Bundesliga: NRV already has one hand on the championship trophy

The leaders from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV) have a seven-point lead ahead of the showdown on the Alster starting on Thursday. Seven points separate them from the pursuers from the Bayerischer Yacht-Club. Is that too much for the southern Germans to put Hamburg under pressure in the sixth and final regatta of the Bundesliga season and snatch the trophy from them? The maximum 45 races of the 18 first division teams over three days in what are expected to be very light winds will show.

The decision in the battle for the championship trophy will be made on Saturday at the latest. The host NRV is about to win the German Club Championship for the fourth time after 2013, 2014 and 2017 in its home waters on Hamburg's Outer Alster. Former 49er sailor Tobias Schadewaldt, who finished eleventh at the 2012 Olympics, will be steering for the defending champions, while Veit Hemmeter will be at the helm of the BYC boat. "The hosts and defending champions have the best chances," according to a preliminary announcement from the Bavarians, who will be concentrating primarily on defending their podium position in the season rankings.

Six points behind the Bavarians, Wassersportverein Hemelingen is in third place ahead of the league summit of the year, albeit level on points with Württembergischer Yacht-Club, which will also be pushing up the table and vying for a place on the podium. The Berliner Yacht-Club and the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club, six and eight points behind third place respectively, cannot be written off completely in the battle for a place on the podium. All of them will be accompanied by travelling fan groups, which should make for a great spectator spectacle on the banks of the Alster and on the NRV pontoons.

The defending champions from Hamburg have won three of their five league regattas to date. Their unusual preparation for the final duel with the Bavarians would probably be unthinkable in the Bundesliga: The four-man crews from NRV and BYC completed a joint two-hour training session on the Alster one day before the start of the regatta on Wednesday. NRV Managing Director Klaus Lahme said: "Imagine that in football: FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund meet for training before the championship decider. For us in sailing, that works and makes sense."

The standings after five of six regattas before the Hamburg final (Top 6):

1. North German Regatta Club (16 points)
2. Bavarian Yacht Club (23 points)
3. Hemelingen Water Sports Club (29 points)
4. Württembergischer Yacht-Club (29 points)
5. Berlin Yacht Club (35 points)
6. Club Seglerhaus am Wannsee (37 points)