Mia san mia. We are us. The slogan is familiar from the Bundesliga, from the self-confident Bavarians and their fans. This weekend it also applied in Travemünde. In the far north, the Bayerischer Yacht-Club (BYC) narrowly beat the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV) from Hamburg and the Yachtclub Berlin-Grünau (YCBG). The trio finished level on points on the podium. So there was no danger for league leaders YCBG, who continue to lead the league with their opening victory in Bavaria and now third place on the Baltic Sea after the second of a total of five Bundesliga regattas in the first season. Sailors and organisers were unlucky only on Sunday, when a lull ruined the final day.
On Friday and Saturday, there was plenty of exciting sailing in a total of 30 races. The BYC team with helmsman Christian Schäfer, Johannes Kaske, Philip Hibler and Walter Rothlauf moved up to second place in the table with their victory ahead of Travemünde. "The clubs in the top places all sailed at the same level," said Rothlauf, "everyone won races and sometimes ended up at the back of the field."
Only Jochen Schümann's YCBG is in a better position. Three-time Olympic champion and two-time America's Cup winner Jochen Schümann and his team put the Berlin team in the top spot at the Bundesliga opener on Lake Starnberg, which the club would like to defend until the end of the season. In the second round, this was achieved almost perfectly. YCBG team manager Oliver Freiheit said after his team's good performance, even without Jochen Schümann: "Everything went as planned for us. We have defended our lead in the standings and want to continue like this in Hamburg." From 30 August to 1 September, the host Norddeutscher Regatta Verein on Hamburg's Outer Alster will host the only match race event of the 2013 German Sailing League.
The Hamburg match race crew led by Florian Weser with Klaas Höpcke, Niklas von Meyerinck and helmsman Johannes Polgar have already warmed up off Travemünde and, with second place at the host Lübecker Yacht-Club on the J/70 boats, have shown that the Hanseatic team will be a force to be reckoned with in the battle for the championship. Segelklub Bayer Uerdingen handed over the red lantern of the bottom of the table to Lindauer Segel-Club. Olympic sixth-placed Simon Grotelüschen caused a scare on the first day of the regatta when he came off the water with a bloody face. An involuntary encounter with the boom had left the Laser ace and Bundesliga helmsman with a laceration that had to be stitched up in hospital. However, Grotelüschen was able to continue sailing afterwards.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
