SAILING Champions League Off to a Flying Start

Porto Cervo, Italy (September 18, 2015) – The SAILING Champions League regatta, which sees 30 teams competing on the waters of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS), got underway today with a typically brisk Sardinian mistral breeze. The participating teams, representing 14 nations, completed 7 races this afternoon before the wind reached 25 knots and a halt was called for the day.

With one race missing to complete the second of 12 scheduled flights, teams will be back on the racecourse bright and early tomorrow morning, accompanied by a 15-20 knot westerly wind.

Promising early performances were put in by the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV) of Hamburg who chalked up victories in both of their races today. Norway’s Kongelig Norsk Seilforening (KNS) also performed well, claiming a first and a second place. The Russian Team of Yacht Club Navigator (YCN), took a third and first place while the young crew representing the Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club (DTYC) who boast an average age of just 23 years – won their first race and came third in their second. With a possible 41 races left to run the games have only just begun however and the leaderboard tomorrow could well tell a different story.

“It was a pretty good day for us,” confirmed NRV helmsman Carsten Kemmling. “Our first race was dramatic because it was more survival mode in these conditions. It was a tough fight and a photo finish with the club from Geneva. In the second race we sailed without the gennaker so the boat handling was more important than tactics.”

The crew representing host club the YCCS also got off to a good start as they took victory in the first race of the event. “It was a good feeling,” commented team member Filippo Maria Molinari, “the team has trained well and we won with a good lead which is very encouraging even though we have only completed one race so far.”

Racing is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday 19th September. On Saturday and Sunday, live broadcasting starts at 11:45 hours.

Event details – Results – Watch live – Crew list

Final entry list (30 clubs from 14 nations):
– Aarhus Sejlklub, Aarhus, Wild Card – 4th Danish Sailing League 2015
– Aländska Segelsällskapet, Mariehamn, 1st Finnish Sailing League 2015
– Burgenländischer Yacht-Club, Rust, 2nd Austrian Sailing League 2015
– Club Canottieri Roggero di Lauria, Palermo, 1st Italian Sailing League 2015
– Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club, Tutzing, 2nd German Sailing League 2014
– Ekolns Segelklubb, Uppsala, 2nd Swedish Sailing League 2015
– Göteborgs Kungliga Segel Sällskap, Gothenburg, Wild Card 5th Swedish Sailing League 2015
– Hellerup Sejlklub, Hellerup/Copenhagen, 2nd Danish Sailing League 2015
– Jacht Klub Wielkopolski Poznań, Poznań, Wild Card – 3rd Polish Sailing League 2015
– Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub, Copenhagen, Wild Card – Champion 2014
– Kongelig Norsk Seilforening, Oslo, Norwegian Sailing League
– Kungliga Svenska Segelsällskapet, Saltsjöbaden/Stockholm, 1st Swedish Sailing League 2015
– Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, Hamburg, 1st German Sailing League 2014
– PIRogovo Yacht Club, Moscow, 1st Act 1 Russian Sailing League 2015
– Regattaclub Oberhofen, Oberhofen/Thun, 1st Swiss Sailing League 2015
– Royal Malta Yacht Club, Valletta, Wild Card
– Royal Thames Yacht Club, London, UK Sailing League
– Segelclub TWV Achensee, Maurach, Wild Card
– 3rd Austrian Sailing League 2015 – Seglervereinigung Itzehoe, Itzehoe, Wild Card
– 4th German Sailing League 2014 – Skovshoved Sejlklub, Skovshoved, 1st Danish Sailing League 2015
– Société des Régates Rochelaises, La Rochelle, Wild Card
– Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano, Trieste, 2nd Italian Sailing League 2015
– Société Nautique de Genève, Geneve, 2nd Swiss Sailing League 2015
– Stavanger Seilforening, Stavanger, Norwegian Sailing League
– Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee, Berlin, 3rd German Sailing League 2014
– WaterSportVereniging Almere, Almere/Amsterdam, Dutch Sailing League
– Yacht Club Bregenz, Bregenz, 1st Austrian Sailing League 2015
– Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, Porto Cervo, Wild Card
– Hosting Club – Yacht Club Navigator, Moscow, 1st Act 2 Russian Sailing League