4th Bundesliga weekend: Fog, calm and North German winners

North, south, north, south, centre, north, south: this is the geographical order in which the top seven clubs lead the upper house of the German Sailing League. The leader after the fourth Bundesliga weekend of the season is the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV), which won ahead of Warnemünde and was able to relegate the reinvigorated Wassersport-Verein Hemelingen with helmsman Jan Seekamp to second place. The Seglerhaus am Wannsee club sailed to third place with Jasper Wagner at the helm. Click here for the first league results of Warnemünde. And here it goes to the Table of the 1st Bundesliga after four events.

Sovereign record champions: The NRV is leader of the 1st league table

For the NRV, helmsman and former Olympian Tobias Schadewaldt with Daniel Reichart, Klaas Höpcke and David Hitzig performed confidently even in challenging conditions and with a shortened programme. After this fourth Bundesliga weekend, Hamburg's record champions from the Alster lead the first division table by two points ahead of the strong Lake Constance team from Segel- und Motorbootclub Überlingen (SMCÜ). The third-placed team from Mühlenberger Segel-Club (MSC) is already twelve points behind.

The persistent doldrums and sea fog made sailing impossible for many hours on the second of three days of this Bundesliga weekend in the bay off Warnemünde. In places, the fog was so thick that the crews could not see the buoys on their way to the regatta course.

Doldrums and fog instead of westerly winds and perfect waves

The start attempts had to be cancelled again and again. "Sailing is a natural sport, we always have to adapt to the current weather situation," commented league organiser Oliver Schwall on the necessities, which the organisers made the best of. However, Schwall said that he had rarely experienced such extreme fog in September. "Warnemünde is actually known for its westerly wind and perfect waves. Now we had calm, fog and then a very hesitant north-north-westerly wind."

SailGP cinema fun instead of sailing action on the Baltic Sea

Instead of the sailing challenges, the crews of the 1st and 2nd leagues experienced a spectacular land programme on Saturday: the live broadcast of the SailGP races from the bay of Saint-Tropez. Click here for the YACHT report from the fifth regatta of the third SailGP season. The races of the impressive F50 catamarans were watched together on a large screen and commented on accordingly. "The Bundesliga sailing community has grown even closer here in Warnemünde," said Oliver Schwall. "It was perfect that we were offered the very best sailing cinema live from France."

Once the conditions off Warnemünde were sailable again, the league sailors returned from the big screen sailing cinema to their own J/70 keelboats. "We got off to a good start on the first day, the second was difficult due to the fog," summarised Jan Seekamp from the Hemelingen Water Sports Association after the Baltic Sea weekend. After a weak start to the season, the Bremen team was able to work its way up to eighth place in the 1st Bundesliga with a second place on the fourth league weekend.

The Konstanzer Yacht-Club is the league leader in the 2nd Bundesliga

The local heroes from the Akademischer SegelVerein Warnemünde (ASVW), who have already been promoted from the 2nd division to the upper house of German sailing, were also surprised by the completely atypical conditions in their sailing area this weekend: "Warnemünde didn't live up to its promise. Late summer days with sea fog and circulating winds offered conditions that one would rather expect on Lake Constance," said Matthes Waack from the ASVW. Together with his team, he "only" came second on his home turf.

The team from Bocholter Yachtclub (BYC) surprisingly won the second league matches. The Konstanzer Yacht-Club (KYC) sailed to third place in the 2nd league, whose players are unchallenged at the top of the 2nd league table with just eight points to their name. Click here for the second league results of Warnemünde. And here it goes to the Table of the 2nd Bundesliga.

The league final and the DSBL Cup are already in sight

At the upcoming league summit from 30 September to 2 October on the Wannsee, only the first division teams will be challenged, while the second division teams will take a break after four regattas. The event will be hosted by the Berlin Yacht Club. The grand finale of both leagues will take place from 13 to 15 October off Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance. The final highlight of the league season will be the DSBL Cup on 5 and 6 November in Hamburg.