Bundesliga: Record winners on course for title - Hamburg duel ahead in league showdown

The Mühlenberger Segel-Club had led the first league table for four league regattas in this twelfth Bundesliga season. The possible first club championship for the sailors from Blankeneser Elbstrand in a duel with the Hamburg top dogs from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein was in the air. The MSC had earned its top position after the first two thirds of the season with regatta results 1, 3, 4 and 2.

Bundesliga: NRV ahead before the final

In the final spurt, however, the seven-time record winners from the NRV have stalked their way back up and recently stalked past again on Lake Starnberg. The NRV results in the first four of six Bundesliga regattas: 3, 8, 3, 1, with an upward trend. At the penultimate league match at the Münchner Yacht-Club at the weekend, a third place was added.

The podium result was enough for NRV helmswoman Julia Kühn with Moritz Gießelmann, Luisa Krüger and Mats Schönebeck, with an average age of just 24 years, to take the lead in the standings for the first time this season in wet and cold conditions and sometimes tough wind shifts.

Before the showdown (17 to 19 October), which will also take place on Lake Starnberg, but then at the Bayerischer Yacht-Club, the NRV has 18 points in its league account, three points ahead of the MSC (21 points), for whom Jacob and Benjamin Ahlers, Lucas Schroeder and Laura Bo Voss sailed to eleventh place off Starnberg last weekend.

That's a very solid cushion." Luisa Krüger.

Luisa Krüger explained the success of the NRV league squad with "a good mix of young and experienced sailors and a strong transfer of knowledge within the team."

The Seglerhaus am Wannsee club took victory in the fifth league showdown in the south ahead of the Berliner Yacht-Club. The two Wannsee clubs coped best with the conditions on Lake Starnberg. With moderate winds of between six and ten knots and few waves, Lake Starnberg presented itself as a typical inland sailing area. These were conditions that the Berlin teams are very familiar with. They were able to score accordingly.

With this success, VSaW has moved up to 13th place in the table and has freed itself from the relegation battle. "We are in the middle of a generational change and have brought many new, young sailors into the team this season, with whom we cannot immediately build on the good results of previous years," explained VSaW tactician Jakob Rohner.

The Chairman of the German Sailing League Association continued: "This weekend we had a very experienced league team sailing, who improved more and more over the course of the weekend and didn't lose their nerve even in tricky situations."

Second Bundesliga: PYC is a promotion candidate

In the upper house of the league, the VSaW crew could meet their training partners from the Potsdamer Yacht-Club in the upcoming 13th Bundesliga season. For them, promotion is within reach after their second league victory in the south. "We were a little surprised ourselves by our good performance in the wintry conditions and the unfamiliar cold," says Bernando Lowbeer.

The helmsman of the Bundesliga team from the Potsdam Yacht Club continued: "After only being able to train a little together and having to completely re-staff our forecastle, we started the match day without any great expectations or intentions. The atmosphere on board was great and the team spirit for the PYC was always there. We are now very happy with the result."

Bavarian joie de vivre defies rain and cold

On the fifth of six league weekends this season, the sailors had to cope with autumn temperatures and a lot of rain on the water. "Not only was it very cold on Saturday, but it also rained heavily throughout the day," reported Anke Nowak. "We gave out jackets to the freezing, wet sailors so that they could stay reasonably dry and warm during the sailing breaks."

It was just as it should be for the fifth season in Bavaria." Anke Nowak

The supporting programme organised by the host Munich Yacht Club far outstripped the weather conditions. "It was mega," said Anke Nowak. "The apres ski party on Friday took place in such a small room that everyone really danced. Yesterday, the tapping of the Oktoberfest for the league was brought forward by a week - with brass music, Bavarian specialities and garlands. The 2024 Sailing Bundesliga showdown will also take place on Lake Starnberg from 17 to 19 October and will be hosted by the Bavarian Yacht Club.

Click here for the results from the weekend.

Click here for the first league table after 5 of 6 regattas.