Berliner YC Win SAILING Champions League- RUSSIA!

(St Petersburg, Russia)- It was a successful first day for the SAILING Champions League in St. Petersburg, hosted by St Petersburg YC. In good weather, 23 Clubs from 12 nations were battling hard but fair, pleasing both host and participants. After day one, the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (Germany) was leading the fleet, followed by the Berliner Yacht-Club (Germany) and the Regattaclub Bodensee (Switzerland).

For the third time in the history of sailing, the SAILING Champions League was taking place in matched International J/70 one-designs. Everybody was keen on participating in this new, international Club competition. The first day of the regatta provided the sailors with good conditions, successfully completing 14 races. The Norddeutscher Regatta Verein was in the lead after four consecutive wins.

"We were a bit lucky in the first four races to win four times in a row. In the fifth race we misread the wind, but still managed to lead the fleet after the first day and, of course, we are very happy about that,” said Tobias Schadewaldt, helmsman of the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein.

The 23 sailing clubs from across Europe were fighting for one of 14 starting positions in the Grand SCL Finals in September in Porto Cervo, Italy. In Sardinia, it will be all about the silver bowl by Robbe & Berking and the title of “Europe´s BEST SAILING CLUB.”

Day Two
It was champagne sailing on day two- simply amazing conditions! 20 knots of wind and full sunshine spoiled both sailors and spectators. Sailing conditions like these might be expected in Porto Cervo, but not in Russia. The Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (Germany) defended their lead. First runner-up was the Berliner Yacht Club (Germany), followed by the Société Nautique de Genève (Switzerland).

Nothing seems to stop the German Champions from 2013 and 2014. Tobias Schadewaldt and his crew won three more races on Saturday and continued to lead the fleet. “We were completely satisfied with today’s results. The Berliner Yacht Club being so close behind us proves how strong the fleet in St. Petersburg is,” commented Tobias Schadewaldt from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein from Hamburg.

The team from the Berliner Yacht Club with helmsman Stephan Mölle is just as competitive, despite strong competition. With four wins in a row, they defended their second place in the table. “It was a perfect day. Only the last race was really rough, when our jib ripped apart. Luckily the judges leveled this race, so overall we only had first places today,” said Valentin Gebhard from the Berliner Yacht Club.

The regatta had to be cancelled in the afternoon after 14 races due to strong winds of more than 30 knots!  It appeared that some crews were being challenged by the extremely puffy conditions.

Day Three Finale
Amazingly, St. Petersburg laid on a third day of picture-perfect international sailing. Thrilling head-to-head races in front of spectacular scenery was a big treat for both sailors and spectators. In the end, the Berliner Yacht-Club (Germany) held their nerve and took over the lead in their last battle with their rivals Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (Germany) who were runners-up ahead of third placed Société Nautique de Genève (Switzerland). The first 16 teams are qualified for the grand final in Porto Cervo end of September.

It was a tense battle between two German Clubs: The Berliner Yacht-Club was hard on Norddeutscher Regatta Verein´s heels from the beginning. Until the very end, they never managed to get ahead of the Hamburgers. For most of the three-day regatta, it seemed as if the German Champions from 2013 and 2014 could not be stopped. Tides turned in the penultimate race when Berlin took the lead and secured their victory.

“We would have never expected to win here. We went to St. Petersburg to qualify for Sardinia. And then we kick off a first place here. It´s unbelievable – we´re so incredibly happy,” said Max Nickel, who is part of the Berliner winning team together with Stefan Mölle, Valentin Gebhard, and Philipp Bruns.

Behind the two German DSBL teams (BYC and NRV), it was Societe Nautique de Geneve from Switzerland (Nicolas Anklin, Marc Stern, Nicolas Kauffmann, Mathieu Fischer) that sailed consistently well enough to secure the bronze medal on the podium.  Yet another Swiss club took 4th place, Regattaclub Bodensee (Julian Flessati, Massimo Soriano, Stephan Amman, Stefan Zurfluh) while the top Italian sailing club- YC Adriaco (Andrea Micalli, Furio Benussi, Matteo Stroppolo, Jacopo Ciampalini)- placed 5th overall.

The Boat- J/70 Sailing Champions League overview- by Joachim Hellmich- the Project Lead at the SCL explains the International J/70 class sailboat

SAILING Champions League YouTube videos-    Day 1 Highlights   Regatta summary
For more J/70 SAILING Champions League information