Twenty-three clubs from 14 nations competed over three days (October 17-19) off the spectacular Copenhagen city waterfront. The sailing featured incredibly tight-racing at a world-class level, boats rapidly changing positions from mark-to-mark as wind-shifts and tactics came into play on the tight 10-13 minute race course. While the premiere of the SAILING Champions League may have ended on a cloudy, drizzly day, the atmosphere was absolutely brilliant amongst the teams competing in a fleet of identically-matched J/70s. In total, 45 races were sailed over the long weekend. Fortunately, there was good breeze each day, and the spectators in front of the world-famous “Little Mermaid” were treated to front-row seats in a true “stadium-sailing” format (the boats were often tacking just 20-30 feet off the seawalls). Among the 92 sailors were more than 22 Olympic sailing medalists, multiple World Champions from various classes and even Volvo Ocean Race winners. The sought-after silver bowl from Robbe & Berking will stay with the hosts from the Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub in Copenhagen, as it was their KDY Team in the end that won by a mere 0.5 points difference over the second place team—Circolo Canottiere Aniene (Italy). Third was the Oman Sail Team that notably sailed in the top three virtually all three days. In the “Sail for Charity” campaign, where technology partner SAP donated 25,000 Euro to the World Childhood Foundation, it was the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein Team (Germany) that won that “charity race,” raising the most money of any of the teams participating. The final outcome of the regatta was not settled amongst the top three clubs until the very last race. At the end, the Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub (KDY) with helmsman Michael Hestbæk (participant at the Olympics in the Star 2012 in London), Joachim Aschenbrenner, Lucas Lier and Frederik Berg took the lead with their J/70 and made their mark in the history books by winning the first SAILING Champions League. “It feels fantastic to win on home waters. We felt the pressure before the last race. We had a little advantage at the start, and it worked out for us,” explained a very happy Michael Hestbæk after his arrival ashore. Their team was excited to lift the five kilogram silver bowl from Robbe & Berking–the Robbe & Berking SAILING Champions League Trophy–into the air. The Italian team from Circolo Canottiere Aniene in Rome consisted of pro-sailor Lorenzo Bressani, Offshore World Champions Matteo Mason and Samuele Nicolettis and Michele Paoletti. The organizers of the SAILING Champions League–the German “Segel-Bundesliga,” the Danish “Sejlsportsligaen” and the Royal Danish Yacht Club–did an extraordinary job managing the entire program of 45 races (15 for each club). For more SAILING Champions League regatta information, visit http://sailing-championsleague.com/.