First SSL City Grand Slam announcement

(October 8, 2015) – Hamburg/Lausanne. The Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV) and the Hamburger (HF) and Luebecker Bay (Lub) Starboat-fleets are proud to organize the first Star Sailors League City Grand Slam in the course of the 50th Erich F. Laeisz-Prize from May 2 – 8, 2016 on Lake Alster in Hamburg together with the Star Sailors League (SSL).

In 2016, NRV, Starboat-fleets HF and Lub together with the SSL will host the first SSL City Grand Slam. This event will take place on the occasion of the jubilee year of the Hamburger and Luebecker Bay Starboatfleets in the course of the 50th Erich F. Laeisz-Prize during 02nd – 08th May 2016 in Hamburg on Lake Alster.

The 50th Erich F. Laeisz-Prize will be arranged by Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, founded 1868. The jubiliees of the Hamburger (*1931) and Luebecker Bay (*1981) Starboat-fleets will be celebrated concurrently.

More than 60 teams from more than 15 nations are expected to participate, among them Olympic medalists and world champions from different classes. There will be prize money given by SSL in total of US$ 100,000, allotted to the top 20 teams. The regatta will be sailed in the so far Olympic keel boat – Star – and the weight limit of the Starclass (ISCYRA) will apply.

The event will be broadcasted via 3D GPS-tracking and TV-Live-reporting.
Entries are possible from November 2015 via the SSL website.

Star Sailors League Website

About the Star Sailors League
From the initiative of some of the world’s best sailors, the Star Sailors League (SSL), launched an international circuit of regattas in January 2013. This new league has been built on the existing circuit of over 220 International Star regattas around the world, using a unified world ranking, created based on the ATP World Tour ™, established by tennis players in 1972.

Drawing on this inspiration from tennis, the SSL also awards substantial prize money to the best-ranked sailors. In December 2015, the third edition of the SSL Finals will take place in Nassau, Bahamas.

By 2020, the objective of the SSL is to organize four Grand Slams and the SSL Finals every year. The annual SSL Finals is exclusive to the top athletes and the Grand Slams will offer fierce competition. In order to create a world ranking representative of the skills of each athlete and to balance the odds for each one of them, the Grand Slams will take place at venues known for different conditions:

• “SSL LAKE GS” organized on a lake
• “SSL BAY GS” organized in a sea bay
• “SSL CITY GS” organized in an urban environment
• “SSL BREEZE GS” organized on a windy area

In September 2015, the SSL organized the first Lake Grand Slam, on lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, and was hosted by the Cercle de Voile de Grandson.

Report by Event Media