Sailing Champions League: Azzurri win the battle against the doldrums on Lake St. Moritz

Simon Ferrarese's team from Circolo della Vela Bari secured the European club sailing crown by just one metre. On Lake St. Moritz, the Azzurri beat the Swiss crew of the Société Nautique de Genève led by skipper Guillaume Girod and third-placed Wassersport-Verein Hemelingen from Bremen. 31 teams from 12 countries gathered in St. Moritz for the showdown and battle for the silver trophy after the two semi-final regattas in St. Petersburg and Porto Cervo. The trophy went to an Italian club for the second time in a row, as the compatriots from the Yacht Club Esmeralda won the Champions League last year.

The fact that the victory for the team from Circolo della Vela Bari in the sometimes nerve-wrackingly flat winds was no fluke is shown by the consistency of the Italians, who had already prevailed in the first semi-final off Porto Cervo. Simone Ferraraese, Valerio Galati, Corrado Capece Minutolo and Leonardo Dinelli won the award for the best European sailing club of the year. Helmsman Ferrarese said immediately after the final: "We were very, very lucky. We can't say anything else. But we never gave up. Even when we were far behind. Sometimes we were unlucky on the other days, but today the luck came back to us. I think we sailed well overall over the four days. We are all very happy to have won this regatta and to have made the Circolo della Vela Bari the best sailing club in Europe." The team from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein sailed to fourth place. Sixth place went to the German Touring Yacht Club.

Here is a replay of the exciting final races on Lake St. Moritz

The quartet from Wassersport-Verein Hemelingen were delighted with their third place on the podium, writing on the club's Facebook page: "Amazing. What an exciting final race that was! The wind dies on the last downwind and we end up on the podium of the Sailing Champions League. We are now officially the third best sailing club in Europe!" This was made possible by Jan Seekamp, Björn Schütte, Jens Tschentscher and Tjorben Wittor, who already have their sights set on the next highlights with their club: "We're already looking forward to the next German Sailing League event in Kiel in a fortnight' time!" This season, the hosts of the town of St. Moritz, the St. Moritz Sailing Club and the canton of Graubünden have made the summit for club sailing a celebration for the 124 active participants.