(Kiel, Germany)- The Women’s SAILING Champions League is about to begin
with the first all-women’s regatta this weekend at the start of Kieler
Woche– a.k.a. Kiel Week, the biggest sailing regatta in the world. This
event is the latest innovation to be launched out of the successful
SAILING Champions League format. Taking place from June 16th to 18th,
this innovative regatta presented by Audi has attracted prestigious
yacht clubs from Denmark, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands,
Sweden and Switzerland.
It
is fair to say that the Danes from Royal Danish YC (KDY) are fielding
one of the strongest and most experienced crews for Kieler Woche. At
the helm is Danish Olympic representative Henriette Koch, crewed by a
team that has raced together when they won the 2015 Women’s Match Racing
World Championship, including Tina Schmidt Gramkov who also sailed for
Denmark in the match-racing event at London 2012.Less than two weeks ago, at the first semifinal of the SAILING Champions League in Porto Cervo, the only all-women crew among the 22 international entries was winning heats against the men. In fact, they were leading the entire regatta after the first day! In the end, they finished 5th, an astounding achievement against 21 other top crews from Europe’s best sailing clubs. As a result, KDY has qualified to compete in the final of the SAILING Champions League at St Moritz later this summer.
In Kiel, each team will compete with a four to five-person crew. The event will be sailed in a fleet of matched one-design J/70 sailboats and the racing area will be Kiel Bay in the Baltic Sea.
Laura Fischer, who will be at the helm for German club Deutscher Touring Yacht Club, commented: “We are happy to be part of the first-ever Women’s SAILING Champions League. We have put together a young, but at the same time, very experienced team. We are excited to be competing against the other female crews from other European clubs and we are looking forward to some exciting races in Kiel.”
The first Women’s SAILING Champions League event is organized by SAILING Champions League GmbH and the International Sailing League Association (ISLA). Nynne Desirée Ammundsen, General Secretary from ISLA, said: “From an ISLA point of view, what we see with Women’s SAILING Champions League is all that we could ever wish for. Gathering and developing a strong league concept while developing the dynamics of league sailing is the founding mission of ISLA. In addition, promoting this mission for women- an important target for ISLA- is an extra bonus. It is therefore a true pleasure to provide a platform and experience for women sailors.”
Livestream and results:
To follow all the action online, tune into the livestream for the Saturday and Monday of racing. This will be available on Facebook, YouTube and also on the SAILING Champions League website (http://www.sailing-championsleague.com).
SAP Sailing Analytics provides 24/7 additional statistics and data for sailors,
fans, spectators and media like GPS tracking, real-time analysis, and
live leaderboard combined with 2D visualization. You can find all results on SAPsailing.com (http://wwww.sapsailing.com)!The clubs competing in Women’s SAILING Champions League from each country are: Denmark (Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub, Copenhagen/ Hellerup Sejlklub, Hellerup), Finland (Nyländska Jaktklubben, Helsinki), Germany (Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club, Tutzing (near Munich)/ Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, Hamburg), Lithuania (GVK Team, Vilnius), Netherlands (International Yacht Club Amsterdam, Amsterdam), Sweden (Malmö Segelsällskap, Malmö), Switzerland (Zürcher Segel Club, Zurich). Watch the J/70 Women’s SAILING Champions League trailer here For more Women’s SAILING Champions League sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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