50 year Olympic Sailing Regatta in Kiel Day 4 - Wieser/Auracher with third world championship title
by Hermann Hell / Ralf Abratis 20 Aug 18:14 BST
10-21 August 2022
Markus Wieser/Thomas Auracher (VSaW) manage the hat trick in the Tempest. The reigning world champions do not have to compete on Sunday. Thanks to five race wins they are uncatchable before the last race ©
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On the fourth day of the revival of the 1972 Kiel Olympic sailing competitions, the wind developed better than predicted and even provided a perfect stage for the players in the four classes.
Although the Tempest, Star and Flying Dutchman classes will start on Sunday, one winning duo has already been determined. Markus Wieser/Thomas Auracher crowned themselves Tempest World Champions in a tough battle, making the title hat trick perfect after 2019 and 2021. For the Dragons it was already the end of the Revival with two races on Saturday. Ingo Ehrlicher (Pappenheim) celebrated the victory of the 50th Olympic anniversary of Kiel.
World Championship of the Tempest
Despite one race remaining, gold and silver have already been awarded at the Tempest World Championship. And the defending world champions are also the new ones. Markus Wieser/Thomas Auracher (Starnberger See) were able to keep the Berlin brothers Lars and Leif Bähr (2, 2, 1) on distance with two victories and a second place. Taking into account the discards, the title fight is decided. On shore, winners and runners-up high-fived each other.
"You guys were absolutely equal. It was fun with you guys," Wieser said. "Not just because we won the title, but because Tempest is a really cool boat. It's a bit like a Flying Dutchman - not quite as fast, but just as nice technically. Since I usually sail a lot in professional owner-driver yacht cicuits, I really wanted to do some sailing myself. And the Tempest is just a lot of fun."
Nevertheless, the Tempest season is now over for Wieser. Next stop: European Championship of the 6mR off Cascais/Portugal aboard Dieter Schoen's "Momo". Crew Thomas Auracher, on the other hand, is planning the German Open of the Tempest on Lake Starnberg with Rudi Houdek.
For the runners-up, too, the World Championship was only a short excursion in the Tempest. "This was only our fourth regatta in the Tempest ever and the first one this year," Leif Bähr reported. "That's why we are super happy. It was mega fun to present the class here in Kiel in this setting. It's great for our uncle (former president of the German Sailing Association, Rolf Bähr) that his nephews continue sailing in the Tempest," said Leif Bähr. His brother and helmsman Lars added: "It was an honor to sail against Markus and Thomas. It's a pity that it's already decided." In their race analysis, the Bähr brothers were complaining about the wind picking up a little too late: "In the first race today, the first buoy was near to the coastline, where we caught a 40-degree windshift on the wrong side. Markus was through with that. And with a little stronger wind, it probably would have been easier for us overall."
The best prospects for third place are former world champions Christian Spranger/Christopher Kopp from Chiemsee, but they were not satisfied with the day. "We made too many tactical mistakes, let the competitors out of our sight and didn't see the shifts properly," said crew Kopp. "But we would be happy with third place. The top ten are all great, and the top two are just better."
IDM of the Flying Dutchman
The fight for the International German Champion title of the Flying Dutchman is completely open. With changing results Kay-Uwe Lüdtke/Kai Schäfers (Berlin/Arnsberg) were able to keep the 14-time world champions Szabolcs Majthényi/Andás Domokos (Hungary) only just at a distance. Only one point separates both teams before the final race.
"The first race today went great. We won that by a big margin. In the second race we got stuck at the pin end at the start. That was our discard," Majthényi reported.
The third race of the day left a bad taste in the Hungarian's mouth. In a three-way battle with Lüdtke/Schäfers and third-placed Kilian König/Johannes Brack (Hanover), he felt hard pressed by the Germans. At the finish he ended up in the sandwich of the German crews.
Dragons
The Dragons managed two intense races in conditions that demanded a good eye for the wind shifts. The sovereign leaders of the first day, Ingo Ehrlicher/Michael Lipp/Anton Ehrlicher, did not come out of the start of the first race well and arrived at the first mark only in the midfield. But after that they found their way between the competitors, working their way up to sixth place in this race to follow it up with another race win. So the Bavarians not only took the regatta victory, but can also call themselves Northern German champions.
"The title is worth something, is highly endowed in the rankings. Therefore, we are super happy. We kept our concentration high and thus prevented ourselves from catching a bad result," Ehrlicher said. When asked about the deciding factor for the win, helmsman and tactician Lipp pointed to the 18-year-old youngster on the team.
"Anton is to blame. He just made perfect announcements," Lipp said. Tim Ladehof/Tim Alexander Jesse/Arne Brügge (Rendsburg) finished second ahead of Olaf Sternel/Mario Wagner/Stefan Waack (Hamburg).
Star
The youngsters put pressure on the experienced star crews. Max Kohlhoff/Ole Burzinski (Kiel/Flensburg) sailed the strongest series of the day with 1, 2, 1 and lead the overall ranking ahead of Jörgen Schönherr/Markus Koy (Denmark/Hamburg).
Back on shore the young star-sailors were even a bit unhappy: "Three bullits would have been possible. We were also ahead in the second race, but then gave it away on the downwind. It was simply a mental problem. I have never been so annoyed about a second place", says Max Kohlhoff, who predicts: "It will be a cool match tomorrow. We have trained a lot with Jörgen in the past week, know each other well." The experienced Dane would even have held the overall lead with his professional crew if the team had not incurred penalty points for not wearing the yellow jersey. So they will start the final from the chasing position: "The young guys know what they are doing. It's going to be interesting tomorrow," Schoenherr said. "Whether it will be a match race, we will see. The main thing is to have nice sailing," said Markus Koy. From third place, Jan Borbet/Jesper Spehr (Munich/Malente) no longer have a chance to challenge for the win.
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