Bundesliga: 17 clubs chasing the league leaders

The German Sailing League starts into its second regatta weekend. At Travemünde Week, the teams from 18 clubs will be battling for points in the standings and a lot of prestige off Lübeck from Friday to Sunday. Olympic sixth-placed Simon Grotelüschen from Lübeck will be celebrating his comeback in front of a home crowd. The host Lübecker Yacht-Club is sending its best-known helmsman to the three-day series with a junior team. The 26-year-old, who retired from active competitive sailing after competing in the Olympics off Weymouth in the summer of 2012, said: "We want to show good teamwork and sail a good regatta. I hope that my young co-sailors can still learn something from me as an old hand." As in the Bundesliga opener in Bavaria, the race will be sailed with almost seven-metre-long J 70 boats.

The Bundesliga races will be broadcast live for the first time. The local audience can follow the action on the Nordermole via a large screen. The short races will be held directly in front of the pier. Via the Internet (www.segelbundesliga.de), the live stream also invites those at home to enjoy the Bundesliga on their screens. The races will be commentated by ZDF sports reporter Alexander Ruda and former European star boat champion Joachim Hellmich. Images will be provided by cameras on land, on the boats and drones from the air. Broadcasts will be made on Saturday (11 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.) from the new mobile studio called the "SAP Sail Cube".

17 starters are united by one goal next weekend: they want to topple the league leader from the throne. The leader is the Yacht Club Berlin-Grünau. Jochen Schümann and his team got their club off to a flying start at the beginning of June on Lake Starnberg. The "Schümanns" scored the first 18 points there, but this time the champions are not at the start themselves. The German Touring Yacht Club and the Württemberg Yacht Club are in second and third place after the opening round. Segelklub Bayer Uerdingen wants to get rid of the red lantern at the back of the pack.

The second clash between the Bundesliga clubs will be followed by three more this year: the Sailing Bundesliga will be hosted by the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein on the Alster from 30 August to 1 September, while the Württembergischer Yacht-Club will host the final on Lake Constance from 27 to 29 September. The final will be hosted by the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club in the capital from 8 to 11 November.