SAILING Champions League New Schedule Announcement

(Kiel, Germany)- The SAILING Champions League (SCL) has shortened the SCL Series 2020 to one qualifier and the final due to the COVID-19 regulations and the worldwide travel restrictions. From 20 to 23 August, the only qualifier of the 2020 season, will take place in Tutzing, Germany. The final from 15 to 18 October in Porto Cervo, Italy, will be held as planned. The two planned qualifiers in St. Petersburg, Russia, and Mariehamn, Finland, are cancelled without replacement.

“We held on to the three qualifier dates for a long time in the hope that conditions would improve. As things stand at present, however, the worldwide travel possibilities are so limited that we now had to take appropriate steps,” says Anke Lukosch, Project Manager of SCL.


The winners of the national leagues from 2019 automatically qualify for the final in Porto Cervo at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda. In Tutzing on Lake Starnberg, as a guest of Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club, the second and third place finishers of each national league will have the chance to fight their way into the top 11 and thus get a ticket to the final.

“The shortened mode is certainly not an ideal scenario, but nevertheless, we're looking forward to welcoming the best clubs from a total of 19 nations to the final in Porto Cervo,” commented Lukosch. “We are grateful for the flexibility of all the sailors and the numerous clubs and their representatives who have worked with us over the last few weeks to plan and prepare every conceivable scenario”.

NOTE- Due to the exceptional situation in this year’s league sailing season, there are still starting places available – a unique chance to enter the competition of the world’s best sailing clubs. Interested sailing clubs irrespective of nationality can send their application now directly to- email- info@sailing-championsleague.com.  Sailing Photo credits: SCL/Sailing Energy  For more SAILING Champions League sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

DTYC Wins Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga IV

(Berlin, Germany)- The Deutscher Touring YC won the fourth round of the German Bundesliga sailing in Berlin and takes the overall lead in the 1st League. The Lindauer Segler Club was just one point behind the leaders from Tutzing.

The fourth act of the DSBL in Berlin demanded the best performance from the sailors; they faced difficult conditions with little wind, very streaky puffs and long waiting times between races. The reigning DSBL champions from Tutzing, the Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club (DTYC) adapted best to the conditions on the Wannsee and secured a big win, thanks to their consistent performance, steely nerves and tremendous patience.

"We had to fight hard here in Berlin with very difficult conditions. We had the best of luck and are very happy that we won here. If you want to be champion, you have to come with all your best tactics and crew work to win such crazy weather conditions. We are very pleased," said Julian Stückl, skipper of the DTYC team. Sebastian Bühler, Jonas Vogt and Luis Tarabochia completed the crew from Tutzing. The Lindauer Segler Club and the Bayerischer Yacht-Club ended up finishing 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in the Berlin event.

Prior to the regatta, Anke Butzmann, the team manager of the organizing club- Verein Seglerhaus am Wansee- offered her remarkably prescient insights regarding the event and its ultimate outcome:

- Anke, how do you assess the current DSBL leaderboard situation?
"The equality at the top of the Bundesliga reflects the concentration of highly talent teams that are sailing at nearly world-class levels.  We are very happy that we are at the forefront of this, but also know very well that it will not be easy to keep this position and to defend it to the final in Hamburg. Our goal for the home event is, of course, to get on the podium. The team is strong with the crew of Malte Kamrath, Jens Steinborn and Julian Bergemann- all three sailors have been very successful already in Starnberg. Ulrike Schümann, who has extensive experience, will be joining them to call tactics. The Lindauer Segler-Club with their same team from Starnberg and, thus, should be a contender for the podium in Berlin. The Deutscher YC with Farr 30 World Champion Julian Stückl on the helm will be formidable- it’s no wonder DTYC won last year!  It is a big competition for us, but something that gives us inspiration- it’s fun and motivating!”

- Has VSaM team had the chance to train together?
“Yes.  Last weekend, we trained together with the other Berlin League teams from BYC, YCBG, KaR, SV03 and PYC. The training is always very effective; especially due to the large number of sailing league clubs in Berlin.  These training regattas have quite the same feeling as an actual DSBL League event."

- Is there a home advantage on the Wannsee?
“We do not believe there is any direct home advantage on the Wannsee- the wind on the Wannsee is too unpredictable.  Steel nerves mean the strongest teams will be at the front and we are committed to belonging up there with the best. Our main sponsor, Dr. Dirk Pramann, is also onsite and will help motivate us with his enthusiasm! And - the VSaW Segel-Bundesliga team is a large team (25 sailors)- almost all of our sailors will be present for three days! We have the support of a large fan club!"

In the end, Anke’s perspective was quite accurate.  Light winds, streaks, and tough competition meant the best teams would rise to the top in the rankings.  While DTYC prevailed, VSaW could only manage three 1sts in their eight races sailed, finishing off the podium in sixth overall- a disappointing outcome for a top team.   Watch this Berlin Act IV DSBL sailing video summary.   For more Deutsche Segel-bundesliga sailing information

J/70 European Circuit Update

(Les Sables d’Olonne, France)- The European J/70 National class associations have updated their J/70 European circuit and proposed European 2014 ranking.  At this time, over 200 J/70s are sold in Europe and J/Composites in France will be delivering 15 boats per month to fulfill the demand.  The primary countries generating such enormous enthusiasm are Germany followed by Great Britain, France and Switzerland.

The 2014 European ranking system has been established as follows: each race of each event will be considered in the overall formula.  The points will be based on a “high point” scenario, with first equalling the number of starters for each race, second is -1, third is -2, etc.  On the basis of an average of 6 races per event, you can discard 10% of the races when more than 18 races have been achieved and 20% when 32 races have been achieved.  The major events include the following dates:

• Feb 7-9- Primo Cup- Trophee Credit Suisse- Monte Carlo, Monaco
• Apr 18-21- SPI Ouest France- La Trinite sur Mer, France
• Jun 6-9- North Sea Regatta- The Hague, Netherlands
• Jun 21-29- Kiel Week- Kiel, Germany
• Aug 2-5- Cowes Race Week- Cowes, Isle of Wight, England
• Sep 23-27- J/70 EuroCup/ Europeans- Lake Garda, Italy

At this stage, the current report from the various J/70 Class associations are that Kieler Woche will see at least 25+ boats from Germany and that 15+ boats from Lake Constance will participate in the EuroCup on Lago di Garda.  The German J/70 Nationals will be held on Lake Constance (the Bodensee) just before the EuroCup.

The Netherlands J/70 Class reports they’re already approaching a dozen boats.  One of their top sailors, Wouter Kollman sailing HENRI LLOYD will be sailing the North Sea Regatta at The Hague, Kieler Woche, Cowes Week and Lago di Garda for the EuroCup.  They expect at least 6 Dutch boats at North Sea Week, 3 at Kieler Woche, 2 at Cowes and 4-5 teams at EuroCup.  The Dutch J/70 sailors are also offering to other J/70 teams “free storage” after North Sea Week so that you can easily sail Kiel, saving a lot of travel time for some teams!

Both the Italian and French J/70 Class associations are indicating at least as many boats as the Dutch teams traveling to the same events.  For more information on the J/70 European Circuit, please contact Fred Bouvier- fred@jcomposites.com

BMW J/24 Worlds- Update from Ireland

(Howth, Ireland)-  This year's J/24 Worlds promises to be a special event, one remembered for decades to come.  It's the first 24 Worlds hosted by the Irish J/24 class and you can bet the Irish sailors will do their best to roll-out the red carpet for all participants and ensure everyone (almost without fail) will have an absolutely fantastic time!

With the event sailing from August 22-30, 2013, we recently got a nice update from Derek Bothwell - Event Chairman.  Says Derek, "With just a little over five months to go until the start of the BMW J/24 World Championships I am very happy to say that everything is going well on the planning side. Entries are stacking up and I am very pleased to see that we have interest from many J2/4 sailors representing North & South America, Europe & Asia.

I am delighted that the current World Champion, Mauricio Santa Cruz, from Brazil, will arrive in Howth to defend his title. This really puts it up to the Europeans who have only a pond to cross in comparison to arrive in large numbers.

We will also have Allison Young heading up a ladies team from the UK. Allison who competed in the Laser Radial in the Weymouth Olympics has a very busy year ahead as she continues to train for the next event in Rio. It is a challenge for our lady sailors which should not be overlooked.

Charter boats are being snapped up and there is a lot of activity on the accommodation front, so if you are thinking of entering, do not get left out!

The Irish J/24 National Championships will be run on the 16th and 17th of August in the same waters with the same Race management team, so why not come early and get a taste of the venue and tides."    For more BMW J/24 Worlds sailing information