24 teams from 12 countries met over the long weekend for Act 2 of the Champions League preliminary round in St. Moritz. In challenging light wind conditions, the Austrian sailing club Mattsee relegated the Danish Hellerup Sejlklub and the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club to second and third place. With eight flights and 24 races, only half as many races were held in Switzerland as at Act 1 in St. Petersburg.
In shifty and light winds, the team from Mattsee led by Youth America's Cup helmsman Stefan Scharnagl - in action off Bermuda with the Candidate Sailing Team - sailed to overall victory with Anna Scharnagl, Hannah Ziegler and Lisa-Maria Leimgruber, above all with consistency. The low crew weight of the predominantly female team also paid off. "We are over the moon that we were able to defend our lead from yesterday. We absolutely didn't expect it," said helmsman Scharnagl after the victory on Sunday.
For the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club, helmsman Philipp Kadelbach and his team of Hendrik Kadelbach, Jens Steinborn and Julian Bergmann scored effectively and qualified their club for the final. With seventh place, the Lindauer Segler-Club was also able to assert itself confidently in the first third of participants. Veit Hemmeter, Martin Hostenkamp, Yannick Netzband and Fabian Gielen set the pace on board. However, the Bayerischer Yacht-Club with Julian Autenrieth, Maximilian Hibler, Andreas Achterberg and Leopold Lindner did not make it past 19th place and missed out on a place in the final. The Champions League showdown will take the top clubs from Act 1 and the 16 best clubs from Act 2 to Porto Cervo in St. Moritz from 22 to 24 September. The best teams will then compete for the European club sailing crown off the coast of Sardinia.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
