Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga Starts With Three-Way Tie!

Norddeutscher RV Win The Tie-Breaker
(Starnberg, Germany)- After an intense qualification regatta a few weeks back, eighteen clubs participated in the Bundesliga season opener on Lake Starnberg at the Bayerischer Yacht Club. The thirteen sailing clubs that qualified from the first season in 2013 were joined by five “newcomers” that had qualified in early April- Bodensee Yacht Club Überlingen, Düsseldorf Yacht Club, Kieler Yacht Club, the S.C.”Wappen von Bremen" and the Seglervereinigung Itzehoe.

Prior to the start of the regatta, Ilya Wolf (BYC team manager) said, "Our team is perfectly prepared. We are looking forward to the coming weekend and are proud host of this event. We are very excited about participating with the Segel-Bundesliga. It is a very good opportunity for our young sailors and a great way to promote sailing to everyone."

Recognizing the importance of this season long series that culminates with the Finale in Hamburg, many clubs pulled out all the stops to get their top sailors to hop aboard the teams as either crew or skippers.  Among the most prominent sailors in Starnberg were four German Olympians. Sailing for Württemberg Yacht Club was Stefanie Rothweiler (two-time Olympic 470s); sailing for Wansee was Ulrike Schumann (Olympics in Ynglings); and Kristin Wagner (Olympic Yngling) and Patrick Follmann (Olympian 470) were both sailing for Deutscher Touring YC.

With so much talent and tactical horsepower aboard the various boats, the racing was going to be close.  In fact, far closer than anyone could have imagined!  After the first day of sailing, three teams were tied on points- Bayerischer YC, Deutsche Touring YC and Flensburg SC! Lots of sunshine and light 7 kt winds greeted the fleet, enough to get in seven races.  "The weather conditions were not optimal. In fact, it was often difficult.  But, we are extremely pleased and excited that we were able to get a good start in the new season on home turf," concluded Christian Schäfer, helmsman of the BYC boat.

The second day offered sailing at its best. Starting out with a bit of rainy weather, by afternoon, the weather had cleared and the good breezes enabled twenty-four races to be sailed! The defending champions, Norddeutscher RV, had an impressive day of sailing.   "The field is so close and tight that a single mistake is sufficient to be passed from the very front to the very back of the pack. With good starts and safe maneuvers, we were able to stay up front most of the time. Our goal is the top three," stated Florian Weser from the NRV team.  In fact, after Saturday’s racing, they did much better than that; Team NRV was leading after ten races.  Following them were Wannsee in second, Deutscher Touring YC in third and Konstanzer YC in fourth.

After Sunday’s sailing, only 39 of the 45 scheduled races were completed, 13 for each club.  In the end, the defending Segel-Bundesliga 2013 champions, Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, took first place overall by breaking the tie-breaker with seven race wins over their competitors.  The other two teams tied on 44 pts each were Verein am Wannsee and Deutscher Touring YC, taking 2nd and 3rd respectively.

"For us it was a roller-coaster of emotions. The quality of sailors and the competition were extremely high. All in all, we really sailed well and look forward to enjoying our first win," commented NRV teammate Carsten Kemmling.

Second-placed VSaW Team manager Ulrike Schumann said, "After the bad start, we pressed the reset button and then it all ran much smoother. We want to win this year, that's our goal!"

Next stop on the Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga is July 19-21 as part of Travemünde Sailing Week on the Baltic Sea.  Remember, all races are broadcast via “live stream” on the Internet, so thousands of sailing enthusiasts in Germany and around the world can watch it “live” on the water.   Sailing photo credits- DSBL/ Lars Wehrmann    Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing video:   Day One    Day Two   Day Three   For more Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing information

J/70 CALVI NETWORK Triumphs in Scarlino

(Scarlino, Italy)- The J/70 class continues to grow in Italy, with increasing participation by top Italian sailing teams in this new class.  Many are planning to participate in the upcoming J/70 European Championships being sailed at Riva del Garda from September 23rd to 27th.  Some teams are also considering sailing in the J/70 World Championships in Newport, RI from September 8th to 13th at New York Yacht Club’s Harbour Court.

An emerging leader in the Coppa Italia J/70 Circuit is one of Italy’s top sailors- Carlo Alberini sailing his renowned CALVI NETWORK.  Carlo has sailed for years at the top of the game in the M24 and M32 classes around the world as well as sailing in the European offshore circuits on the Mediterranean.  His “Lightbay Sailing Team” are now currently leading the Coppa Italia J/70 Circuit.

This past weekend, the third event in the circuit was sailed off picturesque Scarlino, a beautiful seaside town in Tuscany.  The J/70 teams enjoyed six races during the weekend sailing in the challenging waters of the Gulf of Follonica, bordered to the west by Elba Island, to the north by the headlands of Piombino and to the south Punta Ala.

On the first day of sailing, Carlo and crew aboard CALVI NETWORK sailed “lights out”, taking three bullets and managing to keep themselves out of trouble.  With the wind from the South up to 20 kts with short waves and irregular chop, sailing upwind took some skill to navigate the seas, rewarding those who had fine-tuned their sail-trimming skills.  Downwind was full-on planing-mode, extremely exciting and fast downwind with gennakers flying.

While CALVI NETWORK enjoyed their evening with newfound J/70 friends, it was clear some of them were listening to “go-fast” tips on sailing their boats.  As a result, there were three different winners on the second day of sailing- PENSAVO ITA-262 (1-5-5) sailed by Beppe Zavanone; MAGIE ITA-455 (3-1-4) skippered by Gianluca Grisoli; and ITA-570 (7-4-1) led by helm Andrea Zaoli.  Hanging on tough was CALVI NETWORK, sailing to a 2-3-2 to clinch the regatta and the overall lead for the Coppa Italia circuit; their team was comprised of  Carlo (owner-driver ), the Slovenian Olympic sailor Karlo Hmeljiak (tactics), Irene Bezzi (mainsail trimmer) and Sergio Blosi (trimmer).  Just behind them in the standings were PENSAVO in 2nd, MAGIE in 3rd, SPIN ONE with skipper Peter Saccomanni in 4th and Zaoli’s team in 5th.

The next stage of the Italian Cup will be staged again in the waters off Scarlino between May 31 and June 2.  Thereafter, the last two events are both being sailed at Riva del Garda- the first one on 26-27 July and the last one from 23-27 September for the J/70 European Championships.

For more Italian J/70 sailing information, please contact Paolo Boido at J/Boats Italy- email- jboats@jboats.it or mobile# +39-335-688-5005.

Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga - Premiere League Begins!

(Starnberg, Germany)- The second stage of the 2014 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga is about to commence this weekend on the Starnberger See- a beautiful lake SSW of Munich surrounded by gently rolling hills to the north and just 15 miles north of the majestic German/ Austrian Alps.  Host for this event is the Bayerischer Yacht-Club Munich situated at the very northern end of the lake.

Sailing in this weekend’s event are the top eighteen clubs that pre-qualified from the first event held from April 4th to 6th in Glucksburg (a total of sixty-one teams participated).  The Bundesliga is now split into two “leagues”- the Premiere League sailing in J/70s for the next four stages and the Bundesliga II League.  The five clubs who qualified for the “Premiere League” from the first Glucksburg event, were the winners Kieler YC, the Bodensee YC Überlingen, the Seglervereinigung Itzehoe, the Segelkameradschaft "Wappen von Bremen" and the Düsseldorf YC.

Joining them will be the top five teams from the 2013 DSBL, including the champions Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, followed by Württembergischer Yacht-Club in second and Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee in third, Yachtclub Berlin-Grünau fourth and Chiemsee Yacht Club fifth.  The winner of the first event at Tutzing last year (also on the Starnberger See) was Yachtclub Berlin-Grünau; they certainly hope to repeat that performance again this year!

In addition, the following clubs will also have strengthened their teams, including the host Bayerischer Yacht-Club, Berliner Yacht-Club, Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club (the host for the next event in Tutzing), Flensburger Segel-Club, Konstanzer Yacht Club, Lübecker Yacht-Club, Mühlenberger Segel-Club, and Schweriner Yacht-Club.

The teams hope the weather forecast (http://bit.ly/1qAdgv2) improves a bit, nevertheless, it looks like there will be breeze all weekend long.   After the passage of a Low pressure system on Thursday, it looks like Friday will be in the 50s F. with WNW winds in the 6-12 kts range, followed by the passage of another Low pressure system Saturday bringing some cool rain and WSW winds in the 5-10 kts range.  With any luck, Sunday’s forecast for partly sunny skies in the mid-60s F. may effect the forecast light SW winds (hopefully a sea-breeze can build on the northern end of the lake!).  For more Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing information

SPI OUEST Regatta Preview

(La Trinite-sur-Mer, France)- The 36th SPI Ouest France Intermarche Regatta is taking place this weekend from April 17th to 21st, with four days of racing planned on Quiberon Bay.  Over 300 boats are sailing and, again, the J/80 class will be by far the largest fleet (one-design or handicap) with 86 boats expected on the starting line.  This year’s event also marks the debut of the J/70 class with a dozen boats primed to do battle for SPI Ouest honors.

The J/70s have several notable teams registered, including a new French crew sailing PEN AZEN that will be skippered by Philipe Delaporte, a long-time J owner and past RORC Offshore Champion in his J122 PEN AZEN.  Joining the French J/70 class sailors will be J. Bergh’s HAPPY team from KSSS YC in Sweden and also C. Esse’s crew on DARWIN PROPERTY INVESTMENT from Royal Thames YC in Great Britain.   For more SPI Ouest France sailing information

Kiel YC Wins Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga I

23 Teams Qualify for DSBL I & II
(Glucksburg, Germany)-  The second annual Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga (DSBL), hosted by Flensburg Sailing Club in Glucksburg, Germany from April 4th to 6th was a resounding success.  Sixty-one of the best sailing clubs in Germany sailed in fleets of J/70s and J/80s on an arm of the Baltic Sea directly across from Denmark (see http://bit.ly/1epRk0y).  In the end, the team from Kieler YC skippered by Martin Menzner were crowned winners and, therefore, the early leaders in the season-long series.  Twenty-three teams in total qualified for the next round of sailing in the DSBL.  The weather conditions were challenging for all, with a storm on Friday and medium winds on Saturday and Sunday testing everyone’s skills to their physical and tactical limits.

The event has taken on a massive scale like never before seen in the history of sailing in Germany.  The cooperation of the German Sailing Association, the German Offshore Sailing Association HANSA (DHH) and the local host clubs like Flensburg S.C. are providing a fantastic sailing experience for all sailors; young and old alike, women, children and experienced sailors (both professional and amateur).  Tellingly, one would not be able to say after this unique weekend, “that there was a better place and a more perfect organization that would have all parties onshore and on the water that they would want to go to," said Joachim Hellmich, a manager of Project DSBL GmbH.

Florian Weser, Vice-Chairman of the DSBL, summarized the numbers for the qualifying regatta, “with 61 sailing clubs participating, there were 244 sailors from all over Germany, over 85 volunteer helpers at the FSC and DHH, and 86 races were conducted over three days with 600 exchanges (team switches per boat) between the races. Astounding!”

The format has proven itself over the 2013 season.  The suspense and “roller coaster” emotions for the teams continues this year as everyone watches “live” results on “Jumbotrons” from race-to-race, seeing their team members climb or drop in the standings as they cross the finish line.

The five clubs who qualify for the “Premiere League” in the Bundesliga this year, are the Kieler YC, the Bodensee YC Überlingen, the Seglervereinigung Itzehoe, the Segelkameradschaft "Wappen von Bremen" and the Düsseldorf YC.

The KYC commented on their victory in the qualification series, "We are obviously delighted that we are now in the Premiere League here. Our goal was to qualify for the DSBL II Series and, hopefully, make it into the Championship. From now on we need to practice even more to stay atop the standings," said a relieved KYC helmsman Martin Menzner.

"The start of the season was perfect: great organization by the Flensburg Sailing Club and the German Offshore Association HANSA, enthusiastic participants and sailing at the highest level that the league format has provided for the sailors. We look forward to the upcoming season and the start of the first Premier League from 16 to 18 May at the Bavarian Yacht Club on Lake Starnberg," said Oliver Schwall, founder and CEO of the German DSBL Gmbh. Qualifying in the top three for Bundesliga II series were the Segel-Club Bayer Uerdingen, the Hamburg Sailing Club and Munich YC.

The first day of qualifying was spectacular. The organizers had to contend with a stormy wind forecast and some boat damage. After the first fourteen races in the Segel-Club Bayer Uerdingen from Krefeld was leading with Lennart Luttkus, Hendrik Coers, Holger Blumenkamp and Thomas Schubert as crew.

After the first grueling day of racing with a lot of crew and boat errors, the second day had very pleasant sailing conditions with moderate winds; good enough in fact to get in 39 races!  At this point, it was becoming evident the Kiel YC crew were both sailing confidently and with few mistakes, leading at the end of the day.  From that position, the third day of benign sailing conditions enabled the KYC crew to sail away from the series on Sunday.  Their crew of Martin Menzner, Mikael Rolfs, Frank Lichte and Julian Ramm are now the “team to beat” in the upcoming series on Lake Starnberg.   Sailing photos and commentary on Facebook  For more Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing information

Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga: Ready-Set-Go!

(Glucksburg, Germany)-  The second annual Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga is about to get under way!  Flensburg Sailing Club in Gluckburg, is hosting the first event running from April 4th to 6th.  The best sailing clubs in Germany are participating in a season-long regatta circuit that features a full weekend of sailing in six different locations.  Each club provides their best team of sailors that can sail J/70s and J/80s fast! At the end, the winners are crowned as the “best sailing club” in Germany!

Last year with only eighteen teams participating, the fleet of six J/70s could accommodate everyone on a rotating basis.  And, it was a resounding success everywhere the Bundesliga hosted an event, the local sailors and club members came out in droves to watch the fun racing taking place near shore.

Due to the overwhelming requests to participate in the 2014 edition of the Segel-Bundesliga, the format has been expanded to accommodate sixty-three teams!  As a result, the fleet has also expanded to include the original fleet of six J/70s plus J/80s where there are local fleets.  The first three events this year are acting as “qualifiers” for the final five events- ending with the “championship” round again on Hamburg’s gorgeous Alster Lake in the middle of city.

The event is an enormous undertaking.  “Everything is going to plan. We hope the wind and weather forecast are favorable and we expect to get all the scheduled races to the finish," said Claus-Otto Hansen of the host Flensburg SC. Adding, “the boats are ready to sail. We are well prepared and looking forward to the play-offs."  The plan is for 252 sailors from all over Germany to sail 90 races over the weekend! 

The regatta schedule for this year’s Segel-Bundesliga is the following:

• 04.04.    06.04.    Glücksburg / Flensburger Förde
• 16.05.    18.05.    Starnberg / Starnberger See
• 23.05.    25.05.    Tutzing / Starnberger See
• 19.07.    21.07.    Travemünde / Lübecker Bucht
• 22.08.    24.08.    Berlin / Wannsee
• 05.09.    07.09.    Kiel / Innenförde
• 26.09.    28.09.    Friedrichshafen / Bodensee
• 31.10.    02.11.    Hamburg / Außenalster

Sailing photo credits- Sven Juergensen.   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

J/70 Speeds Across The Bodensee

(Lake Constance, Germany)- With the advent of the J/70 as an International Class in November 2013, several sailing regions around the world have exploded with enthusiasm.  One area in particular, Lake Constance, has seen the J/70 become the one-design sportboat of choice for the Lake Constance Sailing Association comprised of 55 yacht and sailing clubs with over 10,000 members and at least as many boat owners.  The selection was a demanding one for the J/70, having eclipsed many highly regarded contenders and winning the final “bake-off” against two other well-known sportboats.

Since that time in the fall of 2013, the reports coming from German sailors on the lake has been nothing short of amazing.  Many had experience with the J/70 first-hand when the Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailed their five regatta series all over Germany last summer.  With the first deliveries of J/70s on the Bodensee, many enthusiastic German one-design sailors have hopped aboard and, like many others before them, have been pushing the limits.

Recently, a Berlin skipper, Jurgen Waldheim, was down on the lake with a bunch of friends taking the J/70 for a spin in 20-26+ kts TWS.  The conditions in early December were a bit chilly, but the breeze was up, good-sized waves were rolling down the lake and there was even snow on the hills on the nearby Swiss and Austria Alps!  As they say, “can’t keep a good crew down” from rising up to the challenge and simply going for it.

Jurgen and crew managed to hook-up several GoPro video cameras and here’s the evidence of their blast across the lake.  What’s cool about their frolic across the Bodensee was that their crew never hesitated to throw in a bunch of gybes as they blew down the lake at speeds up to 20 kts!  Next time guys, keep the jib out and you’d go even faster with more control!    Here’s their YouTube HD J/70 sailing video.   For more International J/70 One-design sailboat information

Hamburgers Masters Of J/70 Segel-Bundesliga!

(Berlin, Germany)- What began as a dream and passion to grow sailing across Germany became, for even the most diehard detractors, one of the most successful sailing projects ever launched in European sailing history.  Some may point to the Extreme 40 catamaran sailing series or RC-44 one-design series as examples of how to grow participation in sailing amongst the elite of the sailing world.  However, no one has demonstrated, until this year, how to grow sailing at a grass-roots level that was “all-inclusive” and fun!  Perhaps more importantly, make it a remarkable learning experience with many of Europe’s best sailors participating (e.g. Olympic Medallists and World Champions) and get everyone cheering enthusiastically for their respective sailing clubs to win!  That was the secret of the inaugural J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing series held in five locations across Germany this past summer.

The exciting conclusion of the series on Berlin’s Wansee saw a bunch of northern “Hamburgers” trounce their “southern” friends from Berlin and points south in Germany.  And in the end, the eighteen sailing clubs/ yacht clubs and hundreds of sailors that participated from across Germany were all the real winners; each club saw tremendous interest grow in the event all summer long with many wishing to participate the next time around!

The finale on the Wansee took place in about as picturesque and dramatic a city lake-front as anyone could imagine.  It served as tremendous theater for the finalists to battle for not just the Berliner regatta honors, but the overall series honors as well.

The Berlin/ Wansee regatta saw tough competition, especially from the host club sailors that demonstrated excellent local knowledge of the tricky wind conditions.  Indeed, the first two places went to the locals, with the Schweriner YC team comprised of Ingo Koehn, Torsten Haverland, Lars Haverland and Uwe Thielemann winning an impressive series with seven finishes in the top three! They were followed by their colleagues at Verein Seglerhaus am Wansee with the team of Malte Kamrath, Ulrike Schumann, Frithjof Kleen and Nils Schröder.  Taking third was Lindauer Segler-Club, fourth was Norddeutscher Regatta Verein and fifth was Muhlenberger Segel-Club.

As a result of their fourth place finish in the Berlin/Wansee Regatta, the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV) team from Hamburg were declared the overall winners of the inaugural Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga series!  The NRV team that consisted of Johannes Polgar, Florian Spalteholz, Klaas Höpcke and Niklas of Meyerinck sailed a remarkably consistent series over the course of the five regattas, consistently finishing in the top five—  (Tutzing- 5th, Travemunde- 2nd, Hamburg- 1st, Friedrichshafen- 4th, Berlin- 5th). Their skipper, Johannes Polgar, said “we could hardly believe our luck! It was a crazy season for us! Fantastic that we were able to bring the trophy to our friends and members in Hamburg!”

Behind NRV in the overall standings and taking second prize for the series were the Wurttembergischer YC team. While sailing fast and smart in Tutzing (4th), Travemunde (5th) and Friedrichshafen (1st), their team members didn’t quite hit the ground running in championship form in Hamburg (7th) and in the Berliner finale (9th).

The biggest battle happened to be for the final position on the podium for the series with at least four teams  vying for the coveted bronze medal.  By sailing their hearts out in Berlin, the local favorites (Verein Seglerhaus am Wansee with skipper Malte Kamrath), rode their second place onto podium by a whisker!  The VSaW team started the series slowly in Tutzing, but closed with a flourish at Friedrichshafen (2nd) and Berlin (2nd) to claim the bronze for the overall series.

The balance of the top five were quite close, finishing just two and three points behind VSaW, respectively.  After starting the series quite strongly - Tutzing (1st), Travemunde (3rd), Hamburg (3rd)- the proverbial “wheels fell of the silverware shopping trolley” for YC Berlin-Grunau’s team.  The last two events for YC B-G were tough pills to swallow, having to count the Friedrichshafen (9th) and Berlin (12th) to finish fourth.  Just one point back was the very consistent team from Chiemsee YC, counting a Hamburg (2nd), a 5th and three 6th places to hang in for fifth overall.

After five months, it is quite clear the concept of the first Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga has been a great success. The acceptance of the first nation-wide club competition in Germany is very high amongst the sailing community. The five events that were held in the first year were dominated by local patriotism, passion, camaraderie and fairness between the sailors. So far, there are now more than 30 other clubs that are interested in participating for the 2014 sailing season!

Many happy memories were recorded for all of the sailors, the organizers, sponsors and the host clubs.  Below are the links to the photos and some nice sailing videos for each one of the events.

June 7-9- Tutzing/ Starnberger See
http://segelbundesliga.de/fotogalerien/tutzing/
http://segelbundesliga.de/fotogalerien/tutzing-tag-2/
http://segelbundesliga.de/fotogalerien/tutzing-tag-3/

July 19-21- Travemunde
http://segelbundesliga.de/mediathek/fotogalerien/travemuende/
Day 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfhhFYNsXTU
Day 3- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30Wikkt8jGk

August 30— September 1- Hamburg
http://segelbundesliga.de/mediathek/fotogalerien/hamburg/
Day 1- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u974BNOD0H8
Day 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyZKlCmAuqg
Day 3- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u974BNOD0H8

September 27-29- Friedrichshafen
http://segelbundesliga.de/mediathek/fotogalerien/friedrichshafen/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QToUl73acWY

November 8-10- Berlin finale
http://segelbundesliga.de/mediathek/fotogalerien/berlin/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZDIhI9WUr4

For more Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing information

J/70 Lake Constance Class Development

(Friedrichshafen, Lake Constance- Austria, Germany, Switzerland)- The “Bodensee” as Lake Constance is known in central Europe is perhaps one of the most remarkable bodies of water in the world.  Steeped in history and at the middle of a “tug-of-war” between various empires over time in the middle of Europe, today “the lake” enjoys a somewhat neutral position in the world of politics and empires— no one has jurisdiction over the sailors whom enjoy its spectacular sailing venues— be that Austria, Switzerland or Germany!

As a result of its unique place in history, Lake Constance has a remarkably collaborative approach to life on how one manages one of the most beautiful lakes in the world!  With no jurisdictional powers over the lake, three major European nations exercise their “community of interests” by cooperating together on a wide variety of sailing, environmental and social issues.  In this case, summer, fun, beaches, sun-bathing, boating and sailing are the principals that drive all towards a common interest to enjoy a shared passion for the water!

In a remarkable development over the course of the past year, for the first time Germany and an entire region of central European sailors have made a decision to promote a single class within their clubs and throughout the entire region!  The project initiated from Constance sailor Christian Rau, an experienced European one-design racer. Together with other successful sailors from the racing scene at Lake Constance, they developed a concept that could be the basis for the development of a relatively inexpensive and fast boat, which could be promoted by all of the clubs and, most importantly, could be leaders in developing a new EUROPEAN-wide one-design keelboat class!

According to Bo Riechmann (J/Boats Germany Dealer Mittelman’s Werft), “it´s really quite remarkable, in fact unbelievable, that such a large group of clubs have collaborated on such a large scale! The Lake Constance Sailing Association has around 100 sailing clubs with 20,500 members sailing over 10,000 sailboats in the 18-25 ft size range and at least 70 clubs were present to select the J/70 as their next “one-design club keelboat”!  The driving issue was to consolidate the dozens of keelboat classes that have evolved over time into one that was “easy-to-sail by all age groups (especially women & children), ramp-launchable, easily transportable around Europe, and affordable”.  The J/70 helped to overcome significant issues related to the limited “in-water” docks & moorings that were available around Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as for the rest of Europe.  The storage issue simply became a choice of whether it was your drive-way at home or a local dry-sail facility next to a launching ramp.”

The Lake Constance Sailing Association is planning to organize five main one-design events on the lake for the 2014 summer sailing season. In addition, they will also take part at seven other main events on the lake.  As a result, new J/70 one-design sailors will have at least twelve regattas to sail next summer on the Bodensee!  Most importantly, everyone (community sailing club or private yacht club) can take part at all events.  Henning’s Mittelman’s Werft team will be providing a fun “twist” to the series, providing a “Golden Spinnaker” to the current series leader for each event— so everybody will be able to see which boat is leading the overall score going into each event!   For more German J/70 Class Association information (just recently organized).   For more J/70 & Lake Constance Sailing Association sailing class information.

J/70 World Class Developments

(Newport, RI)- As the J/70 class continues to expand worldwide at a frenetic pace, easily the fastest growing sportboat ever, there are even more exciting developments to look forward to headed into 2014.

So far, American J/70 sailors have established nineteen fleets spread across the country, with representation in virtually every major sailing center.  The likelihood of fleets developing in places like Edgartown YC in Martha’s Vineyard and in Stonington/New London, CT with US Coast Guard Academy sailors participating is quite certain; pushing the total fleets over 20+ for 2014.  More news on these fleets and others as they develop.  The larger fleets so far happen to be on Chesapeake Bay (Annapolis, Richmond and Fishing Bay- over 50 boats); in the Great Lakes (Chicago, Rocky River, Canandaigua, Erie, Youngstown & Rochester- over 50 boats); on the Pacific Coast (Seattle, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Newport Beach, San Diego- over 40 boats); and in the Northeast (Marblehead, Edgartown, Fishers Island, Ridgewood, Southampton and Newport- over 50 boats).  Southwestern USA is growing fast with fleets established in Forth Worth and Houston, Texas— nearly two dozen boats!

The European scene is catching up quickly with fleet development already taking place in virtually all major sailing centers across the UK and continental Europe.  While the strongest fleet so far has been the Solent-based J/70 sailors in the UK, their cross-Channel colleagues are creating enormous momentum.  J/70s enjoyed excellent fleet growth in Italy, hosting the first EuroCup on Lago di Garda for sailing teams from Germany, UK, Monaco, Netherlands, France and Russia.  Expect to see fleets growing in the Benelux/ Netherlands region, France, Germany, Monaco, Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, Denmark) and Russia.  The German J/70 fleet has generated significant interest due to their Deutsche Sailing Bundesliga (watch real-time Berliner finals this weekend here).  Perhaps the most exciting development may be taking place on Lake Constance (the Bodensee).  There, fifty-five sailing clubs that border it’s picturesque shoreline (Germany, Switzerland, Austria) have agreed, as part of the Lake Constance Sailing Association, to grow the J/70 one-design class on the lake— more news on this exciting development soon!

Looking out further across the world of J/70 sailing, a number of J/70s are already sailing in South America (Peru, Chile, Brazil) and Australia (Sydney).  Perhaps the most exciting developments are taking place on the Asia/ Pacific Rim; it appears that multiple fleets with dozens of boats are organizing in China, spearheaded by their provincial Ministers of Sport & Tourism to help catalyze the lifelong sport/ recreation of sailing across Asia!  More news soon!

J/70 sailors themselves have been documenting the extraordinary amounts of fun they’re having with their boats.  Perhaps one of the coolest 70 sailing videos to date comes from Annapolis photographer Sara Proctor, practicing her skills as a videographer at the monstrous J/70 North Americans recently held on the Chesapeake Bay with nearly 90 boats!  Sara’s “music sailing video” includes nice choreography with ALT-J’s popular BREEZEBLOCKS tune (the Leeds, England–based trio that fittingly has a new album called “AN AWESOME WAVE”- postmodern pop that mines the best elements from folk-rock, garage rock, dub-pop, indie rock, vintage cinema scores, and a-cappella harmony before constructing layered, angular arrangements with sonic overtones). Sweet!!  Watch Sara Proctor’s sailing video tour’de’force here.

There are several other J/70 sailing videos for your couch-potato viewing pleasure, including:

- Team JUGADOR Sailing the British J/70 Nationals- just your basic 12-15 kts of sailing on “cruise-control” with bursts to 17-18 kts plus!

- A J/70 sailing San Francisco Bay- extreme upwind sailing in 25+ kts of breeze.

- Matt Romberg’s J/70 speed-sailing trials on a beautiful, windy day on Lake Travis- sailing with his Dad and Jon Baker and featuring a nice wipe out in the middle of the segment.

- Peter Winkelstein recently sailing on the Niagara River on a beautiful fall day in October.  It’s on-board video of the J/70 EOWYN approaching the mouth of the Niagara River during a beautiful Fall race.

- Alex Watters sailing a J/70 in the Bras d’Or Narrows- a 15 mile northwest arm of the lakes- it was very shifty with huge puffs. Says Alex, “We need to get to the left side of the narrows to honor a navigation mark, all the while being swept straight seaward by a 3-4 knot current (meanwhile, we’re flying the Code 0). At exactly the wrong time we get slammed by a huge blast, which was also a knock, making this one of the messiest roundings ever...but we made it!!  Yeah, mon!! Our class was the last start, like 30 min after the first class, and we are leading the 40 boat fleet at this point as the smallest boat in the race (biggest was a Swan 48)!!.”  Pretty amusing video seen here!  Sailing photo credits- Erik Simonson/ Pressure-drop.us

Scott Crowned First J/70 EuroCup Champion

(Riva del Garda, Italy)- Warm fall weather and a gracious, friendly host in the form of Fraglia della Vela welcomed the J/70 one-design class to Riva del Garda for their first edition of the J/70 EuroCup.  As expected the Northern part of Lago di Garda offered perfectly epic sailing conditions.  The J/70 Fleet sailed in the early afternoon with constant steady breeze from 12-23 kts from the south- the famous "Ora" wind.  The last day of racing had an early morning start with a solid northerly breeze up to 25 kts, the classic "Peler" mountain winds that blow down the mountain valleys onto the lake at night.

Seven nations (Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russian, Netherlands, Monaco) participated in the event that saw the competition dominated by the British team led by Ruairidh Scott and crew (Ben Field, Charlie Cumbley and Matt Curthoys).  Scott's team were already UK J/70 National Champion and winner of the Cowes Week J/70 class. Fred Bouvier of France and British sailor Joe Woods fought hard for second place all regatta long, often trading places in the standings.  In the end, Bouvier captured second with Joe Woods' team on RED taking third.  Perfect boat-handling and good speed were enough for the young German Team skipper Mehlig Kevin to defend fourth place.  Pietro Saccomanni (Diporto Velico Veneziano) along with Salvatore Eulisse, Alberto Grippo and Giulia Sent are the first of the Italian teams in fifth place.

Fraglia della Vela provided perfect organization on the water. At the end of sailing each day a tasty, delicious pasta party and local wines were offered to all exhausted and very hungry competitors. At the very generous Awards Ceremony there were the classic trophies for great performances, but thanks to the generous sponsorship of Hannspree Italia, enormous HD flat-screen LED TV's were provided to the top three finishing teams and Alcatel cell phones and tablets were also provided to the top finishers!  Furthermore, J/Boats Italy delivered to Fraglia della Vela a J/70 half-model as the "Challenge Trophy" to be awarded each year to the winner of next J/70 EuroCup regattas.

The report from Fred Bouvier, second place finisher in the regatta, provides some nice insights.  "After a lot of excitement and a busy week (our crew was set-up 4 days before the event and the boat was brand new and finished twos day before) we arrived in Riva", said Bouvier.  "We launched the boat on Tuesday and trained for a few hours in the afternoon (it was the first time we sailed together and I was the only with any experience in the J 70!)."

"We were very impressed about the beauty of the city, the gorgeous lake and the mountainous environment around us", commented Bouvier. "We clearly understood after two days that the North guys couldn't be beat and that we would fight for the 2nd or 3rd place. Before the last days we were standing 1 points behind Joe Woods' RED and we knew that we had to be good to beat them.  Unfortunately we were not that good but still had a bit of luck.  At the finish in the final race RED was stuck just two boat lengths from the finish line in a dying breeze from the north, when all of a sudden a puff from the other direction came in and 90% of the fleet, including us, just passed across their bow!"

"The event was perfectly organized," continues Bouvier, "the welcome was wonderful and the race committee is highly professional in the way they managed the typical Garda conditions. As the lake is 300m deep, they used fixed mooring for buoys and committee, for this reason the leg lengths are unchanged for all types of championships. Because of this fact, the race committee could tell us that the first J/70 in its fastest race was a bit faster than the best Melges 24 on the same course!!  Incredible!!"

Similarly, Paolo Boido from J/Boats Italy commented, "The J/70 has been able to demonstrate a great show of Speed + Power + Stability + Easy Handling in the solid breeze of Garda-- going very fast downwind with speed on the Velocitek showing up to 20 knots (note-- that's an average GPS speed)!!  Plus, the J/70 was comfortable and dry upwind, beating easily at close true-wind angles in the irregular big chop typical of the Lake".  Sailing photo credits- David Turrini- www.recordiamo.net.    For more J/70 EuroCup sailing information

J/70 Europeans Update

(Riva del Garda, Italy)- The J/70 Eurocup is in full swing at Fraglia Vela Riva, Riva del Garda. This is  the first event for the brand new J/70 class which is enjoying are real boom in popularity across the world. It is making its appearance for the very first time on Lake Garda, Trentino. The high-performing sportboats are suitable not only for professional sailors but also for those who enjoy the challenge of competing at a high level.

There are eight nations taking part with Fraglia Vela Riva yacht club again taking the reins as pioneers for a new sailing class in Europe! During the few days prior to the regatta, the J/70 teams were practicing out on the lake-- in the 15-25 kts of TWS, the J/70s on a close reach were reaching impressive speeds- often in excess of 15 kts boat speed!

Until Thursday the British team led by Ruairidh Scott has dominated the field-- his crew on board are Ben Field, Charlie Cumbley and Matt Curthoys. They have 5 firsts and a second so far. Fred Bouvier of France and Brit sailor Joe Woods are fighting it out over second place. With two days to go they are even with 13 points each. Pietro Saccomanni (Diporto Velico Veneziano) along with Salvatore Eulisse, Alberto Grippo and Giulia Sent are the first of the Italian teams in fifth place.  Weather conditions were very good on the first two days with steady, light – medium winds of 16-18 knots. The competitors have been very pleased with the organization of the the event, from the staff on land, to the regatta committee, and to those on the water who are helping to manage the course.  The event is sponsored by "Hannspree" who are awarding their latest model 50" LED flat-panel TV to the medal winners!  For more J/70 EuroCup sailing information

Hamburg J/70 Match Race Winner- NRV Team

Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga - Stage III- Great Sailing!
(Hamburg, Germany)- The third event in the highly popular Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga took place in the heart of Hamburg, on the famously beautiful Alster Lake, from August 30th to September 1st.  This regatta format was different than the "all fleet" racing in the first two events, instead it pitted J/70s in a match-race format with "club against club" duels in a double-elimination/ repechage ladder to determine the final champion.

All eighteen sailing clubs that have been participating sent their best sailors; many sent their match-race experts to Hamburg, including former Olympic medalists, Olympians, and German National Sailing Team members.  After an intensive schedule of 153 races, 17 for each club, the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV) team comprised of Carsten Kemmling, Felix Oehme, and Florian Weser posted 15 wins in 17 races to take the match-race win!  The three day event saw a wide range of conditions, but mostly flat water with very shifty winds ranging up to 18 kts and a combination of sun and rain on occasion!

After the first day of racing the Flensburg Sailing Club was leading after the race director managed to pull off 48 races on a day of bright sunshine and winds up to twelve knots!  With five wins in six races, the team from Flensburg Sailing Club that included skipper Lennart Brieseneck-Pudenz, Nils Carstensen, Jan and Philipp Frigge Linstädt found themselves at the top of the standings.  At this time, NRV was in second with four wins in five races followed by the Bavarian Yacht Club and Yacht Club Berlin Grunau.

On the second day, the North German sailing clubs sitting at the top of the standings felt particularly comfortable.  The host NRV held a razor-thin lead over the Schwerin YC. Lurking behind were four teams all tied on points with 18 pts each.  The duels between the neighboring clubs would be decided on the final day!  The top six teams were only separated by two points. As in Travemünde, it could hardly be a more exciting finale! Behind NRV and Schwerin YC was a four-way tie between YC Berlin-Grunau, the YC Württemberg, the Flensburg Sailing Club and the Chiemsee Yacht Club.

In the end, it was clear "local knowledge" of Hamburg's Alster Lake would play a key role in NRV's win, providing them a clear advantage for the final races on the last day.  With years of experience in match racing the NRV team skippered by Carsten Kemmling posted 15 wins in 17 races. "We have worked great as a team and were able to exploit the wind shifts perfectly," said Kemmling.

Finishing second behind the NRV was perhaps the surprise performance of the regatta, with the Chiemsee Yacht Club (CYC) led by the two brothers Leopold and Moritz Müller.  Just behind them was YC Berlin-Grunau (YCGB) led by skipper Stefan Meister and tactician Gunnar Bahr. "We are always pleased when we sail into the top three - we did it again", said Bahr!

After the first three events, the YCBG and NRV are tied with 50 pts each leading the overall Bundes-Liga standings.  Tied for third are Bayerischer YC and Wurttembergischer YC with 44 pts each and in fifth all alone is Chiemsee YC with 41 pts.

The next exciting regatta on the J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga circuit will be held from 27 to 29 September 2013 at Württemberg Yacht Club.

Here are sailing video highlights of the J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga match-racing:
Day 1- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5qtd7zqjwE
Day 2- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyZKlCmAuqg
Day 3- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u974BNOD0H8

For more Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga J/70 sailing information

J/70's Sail Travemunde Week

Great Racing in Bundesliga Between German Clubs (Travemunde, Germany)- The J/70 Bundesliga yacht club participants were looking forward to sailing on Travemunde's famous bay on the Baltic Sea; renown for the sea-breeze that often fills in the afternoon at 10-15 kts from the northeasterly quadrants- often oscillating from 40 to 75 degrees.

The second regatta of the Bundesliga took place in front of Lübeck, sailing in a "stadium-style" racing right along the Travemunde waterfront.  The regatta organizers did a fabulous job of running thirty races for three flights over the two days for the eighteen teams that were competing.  The weather Gods cooperated, offering up sunny days with nice sea-breezes every afternoon-- that's what the chamber of commerce promised, right!?

Demonstrating how close the competition was for all the teams, the top three was determined on a three-way tie-breaker with 25 pts total each.  Winning the regatta with most firsts was the Bayerischer YC, second was the North German Regatta Association and third was YC Berlin Grunau.

"The leading clubs are all sailing on the same level. Everybody has won races and sometimes have also landed back in the field," says Walter Roth sailing with Yacht Club Berlin Grunau.  And, he adds that "having short, fast consecutive races means bad ones are quickly forgotten!  The BYC team with skipper Christian Schäfer and crew John Kaske, Philip Hibler and Walter Roth have been improving constantly.  Their victory in Travemünde means we now move into second place in the overall Bundesliga series!"

The YC Berlin Grunau continues to lead the Bundesliga series as a result of their third place finish in Travemunde. "For us, everything went as planned. We defended our championship lead and want to continue our good performance in the next regatta in Hamburg," said the team manager of YCBG.

The second place team in Travemünde, the North German Regatta Association, underlined their ambitions in the Bundesliga. "We're used to match race sailing, but we quickly adapt to these exciting new boats- the J/70s. This has definitely helped us on the first day of racing," explains Florian Weser. He generally match races with his teammates Klaas Höpcke and Niklas Meyerinck. "The NRV team is now ranked third in the Bundesliga series and we intend to get better!" added helmsman Johannes Polgar.

As one of the primary sponsors of the Bundesliga series sailed on J/70s, SAP's Sail-TV has been providing both locally live TV broadcasts as well as live internet broadcasts on-line.  The popularity of the event not only throughout Germany, but across Europe, has been increasing dramatically!  Watch for other versions of this J/70 circuit in other European countries next year!  Sailing Photo credits- Lars Wehrmann   For more J/70 Bundesliga sailing information   For more Travemunde Woche sailing information

German J/70 Sailing League Sails Tutzing

Jochen Schuman and Yachtclub Berlin-Grunau Draw First Blood!
(Tutzing, Germany)- The newly founded German Sailing League (Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga) completed their inaugural regatta on the Starnberger See, hosted by the Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club off Tutzing located on a spectacular lake in southern Germany- a lake that is up to 3 nm wide and 12 nm long oriented north and south.  The Starnberger See is surrounded by the foothills of the Austrian and Bavarian Alps to the south, and just about an hour's drive from the famous ski resorts of Innsbruck, Austria.

The idea for the event is a simple one:  gather together eighteen of the best sailing clubs in Germany sailed by their best sailors and provide them a nationwide competition for an entire sailing season in one-design J/70s at five fabulous sailing venues.  The matched fleet of six J/70s would be used in a round-robin format so that all eighteen teams could sail an equal number of races over a three day regatta based right on the waterfront.  After starting in Tutzing's Starnberger See, the Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga next sails in Travemunde on the Baltic (July 19-21), then Hamburg's Alster Lake (August 30- September 1st), then Friedrichshafen's Bodensee (September 27-29) and concludes on Berlin's Wansee (November 8-10).  The event was founded by sports marketing agency Concept Shipyard, led by Benjamin Jeuthe and Oliver Schwall-- their hope is "the Bundesliga is supposed to be the highest level of performance sailing on a national basis for those sailing at club level."  Their colleague from the Württemberg YC and an Olympic Sailing Gold Medalist in 1976, Dr. Eckart Dietsch, adds: "The Bundesliga is a wonderful opportunity for our WYC members to participate in an event of national prominence with Germany's best sailors. I am convinced that the format has a future, because it is independent of age and generations. "

As it turns out, their vision for a national sailing league has hundreds of enthusiastic supporters throughout Germany.  None other than one of Germany's most famous sailing stars, Jochen Schuman, appeared at the first showdown for the 18 sailing clubs and won with his team from Yacht Club Berlin-Grunau. But their victory was not secure until all the teams had completed their last set of races!  In the end, the team of Jochen Schumann, Reinhard Hübner, Oliver Freiheit and Philipp Leo took the gold. "For the Bundesliga and the YCBG it's a perfect start. We have quickly come together as a team and we just try to avoid mistakes," said helmsman Schumann, who also celebrated his 59th birthday during the regatta!

In the second place after finishing the last of the 36 races (twelve each per team) was the Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club. Skipper Maximilian White sailed with crew Anna Seidel, Jonas Vogt and Michael Tarabochia. "It's a great experience to match one-on-one against Jochen Schumann. We are very pleased that we managed to get second place," said the Maximilian.  They managed to win a tie-breaker to take second with 27 net pots after twelve races!

Finishing third, losing the tie-breaker, was the Württemberg Yacht Club with skipper Stefanie Rothweiler- a two-time German Olympic sailor.  Her crew on the J/70 included Thomas Stemmer, Felix Dietsch and Klaus Dietsch. "It was a really cool race. Great to see how our team sailed better from race to race. In the end, it was great to sail against the other clubs - not just against other people," said Stefanie.

All sailors expressed tremendous enthusiasm for the regatta format and the short races in front of the audience along the shore. The regatta even had the famous Maike Christiansen- top German women racer, boardsailor and kiter sailing for her home team of Mühlenberger Segel.

About 200 spectators watched the spectacle of the racing hosted by the German Touring Yacht Club. Even the wind and weather were simply fabulous- a constant, slight to moderate wind and sun allowed the RC PRO Wolfgang Stückl to run the full program of 36 races!  Sailing photo credits- Nils Bergmann   Find more info and sailing friends on Facebook/ Deutsche Bundesliga   For more Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing information