QINGDAO. Everything was possible and it was thrilling until the end. But on Wednesday evening (20 August) the German Star class team Marc Pickel and Ingo Borkowski had to bury their hopes for a medal. In the last three races before the final medal race on Thursday they finished not better than tenth, sixth and tenth again. With these results the duo from Kiel and Babelsberg dropped to rank eighth overall and now lays 15 points behind “Bronze”.
German star boat team Pickel/Borkowski on the Qindgao race course, China
“Only world wonder number nine could help us now”, said Marc Pickel after a nerve wracking race day, “but we are realistic enough, not to hope for it.” The disappointment was huge, because the chance to catch up with the medal ranks had been there several times. Only Gold and Silver disappeared earlier and should be decided between the Swedish team Frederik Lööf/Anders Ekström leading the British duo Iain Percy/Andrew Simpson by two points.
On the best race day so far in the Olympic city of Qingdao, the signals for Pickel/Borkowski had been very good at the beginning. In a moderate breeze and good visibility the team started brilliantly and lead the fleet at the first windward mark by one second ahead of the Portuguese. “We could not jibe right after the rounding, because the Austrian team was blocking our way”, explained Pickel, “so we could not head for the preferred course side as early as needed.” In this situation they lost twelve places at one go.
The downwind legs had been the strength of the team so far, but of all things it was this course that played foul on the most important day of the Games. “They have been acting unluckily not only ones”, said coach Marc Reynolds. Things went wrong when the second mark of the leeward gate had drifted 150 metres away from its normal position after the Germans set their course on it. And Pickel added: “Every little mistake is punished very quickly in this world class fleet. Today we have been punished two times.”
In the medal race on Thursday there will be at least the chance to better the results. “We will be sailing very relaxed, without calculator or setting up theories”, said Marc Pickel, “but we want to win the race, without question. That’s what we are here for and what we will fight for.” The start is scheduled not before 1.00 p.m. local time (5 a.m. GMT).
