Dhe time is ripe – at least when it comes to Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel. A few weeks before their first big performance in the Bay of Enoshima, the two sailors sit almost impatiently on the terrace of the North German Regatta Club on the banks of the Hamburg Outer Alster and talk about their big goal: the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. It is true that they considered the postponement of the games to 2021 “more like a year won, because we were qualified last year and were therefore not up in the air like many other athletes,” as Plößel says. “But now we can finally start.”
For twenty years now, Heil and Plößel have literally been in the same boat. As a teenager, they finished second in their first regatta for the Tegeler Segel-Club in 2001, remained a team, have been among the best skippers in the world in the 49er class for years – and now see each other closer to the anniversary than ever before before fulfilling their sporting dreams. “Anything can happen. But we’re closer than we would have been two or three years ago. If the material works, we have a good chance of winning gold, ”says Heil.
A little like before Heligoland
Five years ago, the two Berliners won the bronze medal and thus the only “precious metal” for the German Olympic sailors. This time too, in addition to the 49er duo from the ten-strong German sailing team, Philipp Buhl has a good chance of winning a medal in the laser. In Rio, the 31-year-old Heil and the one and a half year older Plößel missed a higher step on the podium only because of a botched start in the last race. There had already been great excitement about the water quality off the Brazilian coast after Heil had caught severe bacterial infections during training sessions in the bay, which was obviously polluted by sewage.
In a good mood: Thomas Plößel (left) and Erik Heil before the flight to Tokyo
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Image: What a shame
At the games in Japan, Heil and Plößel expect completely different races than five years ago in Rio de Janeiro – not only because of the much cleaner water. “Rio was totally twisted. There were often crazy currents and it felt like sailing in a labyrinth, ”says Plößel. In Japan, on the other hand, there is constant wind with high waves, which make it difficult to handle the boat and increase the risk of capsizing. “We assume that it will feel a little like sailing off Heligoland – only much hotter,” says Heil, who and his teammate are still wondering how, because of the very high humidity and the seawater that is up to 28 degrees Celsius they could cool off between and during races.
So far, they only know the territory in Japan from simulations and stories. In order to be able to train under conditions similar to those expected in Enoshima, the two Berliners traveled to Portugal, Lanzarote and most recently to Santander, Spain, in the spring – sometimes with special permits at the height of the pandemic. To this end, Heil and Plößel have been working with a meteorologist and a nutrition expert for some time and have a sparring partnership with a 49er duo from Spain, who are also in Tokyo and are among the world’s best.
The two Olympians describe their boat as “a larger surfboard with a mast that likes to roll over and is not made for waves at all,” as Heil put it. It is the attraction and excitement that there are “no 1000 different setting options” and that the design is relatively simple. “It’s a boat that you never fully control. It is more like a touring car than a Formula 1 racing car, ”says Plößel. Every square centimeter and the associated tasks are assigned to one of the two. There are also hundreds of code words that they would call out over and over again and that are associated with a specific action and a calculated risk. “It is important to save words, energy and, in the end, time. When the wave comes, we can’t have long discussions, “says Plößel, who says of himself,” sometimes being a bit more eccentric of us “and” having to shout out my anger “. But in the end the 49er is a “really cool class” – in which two of the best sailors in the world have to be beaten on the way to the gold medal.
“Pete is a really worn-out guy”
Because with the New Zealanders Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, the two Germans compete against the Olympic champions of 2016, the two-time America’s Cup winners and the one-time circumnavigators in the course of the Volvo Ocean Race. “Peter and Blair often sail in a league of their own. Pete in particular is a really worn-out guy, “says Plößel, adding in the spring, referring to their participation in the America’s Cup:” But they have also dealt a lot with other things in recent years and may not be one hundred percent prepared. That gives us a real chance in the 49er. “
The duo has no plans for the time after the games. From another Olympic attempt in Paris in 2024, to new goals in other sailing competitions such as the high-tech format “Sail GP”, to completing a degree in mechanical engineering (Plößel) and medicine (Heil), everything is possible, but nothing specific envisaged. “At the end of the day, the Olympics are a big mental game,” says Plößel. Regardless of the choice of materials, routines or tactics: you have to be absolutely sure about everything you do and have to focus completely, otherwise you could forget the medal. Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel do not waste a thought that it could turn out like this.
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