Delta Lloyd Regatta - German Finn sailors show potential

by Delta Lloyd Regatta on 23 May 2014 One of the success stories of this year’s Delta Lloyd Regatta so far has been the performance of the young German Finn sailors. Between them Phillip Kasueske and Eike Martens have won the first three races and ended the second day, ranked first and second overall and ahead of the pre-event favourites. They are in Medemblik with their coach Per Baagøe. We spoke to all three of them.

Phillip, 19, and Eike, 22, only started in the Finn last October after being given the opportunity to borrow some boats and equipment from the Finn Team Germany, a privately funded group of sailors who find and support potential young sailors and help them on the first step of the international ladder. It was founded by Andre Budzien, a prominent German Finn sailor and three times World Masters Champion.

Martens said on Wednesday, 'We are now five members in the Finn Team Germany and we are quite good in Germany but not yet internationally so we have to improve. Today is a day which shows us that something is working.' Is there much competition between the team members, 'Actually there isn’t because we are all on one level, it’s more like a friendship.'

'We are using the Europeans and Kiel week to find who goes to Santander. We have three places there. At the other events we took three or four sailors. One of us may get to participate in the Olympics in 2016, but I think it’s a high level and we may we have to look froward to 2020.'

Baagøe said, 'It’s a long term project. It’s not 100 per cent certain for 2016 because I’m not sure we will qualify the country this time, so it’s long term. But they will be fine if they continue to improve. I think we will be in the top 20 pretty soon if they carry on like this.'

Kasueske added, 'The Finn Team Germany is a nice support to have and they are a pretty nice group. We work a lot together and that helps to improve us, because when you are alone, you have to work much longer and harder to improve. We push each other and it works well.'

Baagøe said of their performance this week 'I’m not actually surprised, but more like happy surprised at how well they are doing. We have been doing a lot of training and this is only the third regatta we are sailing. Of course we try to improve all the time. We have a good set-up now with new boats and new sails. If we have the speed, and in a small group like here, then it’s possible to get some good results. For them to keep up with Postma and Lilley is good.'

'We only started in October in Kiel, and they borrowed boats from the Finn Team Germany to see if they fit in the boat, if they liked it, before buying boats and equipment for themselves. And it’s a young team, all 19-22 years old.'

While Baagøe is funded by the German sailing federation, only Kasueske gets direct funding from them, due to top 10 place in the Laser Junior Europeans. They also get some help from Finn Team Germany and the Heinz Nixdorf fund, a Germany sailing fund. 'That is a big support.'

What is the sailor’s opinion of Per as their coach? Martens explained, 'Per works a little bit different from the other coaches in Germany. First he’s from Denmark. We have had a lot of fun with him and have improved a lot. I think he’s a good coach and we hope he will be our coach in the coming years. I think he’s really relaxed and for us this is good as it let’s us do our own thing, to improve in our way, and not in a strict way. That’s why it’s working.'

Kasueske agrees with this, 'He has a lot of experience. In the Finn there are others who have more specialised knowledge but in general he’s a really good coach. He tells us to keep sailing how we think best. He doesn’t tell us where to go or what to do but gives us the basic information. In the end we all have to decide what we will do and where we will go on the water.'

He concludes, 'We are improving every time we are sailing. I didn’t really think we would be doing this Delta Lloyd Regatta