Vilma Bobeck and Rebecca Netzler are clear world champions in 49erFX after an absolutely fantastic championship that they completely dominated from day one. Although the final has yet to be sailed, the gold is Vilma and Rebecca’s. Their lead is so great that no one can catch up.
– It feels completely unreal what we have achieved this week and we still can’t quite understand that we won WC gold. We are so proud of our performance, says Vilma
Vilma and Rebecca have crushed all opposition at the WC and they have dominated in all conditions. Out of a total of 15 races, they have won seven and been on the podium a further five times. In only three races have they missed the podium. By way of comparison, reigning European and World Champions Odile van Aanholt/Annette Duetz from the Netherlands have won three races and double Olympic champions Martine Grael/Kahena Kunze from Brazil have won one race in the WC 2023.
On Wednesday, Vilma and Rebecca started by winning the first race. But then they were washed out due to a false start. Even in the second race, they were the first to finish and they got to keep that victory. In the third, the nine finished. Ahead of the final, which will be sailed on Friday, their lead is a whopping 36 points. And they can lose a maximum of 20 points in the final. So the gold is theirs already.
Vilma and Rebecca have only been sailing together for a year and a half. Even so, they have an impressive track record together, with both a World Cup silver and a European Championship silver in 2022. And at the pre-Olympics in Marseille, a month ago, they came third – despite not being able to sail the final as Vilma injured a knee in the race the day before. Add to that the fact that Rebecca missed 2.5 months of training and competition this spring due to a back injury and their victory at the WC becomes even more impressive.
2023-08-16 18:29:46
#gold #Vilma #Rebecca
