Bundesliga: The league in upheaval, season starts in April

It will be 13 years old in the spring: the Bundesliga has experienced good and difficult times, but has also recently been put to the test. A new board now wants to lead the clubs and their league into the future with more personal responsibility.

The league story began on 7 April 2013. 17 founding member clubs called for a good 50 years after the birth of the Bundesliga. the German Sailing League into being. At the time, the impetus came from the team at the Hamburg concept shipyard led by Oliver Schwall, whose sailing league model has now been imitated in more than 20 countries and has also been given a higher-level international competition in the form of the Champions League.

Jochen Schümann, who was involved in the concept shipyard, was once one of the co-initiators of the Bundesliga. At the time, he said: "The league is a kind of cultural revolution that inspires sailors, clubs and the media." The founding clubs were initially involved through a steering committee.

First moderator, then chairman: Peter Weichsel leads Bundesliga clubs

The first Bundesliga event took place on Lake Starnberg in June 2013. The championship trophy in year one went to the now eight-time record winners from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein from. The new German sailing wave electrified sailors, clubs and fans. On 15 March 2014, the clubs joined forces in Hamburg to form the German Sailing League e.V. (short: DSL) together. The DSL commissioned Konzeptwerft with the search for sponsors and its subsidiary Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga GmbH with the realisation. This has remained the case to date.

Recently, however, there have been increasing rumblings. After eruptions within the DSL over responsibilities and a tug-of-war with the DSBL over the acquisition and utilisation of sponsorship funds, the DSL got a new board at the beginning of the year. At the general meeting at boot Düsseldorf, 34 out of 36 member clubs were represented at the election. Peter Weichsel (ETUF) was elected Chairman with 33 votes. His deputy is Dr Markus Westerwalbesloh (DYC) and the new treasurer is Tom Lukas Voigt (VSaW).

In the previous disputes, Peter Weichsel had initially taken on a moderating role before replacing the previous trio with the new Executive Board team. There were many internal and external disputes. For example, under the DSL umbrella, whether the association of clubs had sufficiently represented its interests vis-à-vis the DSBL and controlled them sufficiently. Whether the registration fees of €14,100 per first division club and €10,000 per second division club were appropriate and feasible. About how exactly Konzeptwerft exercises its rights in the sponsorship area and utilises them for the league.

"League 2.0" drives the reorganisation forward

It is undisputed that the league is alive. The desire to do so unites everyone involved. In contrast to other major events or series, the Bundesliga has defied the coronavirus crisis and even found partners in the sponsorship market, which is weakening for the sport as a whole. The creators of the concept shipyard have shown for 13 years that they can do what others have problems with: Acquiring sponsors and money for sailing, albeit less than a few years ago.

Behind this is the professional marketer Oliver Schwall. He has been COO of the Bay Group, the largest shareholder of Konzeptwerft Holding GmbH, since the beginning of 2025. German sailing owes him, the popular league manager and DSBL Managing Director Anke Nowak and her team good ideas, intensive commitment and a lot of passion.

"Oliver Schwall has an incredibly strong performance when it comes to showing visions, stands like an oak tree at the first serve, does it really well, but the situation has gone off the rails," says Jocky Hellmich, the man who built up the German Junior League with Schwall's support and has been managing it for years. Hellmich, Helga Cup initiator and inclusive sailing driver Sven Jürgensen and other fellow campaigners have now turned against Schwall and the league organisation of recent years and are part of a group with the unofficial title "League 2.0", which is pushing for a league reorganisation.

"Dramatically important format" for German sailing

The reorganisation, which has now also been heralded by the DSL, shifts responsibilities away from the contracted professionals and towards the clubs and their volunteers. The goal: more control and personal responsibility for the clubs. "We are advising the board of DSL e.V.. Until a few weeks ago, there was no certainty as to whether DSBL GmbH would still want to touch the league in 2026. But it has to go ahead because the format is dramatically important for German sailing," says Hellmich about his motivation.

Anke Nowak has been the rock of the league for years, especially since Oliver Schwall retired from operational duties. Her conviction: "Professionalism is an essential and success-critical component of the Bundesliga in order to remain attractive for partners." Her assessment of further cost reductions after cost-cutting measures have already been implemented: "I believe we are at the limit of our savings options." This statement leads to the question: Can the DSL sail on a greener branch in future under its own voluntary management?

The new DSL chairman Peter Weichsel, who has been working as a consultant for company foundations and start-ups for 30 years, is tackling the task. Before taking the helm of the DSL, he held many discussions and tried to find out "why there is so much resentment in the league".

DSL e.V. wants to take on more responsibility

"I'm called in when organisations can no longer cope," says the cruising and regatta sailor about his professional sphere of activity. Weichsel has built up a junior regatta team on the Baltic Sea with the X 50 "Lynx". His impression of the state of the league at the end of 2025: "Everyone involved was unhappy. The club boards said it was far too expensive. The problem: the Bundesliga came from a world in which there was a lot of money available that then became less and less."

Weichse's impression: "It wasn't really a contribution problem. But it is a problem if you are not satisfied with a product. But it's not an unsolvable problem." What he also saw: "The DSL board was not controlled. The clubs didn't exercise much governance, but everyone was talking about how difficult everything was."

On the other hand, there is Oliver Schwall from Konzeptwerft and DSBL Managing Director Anke Nowak, "who are also communicative characters". Weichsel knows that the league "is actually a child of Olli and ultimately also of Konzeptwerft", but saw a vacuum in which the DSL now led by him "no longer fulfilled its tasks". That is set to change.

The membership fees are "reasonable"

The disputes led to meetings such as one in October, where people shouted at each other across long tables. Weichsel experienced "a broken communication culture" and asked: "How can we get out of this?" Mobilising the clubs and clarifying the distribution of tasks between DSL e.V. and DSBL GmbH were the most urgent issues on his to-do list.

After several attempts, an extraordinary DSL general meeting was held on 2 November 2025. "It became clear," says Weichsel, "that the current DSL board saw itself more as a representative of the concept shipyard than as a representative of the league clubs. The clubs did not appreciate that."

With Peter Weichsel and his team, the DSL e.V. is to become more "participatory". He has no illusions: "The league costs between 400,000 and 450,000 euros in the form of concrete expenditure on external suppliers. Everyone is happy with six events a year. Behind this are 13 years of evolution and a broad consensus." Weichsel sees the current membership fees as "reasonable". Excluding sponsorship money, they total 433,800 euros for the season and "roughly cover the external costs".

Full-time employees remain necessary

This year, the exclusive marketing contract is still with Konzeptwerft. In recent years, "the results we had hoped for have not materialised," says Weichsel. "Opinions differ as to whether this is due to the market or the people involved." Weichsel sees the acquisition of 200,000 to 300,000 euros in sponsorship money in the medium term as a "fair target", which is anchored in the new three-year plan.

League clubs currently receive €14,500 for organising a double event (1st/2nd division), which is slightly more than the equivalent of the registration fee for first division clubs. "However," says Weichsel, "the actual costs for the host club are likely to be closer to €25,000." On the other hand, there are clubs that also generate additional sponsorship money for their club and strengthen their image by organising a league event.

Weichsel is optimistic about the future. He also sees the need for "one or two full-time employees" for the future. At least this year, "DSBL GmbH will still be fully responsible for organising the league". This was agreed as part of the joint season planning. "There are a few exceptions, which we will coordinate and take responsibility for."

New division of tasks between DSL and DSBL

The DSL is now responsible for putting together the referee teams with a regional focus and is also in charge of coordination with the host clubs and public relations. The DSBL team led by Anke Nowak is responsible for the digital social media presence and technical and sailing-related areas.

In the medium term, the J/70 fleet, which is competing in the 1st Bundesliga this season, will also be put to the test by the new DSL League organisers. The 2nd Bundesliga operates with club boats. New partners are to be acquired with motivation to invest through long-term contracts. Weichsel sees the clubs themselves as the greatest asset for the future: "The clubs are already doing a great job in the league. And they do a lot of valuable youth work, but then the young people disappear during their training. The Bundesliga is the ideal format for keeping young people active in sport and inspiring them."

This goal will be pursued with DSBL GmbH in partial responsibility for the organisation until at least 2026. Oliver Schwall says: "We have an ongoing contract for the organisation of the league, which we will of course fulfil. In addition, we have generated and built up a wealth of expertise, rights and assets relating to league sailing over the years. We still have to decide what to do with them in the long term." This also means that if the league "eats" its fathers, they certainly have some rights to throw into the ring.

The new Bundesliga season begins on 17 April

Only time will tell how the ambitious plans of DSL e.V., its clubs and members can be realised and how the league will fare in the medium term. The first race of the season kicks off on Lake Starnberg on 17 April. To get you in the mood for the new 14th season, here's a look back at last year's final: