Six wins in 16 races, a total of 14 top-three results and first place on the penultimate league weekend in Kiel: the Seglerhaus am Wannsee (VSaW) club once again impressively underlined its title ambitions this weekend. The first championship trophy in the seventh year of the league can now hardly be taken away from the Berliners. With three regatta victories this season, plus two fourth places, the capital city team has just eleven points on its league account ahead of the final in Glücksburg in four weeks' time and an incredible 15-point lead over second-placed Bayerischer Yacht-Club, which sailed to sixth place in Kiel. Rarely has a leading club been so strong at this late stage of the league year. The starting position of the Bundesliga teams from VSaW ahead of the showdown in the north was summarised not only by the confident league co-commentator and 470 foresailor Anna Markfort: "The lead is very, very comfortable."
the live broadcast of the final day in the replay
The VSaW would be only the third German sailing club to secure the title of German club champion. So far, the North German Regatta Club (four titles) and the German Touring Yacht Club (two titles) have shared the glory and honour. Now the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club is preparing to turn the successful duo of the First Bundesliga into a title trio. Successful in Kiel for the Berlin team were helmsman Jasper Wagner, Tim Elsner, Max Salzwedel and Carl Naumann. When asked about his club's recipe for success this season, Tim Elsner said: "We haven't done that much differently. But we've brought a bit more consistency to the team and focussed on fewer people." The routine gained by the sailors deployed now seems to be paying off. There was also praise for this from the competition. NRV helmsman Tobi Schadewaldt said: "I have a lot of respect for VSaW's performance. They are better than us this season. Which means that we have to get better again. We don't want to be second in the long run."
The last races on the final day of the league summit in Sailing City Kiel were thrilling. In the final flight, the record champions from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV) with helmsman Tobias Schadewaldt and the Chiemsee Yacht Club went head-to-head in the battle for second place in Kiel. The duel was won by the Olympic-experienced Schadewaldt with Johann Kohlhoff, Miklas Meyer and Dorian Heitzig, a brilliant zero start and skilful manoeuvres. The Chiemsee Yacht Club (CYC) sailed to third place on the fjord with Leopold Fricke, Moritz Fricke, Christoph Müller and Simon Tripp. In the first division table, however, neither the Hamburg team nor the team from Chiemsee managed to make it into the top three for the time being. The Bayerischer Yacht-Club and Wassersport-Verein Hemelingen are on the podium behind the Berlin leaders ahead of the final. The NRV is lurking in fourth place, the CYC team in ninth.
The OneKiel crew won the second league races, which were held in parallel to the first league matches, ahead of the Blankeneser Segel-Club (BSC) and the Lübecker Segler-Verein von 1885 (LSV). With ten victories in 16 races, the local heroes with helmsman Magnus Simon, Fabian Kasüske, Johan Wilckens and Sören Brandt confidently prevailed on their home turf. Lukas Feuerherdt, Florian Dzsiesiathy, Justus Kellner and Björn Athmer sailed to second and third place for the BSC, and Sönke Boy, Stefan Kössling, Niklas Reisenauer and Justus Sauer for the LSV. After four of five league regattas this year, the picture in the table is similar: Here too, OneKiel is clearly in the lead after a fifth place in Starnberg and three wins in a row, with a nine-point lead over BSC ahead of the final. The Potsdamer Yacht-Club is level on points with the Blankenesers in third place. As in the First Bundesliga, it will be difficult to catch up with the leaders. However, the battle for the podium places remains exciting here too.
Here to the Bundesliga homepage and all results and standings of both leagues.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
