World Cup experiences and dream of the Olympics: BYC duo sixth in Canada - Catherine Bartelheimer convinced

Created: 09/08/2022, 07:12

By: Michael Grözinger

Strong final sprint rewarded with sixth place: Jakob Meggendorfer (right) and Andreas Spranger from the Bavarian Yacht Club achieved their greatest career success at the 49er World Championship in Halifax.

© SailingEnergy

The district participants returned home from the Sailing World Championships in the fast Olympic boat classes with strong results.

The top of the world is within striking distance.

Starnberg/Inning/Tutzing – The sailors from the Five Lakes Region did a great job at the World Championships for the three fast Olympic boat classes – 49er, 49er FX and Nacra 17 – in Halifax, Canada.

Jakob Meggendorfer and Andreas Spranger from the Bavarian Yacht Club did best.

The Starnberg duo celebrated their greatest career success to date at the 49er World Championships: the crew finished sixth as the best German team.

In the field of 65 skiff teams from 23 countries, the 26-year-old helmsman Meggendorfer and his 25-year-old crew Spranger achieved strong results in the 15 regular races.

After two early third places, the two had a small dry spell with many double-digit placings before they pushed forward to seventh place with a splendid final sprint and places four, three and two in races 13 to 15.

Meggendorfer/Spranger "super happy" with sixth place in the World Championship

In the medal race that followed, the duo presented themselves as concentrated and aggressive.

With very good positioning in turning conditions, the BYC crew finished third, moving up one place in the final standings and achieving their first top ten result at world championships.

“Finally we were able to show what we can do at a World Cup.

We are super happy and also relieved," said Meggendorfer.

“Now we hope to be consistent and achieve more top ten placements.

Our training group was and is extremely valuable for this in recent years,” added the Starnberg helmsman.

"We were able to push each other forward and are also happy for Linov and Max." Linov Scheel and Max Stingele from the Kiel Yacht Club finished 13th in Canada as the second best German team.

Coach Max Groy on the Starnberg duo: the overall package is right

Coach Max Groy added: "With Jakob and Andreas, the overall package has been right for a long time: speed, tactics, strategy and communication with each other - it could hardly have gone better." The two top German teams had shown "that they can move up and be on an equal footing act when others don't perform.

The tip has gotten wider in the 49er,” says Groy.

“There are more teams that can win medals.

This also applies to our training group.”

As part of the best German crew in the field of the women's class 49er FX, Catherine Bartelheimer from the Inning Sailing Club took 15th place at the World Championships.

Together with helmswoman Inga-Marie Hofmann from the Düsseldorf Yacht Club, the 22-year-old sold brilliantly in the 36-boat starting field.

Catherine Bartelheimer holds up the flag for the Ammersee

Hofmann/Bartelheimer narrowly missed out on a day's win twice: in the sixth of 16 races they came second, in the ninth they finished third.

As the third top result, the duo brought fourth place from the second race into the overall ranking.

The Germans were able to drop a 30th place.

Happy with 15th place at the World Championships: Catherine Bartelheimer (left) from the Inning Sailing Club and helmswoman Inga-Marie Hofmann (Düsseldorf Yacht Club).

© Felix Diemer

"Basically, we're super happy with our 15th place," said helmswoman Hofmann.

“It was the first senior world championship for us, an exciting and cool experience.

Being able to finish as the best German FX team was great.”

Bartelheimer: The dream of the 2024 Olympics in France is alive

The World Cup also shows that with a view to the Olympic competitions in Marseille as part of the Paris 2024 Games, there are definitely opportunities.

“Cathi and I want to go that way together.

We think our chances are pretty good there,” said the 21-year-old from Düsseldorf.

"We are a super strong training group and can push each other well."

Nadine Böhm from the German Touring Yacht-Club (Tutzing) had no chance with crew Lena-Marie Weißkichel (Württembergischer Yacht-Club) in the field of 49er FX.

In the end, the duo finished tenth as the best individual placement in the overall standings, 30th