(St Petersburg, Russia)- A thrilling climax saw the regatta come down to
the final race to decide Act 1 of the SAILING Champions League. The
Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV) from Hamburg won the decisive race in
St. Petersburg.The NRV managed to handle the difficult conditions best with shifty, weak winds on the Neva River in the city center of St. Petersburg. On Sunday, the north Germans won four out of three qualifying races and managed to keep up their performance from the previous days.
“We were of course hoping to reach the podium. During the qualifying races we became more and more relaxed and stayed confident even in these difficult currents,” said helmsman Johannes Polgar.
With
this victory during the SAILING Champions League in St. Petersburg,
Johannes Polgar proved that he is still fully motivated to work on his
2020 Olympic campaign.Frederikshavn Sejlklub from Denmark finished second ahead of the hosts, Saint Petersburg YC.
The Frederikshavn Sejlklub (FS) from Denmark lost their overnight lead to the NRV. Helmsman Kris Houmann commented, “In the decisive race unfortunately the NRV overtook us and due to the wind shifts, we could not control them anymore. We are still very happy with second place and are looking forward to come to St. Petersburg again.”
The last race of the event was extremely thrilling as the hosts from Saint Petersburg YC (SPBYC) sealed the final podium spot.
“It
was an incredible race. After our terrible start, I never thought we
would win this race. A huge thanks to my wonderful team,” commented a
relieved Anna Basalkina, skipper of the SPYC team. The Russian Olympic
sailor from 2000 in Sydney surely deserved to reach third place overall
and her place on the podium after such a herculean recovery!Twenty-one teams from all over Europe were trying to qualify for the finale of the SAILING Champions League in Porto Cervo, Sardinia. The races in St. Petersburg on the one-designs J/70’s were extremely short and close to the audience on-shore.
The SAILING Champions League will continue in September in Switzerland. Act 2 of the SAILING Champions League will take place from September 1st to 3rd in St. Moritz. Then, the second group of the best international sail clubs will fight to qualify for the final of the SAILING Champions League in Porto Cervo, Italy.
In
Porto Cervo, the best teams from Act 1 and Act 2 will fight for the
title “Best European Sail Club” and for the beautiful silver bowl by
Robbe and Berking.As a technology partner of the SAILING Champions League, SAP is providing professional livestream coverage with expert commentary along with live results of the events. SAP SAILING Champions League results are here
The primary regatta sponsor is GAZPROM- a global energy company. Being a socially responsible company, GAZPROM is supporting Russian sports at all levels. As a general partner of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club since 2013, GAZPROM devotes much attention towards the development of sailing in the Northern Capital and Russia at large. Supporting different local and international events, the St. Petersburg YC and GAZPROM aim at establishing St. Petersburg among the top sailing cities of Europe.
From 2017, the St. Petersburg YC and GAZPROM, together with its subsidiary NordStream Company, became partners of the National Sailing Leagues of Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany as well as of Act 1 of the European SAILING Champions League in St. Petersburg in August. Sailing video teaser- by GAZPROM for the SAILING Champions League For more SAILING Champions League sailing information here Add to Flipboard Magazine.
|
