Championship of Champions: Hamburg women overcome the wind and the competition

Strong winds, close races and a home victory to round it off: Silke Basedow, together with Maren Hahlbrock and Mia Hahn, has won the 45th ‘Championship of Champions’. The team from the Hamburg Sailing Club came out on top in the final featuring the nine best teams, rounding off a challenging regatta weekend on the Outer Alster.

Challenging conditions

The 26 participating teams had to adapt to unusually strong winds during the regatta. In the final, average wind speeds of around 25 knots were recorded, with individual gusts reaching just under 30 knots. The conditions demanded a great deal of experience, strength and concentration from the three-person crews on the identical J/22s.

Basedow, Hahlbrock and Hahn did not let this throw them off their stride. Although the Hamburg team were lighter than many of their rivals, they struck the right balance between control and speed. Second place in the final race was ultimately enough to defend the lead they had built up in the preliminary round. After the victory, Basedow said:

"We've been on the podium many times before, and this time we managed it."

The team said they were particularly proud of having remained competitive even in strong winds.

Lachenschmid moves up to second place

For Andi Lachenschmid, the final proved to be a successful comeback. After the preliminary round, the crew from the Munich Yacht Club were lying in sixth place. With a victory in the decisive final race, Lachenschmid, Ellinger and Henning climbed to second place in the overall standings. The team led by Wolf Jeschonnek from the Cöpenick Sailing Club finished third in the final, thereby also securing third place in the overall standings.

The final score was made up of the team’s position in the preliminary round and the result of the final race. Under the low-points system, the team with the fewest points won. Silke Basedow went into the final as the leader with one point and, having finished second, ended up with a total of three points.

Female Sailors of the Year

As well as the overall sporting victory at the ‘Championship of Champions’, another award took centre stage at the Sailors’ Night on Saturday evening. The participants voted Hanna Wille and Marla Bergmann as ‘Sailors of the Year’. Both had secured the European title in the 49erFX class in 2026.

At the ‘Championship of Champions’, Wille and Bergmann competed alongside Svea Wrede. The team was initially in fourth place after the preliminary round and finished the regatta in eighth place following the final. The honourees explained that the award was a special recognition for them.

Inclusion is part and parcel of sporting competition

An inclusive team from the Hamburg Sailing Club also took on the top-class competition. Matthias Bünger, Dirk Thalheim and André Gerstberger sailed on the same boats and under the same conditions as the German champions and the successful competitors from the European and World Championships.

The crew finished 25th out of 26 teams. Regardless of the result, their participation underlined the the event’s commitment to inclusivity. Thalheim had previously won bronze in the Para category at the European Championships in Lübeck-Travemünde, alongside Stephanie Brix. Together with Bünger, he also won the 2026 German Open in the S/V14 class.

Traditional regatta brings generations together

Since 1980, successful sailors from various boat classes have been gathering on Hamburg’s Außenalster. Those eligible to compete include German champions, winners of qualifying regattas and top finishers at World and European Championships. The boats, which are all of the same design, are intended to ensure that sailing ability, above all, determines the outcome.

Once again this year, the field of competitors reflected the wide variety of sailing disciplines. The youngest competitors were 13, whilst the oldest were 73. Despite the difficult weather conditions, the outcome remained in the balance right up until the final race.

The prize-giving ceremony was attended by Katrin Adloff, Vice-President of the German Sailing Association. The association has been the championship’s patron since 2017.

Results: the top six crews

You can find the rest of the results here

Book recommendations

Regatta sailing: strategy and tactics It covers the basics of tactics and outlines the individual stages of a race: from preparation through to the race itself and the subsequent analysis. Illustrations and a checklist for race day make the book a useful practical guide for regatta sailors who wish to prepare their decisions on the water more systematically and evaluate them after crossing the finish line.

The Racing Rules of Sailing 2025–2028: Annotated and Illustrated explains the rules with commentary and illustrations, and provides the official text of the rules as a supplement. The book also covers rule changes as well as visual and audible racing signals. It is suitable for regatta sailors who wish to apply the rules confidently in everyday racing or prepare for potential protest hearings.