Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Berlin YC Hometown Heroes in DSBL V

J/70 Deutsche Segel-bundesliga sailing on Wansee in Berlin, Germany (Berlin, Germany)- The Deustche Segel-Bundesliga sailed it’s fifth act on the Wansee in Berlin, Germany this past weekend, from August 21st to 23rd.  Like their compatriots sailing the Fastnet Race, that same “squishy flat” high pressure moved over the European continent and proceeded to park itself over most of the major sailing lakes, leaving many regattas gasping for any breeze.  On Berlin’s Wansee, that was the case.  The first day of racing was canceled because of the absolutely perfect mirror created by a complete lack of wind- yes, the proverbial “glass out”, as some might call it.  Nevertheless, over the next two days, the teams were treated to reasonable winds and the host club’s team, Berliner YC, won the regatta with a remarkably consistent scoreline- in fifteen races posting 5 3rds, 7 2nds and a 1st.  Comparatively, their erstwhile competitors were all over the map playing their own versions of “snakes & ladders” all weekend long!

J/70 DSBL Act V Berlin winnersAccording to BYC’s skipper, Max Nickel, "Better lucky than smart, that’s our story! We never expected to win. The key to victory was probably our consistency, good starts and a certain home advantage since we do know how the wind works around the lake!”  Max and his crew of Sven Rüggesiek, Heiner Wilkens and Philip Raabe had trained hard for event but had no idea they would topple some of the DSBL’s top teams.

Taking second for the regatta was the Deutscher Touring YC, winning six races but not demonstrating anywhere near the consistency of their Berliner YC friends. In fact, DTYC barely beat out one of the newer teams on the circuit, the Segel-und Motorboot Club Uberlingen.  In fact, SMCU secured third place on the podium as a result of a tiebreaker with one of the J/70s sailing Germany sailing leaguemore experienced DSBL teams, Verein Seglerhaus Am Wansee (another “local” club).  Taking fifth place was Norddeutscher Regatta Verein.

As a result of their stunning performance, Berliner YC leapt into second overall in the DSBL 2015 League standings.  Their finishes of 5-14-8-4-1 is good for 32 pts and, by virtue of the tie-breaker, sit in second place over Norddeutscher Regatta Verein that have a 7-13-1-6-5 scoreline for 32 pts.  Leading the entire series by a wide margin is Deutscher Touring YC with a very consistent scoreline over five regattas of 1-4-3-7-2 for just 17 pts total. Lying fourth overall is Flensburger SC and in fifth is Kieler YC.  Sailing photo credits- DSBL / Lars Werhmann.   J/70 Berlin Highlights   J/70 Berlin Live Video replay   For more J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing information