The first league final in Hamburg is a series of wobbles and tremors: Jochen Schümann's team from Yachtclub Berlin-Grünau is only in 14th place after the second of three days of racing on the Alster and a few controversial decisions, bringing them dangerously close to the threat of relegation one day before the end of the German Sailing League season. The Seglerhaus am Wannsee club, which is competing with the German Touring Yacht Club for the vice-championship, did not make it past 16th place after the first two days of racing on the Alster in Hamburg. VSaW helmswoman Kathrin Kadelbach and her team will have to improve significantly in the remaining six races on the final day if they want to finish second in the overall standings. In contrast, the southern club Konstanzer Yacht Club with match race champion Tino Ellegast, Stefan Schneider, Arne Gülzow and Shosholoza America's Cup sailor Alex Runciman put in a very strong performance in the north. The KYC des Südens leads the classification after nine races on Saturday evening, ahead of the Kieler Yacht-Club and the Berliner Yacht-Club. The Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, which had already sailed to the German club championship for the second time in a row, was in fourth place with helmsman Johannes Polgar after two thirds of the regatta.
With picture-book weather but light winds, many crews struggled to find their rhythm. This included Jochen Schümann, who had made a few mistakes with his experienced YCBG crew at the start on Friday and therefore wanted to attack on Saturday. But it didn't work out that way, because the Schümanns had bad luck several times, which spoilt their sailing fun at times. In one race, a course change was announced when Schümann's leading team was only one boat length away from the gate with the announcement. The result: only fifth place for the team in this race. However, the four-time Olympic champion and his crew accepted the critical decision without much grumbling and continued to rely on their skills. A little later, however, a decision by the race organisers infuriated them. After a change in the prescribed shuttle times for the crews between races and a misunderstanding in communication, they were on time according to their own opinion, but according to the new regulations they were on the jetty a few minutes later than required. Although a shuttle boat was waiting in front of them, the Berliners were no longer taken to the race. The race committee meticulously enforced their posted regulations, while the YCBG crew were annoyed by the "paragraph riding" and the "ambiguous situation" and had to skip a race. Late in the evening, the race committee rectified the situation and awarded the YCBG team a remedy for the missed race from the races sailed up to that point. After the forced break, Schümann and his team responded on the water with a race win. The helmsman with Ingo Borkowski, Heiko Seelig and Oliver Freiheit have six races left on the final day to put the record right from their point of view.
Sunday's showdown on the water between the host NRV and the equally committed Hamburger Segel-Club promises plenty of excitement. Can VSaW still turn the tide and catch the German Touring Yacht Club with helmsman Maximilian Weiss, Olympian Patrick Follmann, Phil Binn and Luis Tarabochia on their way to the vice club championship? Can Jochen Schümann and his team avoid the relegation battle? Will the Bayerischer Yacht-Club (in 13th place after two days in Hamburg) manage to stay in class? When asked about his team's chances, BYC helmsman Ilja Wolf said: "We had to be ventilated for a while, but we are now breathing on our own again."
The Mühlenberger Segel-Club has little realistic chance of avoiding direct relegation as the team at the bottom of the table. Although the youngest crew in the field with helmsman Henry Peters (German vice-champion 420er), Alexander Goltz, Tom Luis Schönfeldt (German youth champion 420er) and Mathias Grüning are in twelfth place before the last races, the relegation place 15 seems too many points away. However, the youngsters will not give up until the very end. And whatever the outcome: They are part of a great new movement that is unleashing a lot of energy and even more enthusiasm in Germany's sailing clubs. League manager Jocky Hellmich said: "The projects are being taken very seriously and are no longer playgrounds. The league is unleashing a huge amount of euphoria in the clubs. And across all generations."
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Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
