A Tie Determines German J/70 Sailing League

(Prien/ Chiemsee, Germany)- The first event for the 2017 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing season saw a total of thirty-six sailing clubs from across Germany challenged by a wild weather scenario that could only be produced by sailing in the spring in the foothills of the European Alps mountain range that surround their gorgeous lakes.  Imagine this- - snow + woolies + sun + shirts-n-shades??

No question, it was an insane start to the incredible, wildly popular DSBL season.  The racing started on Friday with snow and 10-15 kt breezes, ending on Sunday with bright sunshine, warm weather and constant east wind with 6-8 kt winds. It was an ideal start, ironically, for all participating clubs as everyone had an opportunity to work out any kinks in their armor and resolve how to improve over the course of fifteen races sailed by each team.  To say the regatta was “tight” is a mere understatement.  The top German sailing clubs are learning how to sail faster and faster all the time.  Plus, they are learning how important it is to have their boat-handling perfectly choreographed to take advantage of every centimeter given to them by opposing teams.  That discipline is not only reflected in their scores at sailing league regattas, but at how German J/70 teams compete at a world-class level when they engage in European events.

How close was the first regatta for the top ten teams?  The top five was separated by a mere five points, the winners being determined by a near three-way tie for first!  The top ten by just fourteen points.  Each team had their up’s and down’s and run of good races. In other words, like the top American collegiate sailing regattas, there is near “parity” amongst the top teams and the results are determined by precise boat-handling, boat speed acceleration, starts, good spinnaker sets and take-downs, and conservative tactics.

In the end, the surprise winner for the first event was Segel-und Motorboot Club Uberlingen from Lake Constance.  Who? A motorboat and sailing club in a little village called Uberlingen on a big lake in the middle of Europe.  Basically, they crushed the creme-de-la-creme of Germany’s top sailing clubs and their elite sailors.  After posting a 4-2 in their first two races, they blew everyone away with five straight bullets enroute to their surprising win on a tie-breaker over Wassersport-Verein Hemelingen from Bremen.  The WVH team themselves were an “underdog” before the regatta, too.  

Tino Mittelmeier from the Segel-und Motorboot Club Überlingen had this to say about their performance, "We had not really anticipated doing well before the start of the regatta, but after the great start in the races, we fought confidently to the end." Steiner’s crew included Franziska Bäurle, Alexander Gaiser and Henrik Schaal.

Behind these top two teams were a number of the 2016 champion sailing clubs.  Taking third was Chiemsee YC just one point back with 42 pts total. Remarkably, fourth place was determined by yet another tie-breaker, a sure sign that things are getting tight at the top in this year’s DSBL standings! At 46 pts each were two-time winner Deutscher Touring YC and Berliner YC, with the tie-break going to DTYC.  The statistics are rather sobering for the teams; the winners averaged 2.73 pts per race, while 5th place had a 3.06 average!  All DSBL results are available here.

Watch these exciting DSBL sailing video summaries:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVYfIFvx87M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US3KZtdTKuc

For more Sailing Champions League information and the complete schedule for dates and locations across Europe, please click here.Add to Flipboard Magazine.


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