The two-time German club champions from Norddeutscher Regatta Verein have won the first of two qualifying regattas for the 2017 Champions League final. Off St. Petersburg, helmsman Johannes Polgar, Niklas von Meyerinck, Florian Weser and Klaas Höpcke won 48 races with a total of 44 points against second-placed Fredrikshavn Sejklub (46.4 points) and the host Saint Petersburg Yacht Club (47.6 points) with helmswoman Anna Basalkina. The Hamburg team thus qualified for the Champions League final off Porto Cervo in September.
The second German team in the ambitious Champions League fleet, on the other hand, did not find the wave of success: the Chiemsee Yacht Club finished the three-day regatta against the picture-book backdrop of St. Petersburg in 21st place. Carla Gerlach, Markus Ostermaier, Wolfgang Böttger and Quirin Landinger had imagined things differently. Only the best 13 club teams from this first qualifying round will take part in the final in Italian waters. The second qualifying round will take place off St. Moritz. There, a further 15 club teams can qualify for the final.
The NRV, in whose home waters on Hamburg's Outer Alster the 1st Media Cup was held on Sunday, did not get off to an ideal start in qualifying off St. Petersburg with a sixth place, but got better and better in the final and ultimately dominated the fleet with three wins on the day and a second place in the last four races. "We just have fun sailing, we're a great team," said Klaas Höpcke, while his team mates waved the German flag after the victory and belted out their favourite Lotto King Karl song: "Hamburg, my pearl!"
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
