A change of guard has become apparent at the Semaine Olympique in Hyères, France. The results in the 49er are particularly sensational. The Peckholt brothers won ahead of the Olympians Baur / Groy. T-Systems' entry is already paying off.
The last race shows the German dominance in this class. Baur / Groy won ahead of the Peckholts and the junior team Thomas Rein / Patrick Böhmer, which landed on a remarkable 13th place in the world class field.
But especially the duel at the top caused a stir. In the qualifying races on the first stormy Mistral days, the Germans were on par as they were later in the weaker winds. Then Jan-Peter and Hannes Peckholt started the impressive series 1/1/2/1/2.
Among the defeated was the Ukrainian silver medalist from Athens Luka / Leonschuk in seventh place.
The challengers were also successful in the Tornado class. Johannes Polgar and Florian Spalteholz finished fifth after an outstanding strong wind performance, ahead of the Olympians Gäbler / Struckmann (6th). Olympic champions Hagara / Steinacher were 18.
Alexander Schlonski made his international breakthrough in the laser class. In the world-class field of 126 boats, he finished fifth, directly ahead of the Slovenian bronze winner Zbogar and silver medalist Andreas Gerritzer from Austria.
Schlonski had the option to transfer to the star boat. But he decided vehemently to start a second laser campaign. The success proves him right.
Tobias Schadewaldt also showed with two second places and one day win that the month-long training session in Rio with coach Klaus Lahme has borne fruit. With overall rank 17 he landed ahead of the German class leader Matthias Riek, who disappointed in 33rd place.
The performance of the Croatians in places two to four was remarkable.
In the Yngling class, Ulrike Schümann and her newly formed team, RunKappel and Ute Höpfner, have not yet been able to ring in a change of guard. After three failures they ended up in 12th place, but a third place at the end showed potential.
Olympic starter Kristin Wagner also had a hard time with AnnHöll and the new forecastle woman AngelStenger and finished ninth.
The appearance of the new Olympic class Laser Radial for women was eagerly awaited. And the field of 61 starters shows optimism. Christiane de Nijs, who switched to Europe, stayed at the top, especially in strong winds, but was unable to keep up in the last few races and ended up in 16th place.
Amelie Lux presented herself in good shape, surfing the silver square with a victory in the final race. However, the surfers still competed with old Mistral material. The cards are being reshuffled with the new Olympic Neil Pryde RSX Raceboard. Due to delivery problems, it will only be used later in the season.
The organizers of the regatta caused a sensation with a new format. In the Finn and Yngling classes, they let the best three boats race for victory. Little wind caused problems in this media-effective triple race, but attempts to make sailing more attractive are to be continued.
Results