Bundesliga: Fourth title in six years: The NRV is champion!

It's a confident performance when you already lead the league table by seven points before the final and then round off the successful season with a victory on your home turf and crown it with the championship trophy. This is what helmsman Tobias Schadewaldt, Johann Kohlhoff, Klaas Höpcke and Malte Päsler from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein did this weekend in the Hanseatic city. The old and new German club champions made it clear once again why they were unbeatable this year: the majority of starts were too strong, the manoeuvres of the well-coordinated crew too experienced and the helmsman's knack for optimal positioning on the course too good.

With an eight-point lead over the Bayerischer Yacht-Club (25 points), the NRV defended the championship trophy after six regattas this season with a total of just 17 points, and the entire team celebrated with the fans in the clubhouse at Schönen Aussicht 37 on the well-attended club grounds on the Outer Alster. The Bavarians also came second in Hamburg, confidently defending their runner-up title against all the chasers. The third place of the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club on the Alster led the Berliners to fifth place in the final league table. This meant that VSaW was denied both a place on the season podium and qualification for the Champions League. These were secured by NRV and BYC in third and fourth place in the table, Württembergischer Yacht-Club (34 points) and Wassersport-Verein Hemelingen (35 points), whose duel for the last podium place in the season standings remained exciting until the end. Because the WYC came fifth in Hamburg and relegated the WVH to sixth place, it was enough for the Lake Constance club to take bronze for the season.

However, the team of the day was the NRV team, which won the title for the fourth time after 2013, 2014 and 2017. Florian Haufe, the second helmsman of the team that team boss Klaus Lahme had newly and once again successfully formed before the start of the season, also contributed to this over the course of the season. Experienced Olympic eleventh-placed Tobias Schadewaldt showed impressive nerves of steel as the "final runner" on this generally beautiful autumn weekend, on which the second of three race days fell victim to a persistent lull. The Laser and 49er sailor clearly remained unimpressed by the high pressure of expectation from his club, in which many had already planned the winner's party before the final. Schadewaldt summarised: "The event here in Hamburg and the entire season were nerve-wracking and a tough fight every time. Anything can happen, so it was exciting right up to the last second. But that's exactly what makes the league so special. In the end, it went perfectly for us and we are super happy and satisfied." With the fourth title win, the NRV team also collected the fourth league star for their jersey.

At the same time as the Hamburg team made a clean sweep, it was all or nothing for the clubs in the league table. Relegated after thrilling fights in this sixth league season are the Lindauer Segler-Club (18th), the Segler-Vereinigung Itzehoe (17th), the Blankeneser Segel-Club (16th) and the Akademischer Segelverein Warnemünde (15th). Here for a replay of the races and detailed analyses. Here The final table of the 2018 Bundesliga season can be found here, but the final of the first division is not the end of the year's league action: The DSL Cup will take place in Hamburg from 2 to 4 November.