After sailing 183 races over 15 racing days in five regattas, 18 sailing clubs converged from all over Germany to participate in the grand finale of the 2014 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga series sailed in J/70s on Hamburg’s Alster Lake. As one of the co-hosts for this incredibly successful regatta, the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV) club hoped their sailing team would continue their winning ways from the previous year (they were 2013 DSB Champions) and would, again, be crowned champion for the 2014 series. Starting off with a substantial 18 point lead over the rest of the fleet, Team NRV did not disappoint the cheering home team club members, taking a third in the Hamburg finale to win the overall DSB Championship by a commanding lead of 24 points! The first day of sailing on the spectacular Alster Lake right in the middle of Hamburg could not have been nicer—a balmy breeze only permitted just six races to be completed (two for each club). Nevertheless, it was clear the Konstanzer YC team liked the conditions, taking two firsts to be leading the regatta right out of the starting gate. Sitting on second and third, respectively, were Schweriner YC and Flensburger SC. “Even though it did not look good, we were very lucky! Although we have little wind from our home waters, our two victories today were associated with great luck,” said Arne Gülzow, the skipper of the leading Konstanzer YC team. Day two saw a total of 27 races sailed in the light winds with several teams suffering penalties and OCSs. After a slight postponement in the morning, the wind filled in steadily with bright sunshine to spoil the cheering crowds along the waterfront of both the NRV and Hamburger Segel-Club. The nine races sailed by each team produced some surprising results. After the day’s racing, Konstanzer YC continued their hold on first place, with Kieler YC flying up the standings into second overall with Berliner YC hanging onto third. Kieler YC’s record for the day was an astounding 5-2-1-2-2-1-3, no other club was even close on this amazing day for the Baltic Sea based team. The final day saw more challenging wind conditions with just six races sailed. Nevertheless, after 45 races sailed (15 for each club), the team from Lake Constance triumphed in the end to win the last regatta of the 2014 DSB. Konstanzer YC’s team of Tino Ellegast, Stefan Schneider, Arne Gülzow and Alex Runciman sailed a beautiful series, closing out their remarkably steady scoreline with a 2-2-4-2-3-2 to win by four points. Taking second was Berliner YC by winning a tie-breaker over NRV with both teams sitting on 49 points. As a result of their third place, the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (Hamburg), won the overall silver championship trophy by Robbe & Berking with a total of 104 points, 24 points clear of the next team. Taking second overall was Deutscher Touring YC with 80 points, and just 2 points back in third place was Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee. Hamburg’s Mayor, Michael Neumann, congratulated the winners and was pleased the DSB Championship was hosted by Hamburger SC on the pretty Alster Lake, commenting that, “The introduction of the Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga has been an enormous hit for sailors in Germany, and it was an honor that Hamburg was selected for the finals. The city is pleased to be able to contribute to the success story of the Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga, and I certainly hope that the final will also be held in Hamburg in the future!” The entire twelve-man squad for NRV accepted the silver trophy by Robbe & Berking and celebrated another victory with the obligatory champagne shower. “A better ending this season could not have been imagined by any of us! It was terrific to sail before our home crowd and to win the title a second time. This is a victory for our whole club,” said helmsman Johannes Polgar. The NRV team also includes Florian Spalteholz, Klaas Höpcke and Leon Pass. Said Oliver Schwall, Managing Director of the Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga, “We are grateful for our numerous partners and sponsors that made the 2014 DSB such a tremendous success. We would like to highlight some of them, including Vattenfall consulting, Hanse Boot boat show, Audi AG cars, Marine-Pool clothing, Mittelmans Werft J/Dealership, North Sails and SAP AG software!” For more J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing information, visit http://segelbundesliga.de/.