Laser point
German Laser sailor Philipp Buhl put together an exemplary scorecard to win the 2020 ILCA Standard Men’s World Championship.
Written by Laser 2020 Media
Photography by Jon West
17 February 2020
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Philipp Buhl dominated 2020 Laser Standard World Championship at Sandringham Yacht Club, recording four straight wins during qualifying and finished 12 points ahead of the nearest competitor.
“When I got the two firsts on the second day, that gave me good momentum, but I knew anything could happen up until the second race today,” explained Buhl.
I had good first beats, good downwind speed. It all came together for me this week. I’ve come close to a world championship a few times before. It’s so incredibly hard to make it happen. I think the Laser is the hardest class to win a World Championship. I’m just so happy!”
Matt Wearn won the silver medal, his third World Championship silver, to go with the results collected in Aarhus in 2018 and Sakaiminiati in 2019.
“It was another three races in some shifty conditions,” said Wearn. “I’m a little bit disappointed not to be on the top step but Philipp clearly out sailed me this week. This regatta sets us up well for Tokyo. We’ll go home and sort a few things out and iron out the creases to be ready and fighting for the Olympics in five months.”
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Rio silver medallist, Tonci Stipanovic took the bronze after an up-and-down regatta that included two race wins, two second placings and four scores that were in double figures.
The championship was raced in a wide variety of conditions, with winds from all points of the compass.
The final day of racing proved tough for the Australian Sailing Team and Squad athletes, with three races in an Easterly 18 to 22 knots.
Luke Elliott achieved a personal best finishing the regatta in seventh despite an off day today achieving a 14th, 24th and a 10th.
Defending World Champion and Rio Olympic Gold Medalist Tom Burton finished the regatta in 15th.
“I didn’t sail my best at the start of the week,” said Burton. “I sailed a bit better in Gold Fleet. I always seemed to find myself on the wrong side of the course. It was pretty tough, and they were conditions I didn’t want for the preparation I did.”
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