Travemünde Week in Germany was a week of championships, and it also featured the J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga (July 18-22). The SAP Media Race Course at the mouth of the river offered a spectacular program for the sailors from all 18 clubs participating in the event. The kick-off for this event of the Bundesliga in Travemünde could not have been more perfect: fantastic sailing conditions with sun, summer, beach and wind with nine races completed—three for each club. After taking three firsts in winds approaching 25 knots and 6 foot waves, the Flensburg Sailing Club team were comfortably in the lead (FSC’s crew were Sven Koch, Alexander Erichsen, Hans Henning Hoeft and Morten Massmann). They were followed by four clubs who tied: the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, YC Berlin-Grunau, the VS Am Wannsee and the Deutscher Touring YC. The second day of sailing was phenomenal, winds around 20 knots, sunny, big waves and perfect conditions. After 10 races, the Flensburg SC was still in the lead, and just one point back tied for second were Norddeutscher RV and the Deutscher Touring YC. At this point, a total of 30 races had been sailed, 10 for each club. Said Kathrin Kadel Bach, a team member of VS am Wannsee, “everything hurts, today was really exhausting. All clubs are fighting for every point, because it matters in the end.” After the final set of three races on the last day, it was Norddeutscher RV that took over the lead with a strong showing on the last day. Taking second in Travemunde was Flensburger SC, and ending up third despite a great, effort on the last day was Deutscher Touring YC. Besides the two northern clubs, the Deutscher Touring YC from Lake Starnberg that finished third is now standing in second place in the overall season standings. After the top three (NRV, FSC and DTYC), the balance of the top five at Travemunde includes Wurttemberg YC in fourth and VS am Wansee in fifth. At this stage of the series, behind NRV in first and DTYC in second, the series is quite close for the top five. Third is VS am Wansee with 31 points, just one point back from second. Fourth is Flensburg SC with just 28 points, and fifth is Wurttemberg YC with 27 points. Each regatta is producing a juggling of the standings, thus putting a premium on strong, conservative racing to avoid an unnecessary bad race. For more J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing information, visit http://segelbundesliga.de/.

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