Bundesliga: Sovereign home match - record champion NRV storms to title seven
Tatjana Pokorny
· 21.10.2023
Seven to fall in love with: The Norddeutscher Regatta Verein has done it again! In the eleventh season of the still young German Sailing League, the record champions were able to lift the championship trophy into the sky for the seventh time since the premiere in 2013. In the final on Hamburg's Outer Alster, the NRV quartet claimed their third win of the season in front of a full house at the sixth and final meeting of the 18 first division teams. With 24 points in their league account, the North Germans prevailed against Münchner Yacht-Club (29 points) and Mühlenberger Segel-Club (MSC).
The NRV has the championship trophy, the HSC the red lantern
Hamburg's third first division club was unable to keep up with the two successful clubs NRV and MSC this year: The Hamburger Segel-Club was bottom of the table at the end of the league season with 93 points and was relegated to the second national sailing league. Other relegated teams are the Schlei-Segel-Club, the Akademischer Seglerverein Warnemünde and the Konstanzer Yacht-Club. The best second division clubs are promoted to the upper division: Kieler Yacht-Club, Joersfelder Segel-Club, Seglervereinigung Itzehoe and Bayerischer Yacht-Club, which won the final on the Alster.
On the club grounds of the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, the winners were celebrated as stormily as the wind had previously demanded. NRV helmsman Tobias Schadewaldt, Johann Kohlhoff, Klaas Höpcke and Malte Päsler had performed flawlessly in the fierce easterly winds on the Outer Alster, which blew in gusts of more than 30 knots and repeatedly threw the league boats onto their sides.
Fun, yodelling concert and Bavarian music on the Alster
The Munich team, who had travelled to the north as league leaders, had too little to counter Hamburg's power play. They finished seventh in the Hamburg final, but celebrated their runner-up title with a yodelling concert and Bavarian music. Many would have wished the likeable young team their first championship title, which slipped away from the Bavarians on the home straight. However, their strong performances with one win, one second and one third place on the podium this season will be fondly remembered.
With fond memories and one crying and one laughing eye, NRV guarantor of success Tobias Schadewaldt ended his league career this Saturday. The 39-year-old was instrumental in winning the NRV title for the fifth time. Wherever he sailed with his well-coordinated crews, he was ahead. "It's great to be able to round off my time in the Bundesliga for the NRV with such a success. I won't be there next season, but will hand over the helm to younger hands in the spirit of a continuous renewal of the team," said the visibly moved 2012 Olympic eleventh-placer in the 49er.
I've never seen so many shots from the sun in the Bundesliga" (Anke Nowak)
Between rain and sun, storm and calm, there was a lot to be said about the weather in Hamburg this weekend. Bundesliga managing director Anke Nowak reported on the wild Friday: "I've never seen so many shots of sunshine in the Bundesliga as yesterday." The pictures taken by league photographer Sander van der Borch - see our picture gallery - speak volumes.
In the NRV's dominant performance, the sporting tension had shifted towards the end of the Hamburg summit to the duel for fourth place in the table. Here, the experienced water sports club Hemelingen came out on top in the final points tally for the season against the Berliner Seglervereinigung von 1903 (both 47 points), which had once again made a strong comeback in Hamburg with third place.
Four German clubs for the Sailing Champions League
The Hemelingen water sports club thus completed the quartet for the 2024 Sailing Champions League. The four best teams in the final first division table automatically qualify for the Sailing Champions League. In contrast, the team from Segel- und Motorboot Club Überlingen, which was previously third in the table, slipped back to sixth place after a disappointing 16th place in Hamburg.
"The races for third and fourth place were a real thriller," says Oliver Schwall. "Thanks to our partner SAP's tracking system, we were always able to display the intermediate results transparently and thus keep the tension high for the 25,000 or so spectators who followed the final races on the live stream."
The League's future workshop
On Sunday, the league managers and the clubs will meet in Hamburg for a future workshop. The twelfth season of the still young German Sailing League is to be continued according to the proven successful concept and with six regattas for the first division clubs and five for the second division clubs.
"The league is doing very well in sporting and media terms. The budget could always be better. I think we deserve more for what we do. But we have great and loyal partners and, above all, a great league community that has fun together and strongly networks the clubs. There are so few events where clubs come together across the board. Not just sailors, but also presidents, members and fans," said league initiator Oliver Schwall, summarising the first season. The league final is to be held on Lake Starnberg in 2024.
