Bundesliga: Final live today: Who will be the 2020 eSailing club champion?

Twelve finalists and possibly up to 20,000 spectators are expected to watch the final of the eSailing Bundesliga powered by Bay on their screens tonight. The showdown of the best teams after seven match days so far will be broadcast live from 5.30 pm via Bundesliga homepage on Facebook and via YouTube from SailTracks. The team from Hamburger Segel-Club (HSC), which has won 19 of the 35 races so far, has entered the final as the leader of the standings. In second place before the final is Bodensee-Yacht-Club Überlingen (BYCÜ) with 15 race wins.

The eSailing final of the Bundesliga will be broadcast on Friday evening (5 June) from 5.30 pm

Here are the standings before the final:

1. Hamburg Sailing Club (HSC)
2. Lake Constance Yacht Club Überlingen (BYCÜ)
3. Schlei Sailing Club (SSC)
4. Sailing Club Undine Offenbach (SCU)
5. Mühlenberger Sailing Club (MSC)
6. Flensburg Sailing Club (FSC)
7. Blankenes Sailing Club (BSC)
8. Güstrow Water Sports Club 1928 (WVWG 1928)
9. Württemberg Yacht Club (WYC)
10. Düsseldorf Yacht Club (DYC)
11. Wiking Sailing Club (SC Wiking)
12. Plön Sailing Club (PSV 1908)

"It's remarkable," says league founder, manager and final presenter Oliver Schwall, "that we are sailing at all during this time. And that so many people are enthusiastic about it." Up to 10,000 spectators have watched the previous match days at times. For the final, the organisers are expecting 15,000, possibly even up to 20,000 interested spectators. Schwall will be joined in the studio by Ole von Studnitz, Chairman of the German Sailing League Association, European Sailing Champion Gordon Nickel and league ace Till Krüger from Mühlenberger Segel-Club. The latter is involved in the final live as a player.

70 clubs took part in this first eSailing club championship. Schwall's conclusion was correspondingly enthusiastic: "We didn't expect this. It's also good for the real Bundesliga. There were many clubs that previously had no connection to the league sport, but have now registered for the next Bundesliga qualification thanks to the eSailing commitment. The circle of the Bundesliga was thus expanded."

The eSailing fun is modelled on the German Sailing League on the water in the basics: The number of active boats is small, the races are very short. In recent weeks, the organisers have noticed "that the well-known Bundesliga teams have increasingly put the experienced eSailors under pressure". Schwall says: "The Bundesliga sailors have become very good very quickly." Experience on the water helps. Amusing stories circulate, such as the one about two brothers from the north, one of whom plays while the other takes on the perspective of a spectator and feeds the active player with additional information about what else can be seen. This type of interaction is very similar to that between helmsman and tactician in any real regatta.

The transmission options are also versatile. "You can make quick changes of perspective if you want to see what one club or another is doing in the eRace," explains Schwall, "such jumps are hardly possible at this speed with real cameras on the water. You're immediately everywhere where there's something going on."

The final will be contested tonight by the four best teams after all twelve clubs have sailed three races each. The leading club after the preliminary round will enter the final race with a bonus point. The first team to earn two bonus points will be crowned German eSailing Club Champion 2020, meaning that the final spectacle for the top quartet could be over after just one race, but will run for a maximum of four races until the final is decided. This format is modelled on the Champions League final.