The 49er and 49erFX Junior World Championships in Rungstedt near Copenhagen, Denmark, turned out to be a triumph for the young German sailors. With two world championship titles in the open classification, two U21 world championship titles and a bronze medal in the U21 classification, the German Sailing Team impressively demonstrated its strength in the Olympic skiff classes.
Double success in the 49erFX
In the 49erFX (29 starters), Katharina Schwachhofer from Württembergischer Yacht-Club (WYC) and Segelkameradschaft Leopoldshafen secured their first joint title at a top international event together with Elena Stolze (WYC) from the perspective squad of the German Sailing Team. With this success, they confirmed their rising form and established themselves at the top of junior sailing. The strong German performance in this class was rounded off by two further top ten placings: Junior squad sailors Anna Barth and Emma Kohlhoff from the Kiel Yacht Club finished in fourth place, while Sophie Schneider and Victoria Egger-Buck from the Württemberg Yacht Club of the DSV youth national team sailed to sixth place.
Particularly noteworthy was the success of 18-year-old Sophie Schneider and her even younger foresailor Victoria Egger-Buck, who secured the U21 world championship title in the 49erFX class. Seventeen-year-old twin brothers Lucas and Moritz Hamm from the Chiemsee Yacht Club took the world championship title in the U21 49er classification. The two had triumphed in the 29er at the European Championships just a month earlier and proved their ability to adapt quickly to the larger Olympic skiff class with this success.
Haschen/Fromm dominate in the 49er
In the 49er (53 starters), the world championship title went to Kjell Haschen, who competes for the Lübeck Yacht Club and the Kiel Yacht Club (KYC), and his co-skipper Iven Fromm from the KYC. The team from the junior squad of the German Sailing Team prevailed against the international competition and thus emphasised the high level of German junior work. With Jesper Bahr from Lübecker Segler-Verein and Finn Kaufhold from Wind und Welle in eighth place and Moritz Dorau and Riko Rockenbauch from Württembergischer Yacht-Club in ninth place, two other German teams finished in the top ten. The bronze medal in the U21 classification went to Simon Heindl and Conrad Jacobs from the Kieler Yacht-Club from the perspective squad.
DSV head coach Dom Tidey was delighted with the performance of his protégés: "This success continues the remarkable series of medals won by German sailing this season. In view of the many talented young sailors, I am really excited about the future."
