Hyères, April 30, 2022. After the successful start to the season off Palma de Mallorca, the German Sailing Team continues to sail on the road to success. At the French classic Semaine Olympique Française, the national sailing team fought for two podium places, a total of six top ten positions and gained a lot of self-confidence.

The 470 mixed crew Luise Wanser/Philipp Autenrieth (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV)/Bayerischer Yacht-Club) and iQFoiler Sebastian Kördel (NRV) finished third overall. Laser World Champion Philipp Buhl (Segelclub Alpsee-Immenstadt/NRV) also shone in the top ten as fourth overall and his younger teammate Nik Aaron Willim (NRV) as eighth in the Ilca 7 (formerly Laser Standard). The kiters Leonie Meyer and Florian Gruber (both NRV) also contributed to the good top ten result of the DSV fleet with strong places seven and ten.

DSV sports director Nadine Stegenwalner said: "After Palma, this was the second major European event with a world-class line-up and good to very good results from our crews. We've seen some outstanding performances. The consistency shows that players and coaches did a really good job over the winter. The record is a strong motivation on our course to the 2024 Olympic Games.”

In the field of the new Olympic 470 mixed crews, Luise Wanser and her crew Philipp Autenrieth were again the best helmswoman. The Enoshima Olympic sixth-placed, just 24 years old, said, “We were really fast, have a speed advantage once planing conditions prevail. Of course we still make mistakes. I'm still young and we're a new team. In the medal final we had to curl on the home straight. But overall we are very happy with our performance - a good basis for the future". Theres Dahnke and Matti Cipra (Plau water sports club) as well as Malte and Anastasiya Winkel (Schwerin Yacht Club/NRV) completed the good German 470 mixed balance with ranks 13 and 15.

Without a race on the final day, which was canceled for the iQFoiler in the very light winds off Hyères, Sebastian Kördel surfed in 3rd place. Despite illness in the previous week, the 31-year-old was able to improve quickly at the French Olympic week and fight for the podium place. "That's a great result, which my coach Dom Tidey is also very happy about. It is our first podium finish together.”

Philipp Buhl, on the other hand, saw his fourth place with mixed feelings. The Allgäuer had dominated the Ilca-7 fleet for four days with outstanding performances and five stage victories until, like other top players, he was slightly slowed down by a complicated light wind day one day before the final. Although Buhl went into the final with the same number of points as the eventual winner Pavlos Kontides from Cyprus, he lost his well-deserved place on the podium with eighth place. “Things went extremely well this week. Today might have been a good wake up call. For the World Cup in a month's time in Mexico, I'll take a lot of good things and a boost of self-confidence with me," said Philipp Buhl in France.

The best result of his career was celebrated by Buhl's training partner Nik Aaron Willim, who finished eighth in the Ilca 7 right in the middle of the world class. His conclusion was correspondingly happy: "I was able to activate myself one hundred percent and am happy about two things: Firstly, I showed myself that I can do it. On the other hand, after many injuries in recent years, I have had stamina. Sailing has never been more fun! I can now go into the World Championships with more joy, power and composure and I think that Philipp and I can do a lot there in our current condition. Philipp is a great training partner who is sure to be sailing close to the title in Mexico."

In the German skiff parade disciplines 49er and 49erFX, the German top crews were not at the start in this early phase of the season. The 29th place of Jakob Meggendorfer/Andreas Spranger (Bavarian Yacht Club) was due to an illness of the helmsman and the end of the regatta halfway through an impressive start by the southern Germans.