory. The new approach delivered what the organisers had hoped for: unpredictable races with medal decisions at the very end.

Who won the world championship gold?

With two Spanish skiff victories and a British Nacra 17 triumph, the 2025 World Championship in Cagliari showed high-performance sailing at its best. While the Spanish Olympic champions and defending SailGP champions Diego Botin and Florian Trittel, the best fleet racers in the 49er, also took gold in the '4-point final', compatriots Paula Barceló and Maria Cantero in the 49erFX and Great Britain's John Gimson and Anna Burnet in the Nacra 17 made the most of their chance to overtake the previous leaders in the final and win World Championship gold.

So both are possible in the new finals format: the Fleetrace winners can go all the way or one of the other three final boats can win. In any case, a strong performance over the entire World Championship week remains the basic requirement. Until the World Championship medals were awarded on Cagliari's Poetto Beach, the tension was intense - albeit without German participation.

In fifth place after the fleet races, Sophie Steinlein and Catherine Bartelheimer (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein/Segelclub Inning am Ammersee) only just missed out on a place in the final of the best four boats after the fleet races. Several times they were even ahead of the British team Freya Black and Saskia Tidey in the intermediate race of the top 20, with whom they fought in a duel for fourth place in the final. In the end, fifth place marked the biggest success for the German women's crew at their first World Championships together.

Travelling fast and with a plan: Steinlein and Bartelheimer

DSV head coach Dom Tidey was in Sardinia with the German Sailing Team and had this to say about the performance of Sophie Steinlein and Catharine Bartelheimer: "Sophie and Catherine had the speed, were fast and had a plan. They acted with confidence and determination." Sophie Steinlein declared "our mental strength" to be a success factor for her team in this World Championship week. "We feel very well supported by the team, work with a mental coach and also know that the NRV has our back," said Sophie Steinlein.

The other two top ten crews from the German Sailing Team also competed in a boat for the first time at a world championship in the Olympic skiff senior field: SailGP strategist Anna Barth and her newly turned 18-year-old foresailor Emma Kohlhoff from the Kiel Yacht Club catapulted themselves to tenth place on the final day of the world championship. "With fifth place and two tenth places, we showed where we stand, but also what we are capable of. The fact that all three of our crews finished in the top ten in their first World Championships together in the senior Olympic field is remarkable," said Dom Tidey.

Richard Schultheis and Fabian Rieger secured the second tenth place in the World Championship with their convincing second place in the "Gold Umpired Fleet Race". After some highs such as two daily victories and lows such as the weak final day, the helmsman from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein and his coxswain from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club showed once again why they are already regarded as "shooting stars" in the first year of their career together.

WM 49er, FX and Nacra 17: Final format with potential

With silver at the Spanish classic Trofeo Princesa Sofía and at the Semaine Olympique, Schultheis and Rieger made an almost sensational lightning start to the season. However, following the return of other strong veterans to the 49er scene, the top of the men's skiff has become even broader. "We had a good start, but we know that there is a long way to go," said Richard Schultheis.

Commenting on the new format, the 2024 49er Junior World Champion and two-time Moth World Championship fifth-placer said: "It definitely means changes that sailors will have to adapt to. To win medals, you still need to have sailed four or five really good days to get into the '4-point race'. You have to perform well every day. As sailors, we mostly want things to go a bit consistently." Sophie Steinlein said of the new final format, which was being tested for the first time: "I thought it was really cool and pretty fair for the sailors, but also exciting for the media."

REPLAY! The replay of the broadcast of the medal series off Poetto Beach: