Thursday, June 21, 2018

WV Hemelingen Lead German J/70 Sailing League

J/70s sailing league in Germany, Tutzing (Tutzing, Germany)- The German J/70 Sailing League (DSBL) returned to the place where everything began five years ago- Tutzing on Lake Starnberg, hosted by the Deutscher Touring YC (DTYC)- for the season opener that was sailed from June 8th to 10th on the incredibly picturesque lake.

Exactly five years ago (June 7, 2013), 18 clubs joined the Deutsche Touring YC for the first time in the history of yacht racing, competing in a club competition. Sailors, clubs and the media were so excited by the idea that the league has continued with great success. Much has happened in the meantime, from the initial 18 clubs in the DSBL, to today’s 36 clubs that participate in two leagues. The league is no longer just a pastime, because whoever participates here wants to win. But, the DSBL itself has also undergone a major development process: the number of well-known sponsors is increasing, as well as the number of employees and the number of European countries adapting to the league format.

J/70s sailing league- Tutzing, Germany"The league is back to its roots and a lot has changed since then. We are pleased that we were able to participate in this development and are now organizing an event for the fourth time. No league club can handle such a league event alone, so DTYC, together with the Munich Yacht Club (MYC) and the Chiemsee Yacht Club (CYC), cooperated together to host the event. We therefore, thank the associations of the region and, in particular, the MYC and the CYC for the support " said Wolfgang Stückl from DTYC.

To the surprise of most leading teams on the circuit, it was a newcomer to the DSBL that took the win on Lake Starnberg.  The Wassersport-Verein Hemelingen won the second round of the DSL at Tutzing.  The 36 sailing clubs participating were able to complete a total of 63 very close and exciting races.

"We had a great event here in Tutzing and are very happy that we could achieve the victory here. A big thank you goes to the race committee, who did a great job," said Eike Martens of the WV Hemelingen. Their team consisted of Carsten Kemmling, Eike Martens, Markus Maisenbacher and Tjorben Wittor. The Chiemsee Yacht Club and the Segelkameradschaft Das Wappen von Bremen placed second and third, respectively.

German J/70 sailing league- winners podiumThe host club, the Deutscher Touring YC, could not use its supposed home advantage. The team, based around champion helmsman Julian Stückl, did not seem to find the right way around the racetrack and, therefore, finished the event in 14th place- a bit of a shocker for the defending DSBL champions.

Overall, the sailors had to prove they had nerves of steel. The three-day weekend threw everything at them in terms of weather that you could possibly imagine: extremely shift winds, light winds, no wind, sun, thunderstorms, tropical downpours, and on Sunday afternoon, winds up to 13 kts or more.  Tutzing “threw the book” at the sailors in terms of wildly disparate sailing conditions to determine whether they had the diversity and tenacity to sail to prevail and win.

The third DSBL event will take place from July 21st to 23rd, as part of the Travemünde Week in Travemünde, Germany.  Sailing photo credits- Lars Wehrmann. For tracking, results, and analytics, please visit SAP Sailing  For more Deutsche J/70 Segel-Bundesliga sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.