The battle to become the best sailing club in Norway is now in full swing. This past weekend was the debut of the 2016 Norwegian Sailing League in Oslo. Inspired by the German Segelbundesliga and Danish Sejlsportsliga, the Seilsportsliga.no saw 30 sailing clubs from Tromso in the north to Halden in the south in place at Tjuvholmen. The clubs were divided into two divisions with 15 teams in each. It was a hard battle in the forefront of the first division from the outset. After eight races, Åsgårdstrand SF won the first regatta by the narrowest of margins, just two points over Kongelig Norsk Seilforening. Third was Fredrikstad SF with 31 points. “We sailed uniformly well and did not get into any protests during the competition. So, it feels really good to win here in Oslo,” says Karl Otto Book, skipper of the Åsgårdstrand SF Team. In Division 2, it was one team that stood out from the first regatta—Moss Seilforening was superior and could go home with straight firsts in every single race. “There were eight wins of eight possible. We are very pleased,” said Jørn Erik Ruud, skipper of the Moss Seilforening team. “Oslo offered challenging conditions for the sailors with both fresh breezes and zero winds. There was some rough sailing along the way, but all in all there were many happy sailors who took part in the opening of what will be the elite division in Norwegian sailing,” says Espen Guttormsen, Secretary General of the Norwegian Sailing Federation. For more Norwegian J/70 Sailing League information, visit https://seiling.klubb.nif.no/seilsportsliga/Sider/Hjem.aspx.