Surprise victory at the start of the 10th Bundesliga season: Southern coup in the North: A team from Lake Constance conquers the Alster

Two of Hamburg's four first division clubs made a strong start to the tenth anniversary season of the Bundesliga this weekend. However, they were not quite able to defend their Alster playground. In the competition between the 18 first division teams, it was the Lake Constance team from the Überlingen Sailing and Motorboat Club with helmsman Michael Zittlau that coped best with the mix of Saturday squalls and Sunday lulls. Charlotta Fritz, Jan Fritze and Sven Heßberger celebrated the successful southern coup in the north with Michael Zittlau. The helmsman said: "We are extremely happy that we were able to win the match day. It was worth training on Lake Garda in strong winds and familiarising ourselves with the Alster conditions last weekend in Hamburg. You can't start the season with a better result."

The co-favourite Mühlenberger Segel-Club from the Elbe near Blankenese narrowly missed out on the opening victory, just three points behind the winners from Lake Constance. Magnus Simon, who has returned to his roots, Benjamin Ahlers, Max Augustin and Finn Olsen were responsible for the good performance. Magnus Simon had won the German club championship last year with the OneKiel club. However, the high-flyers of the last three years withdrew the team they had originally entered for this season due to a lack of time. Magnus Simon is now starting again for the Mühlenberger Segel-Club, where he once competed in the Opti, alternating with helmsman Till Krüger.

The other three Hamburg clubs in the 1st Bundesliga finished the opening regatta in the league's anniversary year with mixed results. The women's quartet from the host Hamburger Segel-Club with helmswoman Silke Basedow opened the season impressively with third place. The five-time German club champions and record winners from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein with helmsman Johann Kohlhoff, on the other hand, did not make it past 13th place. The Blankeneser Segel-Club found themselves in 15th place on Sunday after just eleven flights with no chance of making amends. Last year's runners-up from Wassersport-Verein Hemelingen also took an unexpectedly high points haul from Hamburg into the season with 13th place. Bayerischer Yacht-Club, who are also highly rated, will have to start their race to catch up from 17th place at the second league summit in Kiel from 15 to 17 July. The red lantern of the bottom of the first division hangs in the stern of Seglervereinigung Itzehoe for the time being. Click here for the first league results (please click!). "We've already noticed that the field has reorganised," said league manager Oliver Schwall, referring to some of the big league clubs that were initially unable to finish in the top half of the table. The Seglerhaus am Wannsee club, seventh overall last year and champions in 2019, just about managed it with ninth place. Flensburger Segel-Club did better, narrowly missing out on the podium in fourth place, just two points behind the HSC sailors.

Despite a lack of wind and a shortened programme on the final day, the sporting summary was positive for many of the athletes. "It was a successful and exciting league opener in Hamburg with world-class conditions on Saturday and difficult, light to no winds on Sunday," summarised Oliver Schwall. The Akademischer Seglerverein Warnemünde beat the Konstanzer Yacht Club and the Bocholter Yacht Club in the first second league sailing weekend of the season, which was held at the same time. Click here for the second league table after the first sailing weekend of the season (please click!).

The "culture regatta" initially planned for Saturday had to be postponed to Sunday due to some strong gusty winds. There was no longer any danger for the strikingly painted mainsails by Stefan Szczesny in the early summer calm winds. The internationally renowned artist depicted the UN's 17 sustainability goals on 17 of them, which were on display to sailors, the public and Sunday strollers on the Alster. "This campaign, which we are organising as the German Sailing League together with the Monheim Kulturwerke and Galerie Geuer und Geuer, is an excellent opportunity to use sailing as a platform for a better, fairer world," said Oliver Schwall. "Our cooperation with the 'Klar zur Wende' initiative, which campaigns for climate and resource protection and in particular for more sustainability in sport, also ties in with this."

Fancy even more league sport? In the currentYACHT 11 you will find the big Bundesliga report on the anniversary season with exclusive statistics, historic moments and a look at the XL plans for the future.