No German Olympic sailor has collected as many European and World Championship medals in the past 15 years as Philipp Buhl. With second place at the European Championships for Olympic Ilca 7 sailors in Split, the 36-year-old from Allgäu has now added the eighth precious metal to his impressive collection with a silver medal. He has won gold once (2020), silver once (2015) and bronze twice (2013, 2018) at world championships. Buhl has also won gold (2012), silver (2015) and bronze (2019) at the European Championships.
Ilca 7 European Championships: the eighth major medal for Philipp Buhl
Another silver medal has now been added at the Ilca-7 European Championship. On the one hand, it shows the class of the perennial favourite and on the other, it confirms the required proof for the subsequent nomination for the German Sailing Team's support squad. The hurdle for this was high in the XL field of 173 starters from 53 nations: Buhl had to finish in the top three. Under pressure, he managed this masterfully.
Before the start of the Ilca-7 European Championship, Philipp Buhl had declared that it would be "very difficult to get it right, but I'll try." After nine races - first in sea breeze conditions, then finally in complicated and unstable winds - the task was completed with flying colours.
At the end of nine races and an outstanding penultimate race, Philipp Buhl's 40 points were just one point short of the 39 points with which Cypriot Pavlos Kontides crowned European champion became. Philipp Buhl, who has been working on his own in recent months without squad status and had been focussing intensively on the important European Championships task, said in Split: "I have shown myself and others that I am a good athlete. in a compromising situation can sail in front. That's worth a lot. And it's also fun to be at the front."
Success through hard work, mental training and a top coach
Two factors gave Buhl an additional boost at this Ilca 7 European Championships: "I trained hard and a lot in the athletic area. And I spent a few hours working with a mental coach. In addition, Marc Pickel is simply a great coach with a lot of experience and expertise. He has a very analytical and ingenious way of thinking. And perhaps a weakness that is also his great strength: he speaks unfiltered. If you want to know what's going on, he'll tell you."
Dom Tidey, Head Coach of the German Sailing Team, watched the title fights on site and said: "Philipp showed his world-class ability. It shows what you can achieve with the right mindset. We are delighted for him and that he has won a medal for German sailing." George Gautrey from New Zealand came third in the open European Championship classification (42 points). European Championship bronze in the closed European Championship classification went to Croatia's Filip Jurisič (68 points).
Philipp Buhl, who competes for the Alpsee-Immenstadt Sailing Club and the North German Regatta Club, has laid the foundations for his squad comeback with his performance. He received many congratulations on Friday evening. There were several comments on social media saying "Buhl is back". Dom Tidey signalled that the association wants to talk to Germany's most successful Ilca 7 helmsman to find out "how Philipp wants to continue and what we as an association can do to achieve this." The other best Ilca 7 sailors in the national sailing team, who had started the year in formidable fashion, were a little less fortunate at these title fights.
The boys set European Championship highlights, U23 bronze for Schweckendiek
Second best at the European Championships was 23-year-old SCAI team-mate Julian Hoffmann. Although he was delighted with five strong top six results, he also scored high points with 42nd, 43rd and 21st places. Among other things, he had noticed that he tended to have his worse results in the first runs of a race day. "You have to analyse that more closely," said Hoffmann. And also this: "I'm not happy, but I'm satisfied."
Like other team-mates, the sixteenth-placed sailor was one of those who had bad luck more than once at this European Championship when races were cancelled due to excessive spinning when he and the other GER dinghies were in a great position. Ole Schweckendiek, who is only 21 years old, also shared this fate and was even in the lead when a race was cancelled. National coach Alex Schlonski said about the cancellation of the first race on the final day: "It was a bit frustrating that this race was cancelled, because there were similarly strong wind shifts on the next attempt, but the race then went through." With less good results for his protégés...
Schlonski's assessment of the European Championships was frank: "After the good results at the start of the season, it wasn't quite what we had imagined. We had expected more. Julian's 16th place is a good one. Ole, Nik and Justin can do better." Ole Schweckendiek (Kieler Yacht-Club), Nik Aaron Willim (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) and Justin Barth (Berliner Yacht-Club) finished the series in 30th, 31st and 32nd place, but Ole Schweckendiek's U23 bronze at the award ceremony in Marina Koštela was more than just a consolation and a reminder that he is only 21 years old and can already win races in the senior field.
Julia Büsselberg sails into the European Championship top ten
Parallel to the Ilca 7 men, the Ilca 6 women were also challenged in Croatia. Maria Erdi from Hungary is the new European champion. She beat the American Charlotte Rose (62 points) and the Brit Matilda Nicholls (79 points) with just 54 points in the open European Championship classification. Berlin Olympian Julia Büsselberg from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club sailed to a strong tenth place in the field of 120 starters. Click here for the European Championship results of the Ilca-6 fleet.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
