(St Petersburg, Russia)- From a field of more than 200 sailing clubs all
 over Europe, 50 clubs from 13 different countries have qualified for 
the SAILING Champions League (SCL) 2017. The top clubs will sail in two 
events (Act 1 – St. Petersburg and Act 2 – St. Moritz) going for the 
much sought-after start places in the final in Port Cervo. The regattas 
are fleet racing competitions, sailed in eight boats, all of the 
one-design J/70 class. Today Act 1 starts in St. Petersburg.
21
 of the qualified clubs from all over Europe will be attending this 
weekend (11 – 13 August) at the hosting club, the St. Petersburg Yacht 
Club. The top clubs will compete in the final, sailed in the very center
 of St. Petersburg, right in front of the Peter and Paul Fortress. Among
 the participants are teams such as the Cape Crow Yacht Club (Swedish 
Champions 2016), Frederikshavn Sejklub (Danish Champions 2016) and Lord 
of the Sail– Europe (Russian Champions 2016). Some top sailors will be 
there, including Johannes Polgar, competitor at the 2008 Olympics in 
Xingdao, who is representing one of the two German teams (Norddeutscher 
Regatta Verein). Short races in identical J/70’s over a standard course 
are sure to provide the tightest competition and plenty of excitement 
for spectators.As a technology partner of the SAILING Champions League, SAP is providing professional livestream coverage with expert commentary. On Saturday and Sunday, the races will be shown live on the Internet from 12:00 local time (12:00 GMT+3) onwards: www.sailing-championsleague.com. International sports reporters and sailing pros will comment live on the races, using SAP’s Sailtracks tracking technology, graphics and analytics to make the racing easily accessible to everyone, sailors and general viewers alike. All results are available at www.sapsailing.com.
The
 primary regatta sponsor is Gazprom- a global energy company focused on 
geological exploration, production, transportation, storage, processing 
and sales of gas, gas condensate and oil, sales of gas as a vehicle 
fuel, as well as production and marketing of heat and electric power.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 Yacht Club and Gazprom aim at establishing St. Petersburg among the top sailing cities of Europe.
From 2017, the St. Petersburg Yacht Club and Gazprom together with its subsidiary, Nord Stream company, become 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 SAILING Champions League For more SAILING Champions League regatta information Add to Flipboard Magazine.