Bundesliga: Hamburg's top clubs ahead in Kiel - league premiere for Hanna Wille

A J/70 is not a 49erFX. Of course, Olympic sixth-placed Hanna Wille realised this before her first Bundesliga outing with the team from her home club. The differences between sailing with the crew from Mühlenberger Segel-Club and the Olympic skiff sport with helmswoman Marla Bergmann quickly became apparent. "A J/70 sails much less quickly," said Hanna Wille, laughing at the most significant difference.

The MSC Olympian's new league experience: "Everything is a bit slower than in the 49erFX, but there are advantages to being four on board. You can rely on the others. Of course, this is especially true for the well-coordinated and experienced MSC team." The DSBL title defenders from Mühlenberger Segel-Club on the Hamburg Elbe, German club champions from 2024, were once again in good form.

Bundesliga sport with a high fun factor

At the second long league weekend of the 13th Bundesliga season, the MSC team only had to bow to the competition from their own city and let the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein go. Helmsman Til Krüger, Laura Bo Voss, Max Wentzel and Hanna Wille sailed to second place for the MSC on Kiel's inner fjord. "That was so much fun!", Hanna Wille summarised.

The impression of the skiff foresailor, who has just started her second Olympic campaign in the 49erFX together with her coxswain Marla Bergmann after finishing sixth in the Olympic regatta in Marseille: "There is always discussion about whether the league is in competition with Olympic sailing, but the people who sail in the league have actively decided against Olympic sailing. I met so many people I remember from my Opti and 420 times. That was really nice."

Commenting on her sailing experience in her first league outing, Hanna Wille said: "Til did a really good job at the helm. There was a great harmony in the team. For me, it was lucky and very cool to be part of such an experienced team." Like many, she was soaking wet when she said this, as the rain in Kiel had little mercy on Sunday.

Bundesliga table: NRV is the new leader

After the first two regatta weekends of the 1st Bundesliga, the MSC team is in second place in the standings with third and second place. After the first third of the season, the Mühlenberg team is "only" ahead of the seven-time club champions from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, who won in Kiel and are the new first division leaders with a total of just three points on their league account.

The NRV team, which had won the International German J/70 Championship on Lake Starnberg in almost the same constellation in autumn 2024, coped best with the changing conditions this weekend and took the lead in the standings almost unchallenged. On the first two days, there was less rain in Kiel than forecast, but strong winds and strong gusts challenged the league sailors.

"Now it's paying off that we've already sailed in the Junior League and had a lot of training time together on the boat," explained NRV helmsman Mats Schönebeck in Kiel on behalf of his team-mates Moritz Gießelmann, Henrik Peters, Ferdinand Pfund and himself. "We all come from different dinghy classes and can now use our expertise as a team. It's a lot of fun and we're delighted with our success."

The Munich Yacht Club moves forward

The third place on the podium in Kiel went to the Münchner Yacht-Club, which also moved up to third place in the table. They were followed in the table by the Berlin Yacht Club, which had won the season opener but had to make up ground with twelfth place at the second event in Kiel. To the Results from the current second league weekend here. To the First division table after two events here.

The winners on this Kiel sailing camp weekend also included the Bodensee-Yacht-Club Überlingen (BYCÜ) and the Blankeneser Segel-Club (BSC) with Hanna Wille's brother Jonathan, who made huge leaps up the Bundesliga table with fourth and fifth places in Kiel. VSaW, the local heroes from Kieler Yacht-Club and Seglervereinigung 1903 from Berlin, who came 16th, 17th and 18th in the Sailing City in Schleswig-Holstein, did not fare so well.

The league season will continue over Whitsun from 7 to 9 June with first and second division teams in Kiel for the third time in a row. Hanna Wille will not be able to be there, as she is competing with Marla Bergmann and other strong German 49er and 49erFX crews at the European Championships in Thessaloniki. Although their highlight of the year, the World Championship in Cagliari, Italy, in October, is still a long way off, the potentially light-winded Greek European Championship area could certainly offer the GER crews opportunities.