Simon Grotelüschen and his team from the Lübeck Yacht Club impressively demonstrated on the Alster on Sunday at the relegation competition that he can handle pressure as an experienced Olympic sixth-placer in the Laser 2012 and seasoned helmsman. Grotelüschen and his team left no stone unturned with seven victories in the twelve races between the three relegation-threatened first division teams and three promotion-hungry second division teams.
The quartet from Lübecker Yacht-Club won the relegation with 27 points just as easily as Potsdamer Yacht Club (29 points) secured a place in the 1st Bundesliga in 2017 with just two points less and second place in the relegation. The Berliner Yacht-Club (40 points) also improved impressively after a weak start with 5th, 4th and 6th place and will remain in first class next year. The trio celebrated their successes extensively at the host Norddeutscher Regatta Verein.
In contrast, there was sadness among the three clubs that did not manage to stay in or make it into the upper house. A clear nine points behind third place, the hopeful Konstanzer Yacht-Club and its team of Felix Schrimper, Adrian Maier-Ring, Noel Beck and Sebastian Uecker only managed fourth place. The club from Lake Constance remains in second place in 2017, as does Mühlenberger Segel-Club, whose outstanding helmsman Magnus Simon had to miss the relegation weekend because he is training with Next Generation Team Germany in Brest for the Youth America's Cup. The reorganised MSC team put up a fight, but did not manage to finish higher than sixth and last place in the relegation.
The Flensburger Segel-Club was unable to stop its black streak on this long Hamburg league weekend. With 16th place in Hamburg, the Northern Lights had surprisingly slipped to 15th place in the league in the final spurt. Weakened and battered, the team was also unable to turn the tide in the relegation play-off. Fifth place behind the team from Constance and ahead of the MSC in the one-day relegation in fair wind conditions was not enough to keep the team in the league. Michael Ilgenstein, FSC helmsman and observer on site this weekend, said: "Unfortunately, that wasn't good enough. We will sit down together in a fortnight and discuss how to proceed in the coming season."
