News

Norwegian team claims title of “Best Sailing Club” ahead of hosts Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (ITA) and Yacht Club Navigator (RUS)

Porto Cervo, Italy. 20th September 2015. After three days of thrilling racing, a range of challenging sailing conditions and a host of social events, the Royal Norwegian Yacht Club (Kongelig Norsk Seilforening -KNS) has been crowned victor of the Sailing Champions League 2015 and claimed the title of “Best Sailing Club”. Second place went to the home team representing the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and Russia’s Yacht Club Navigator took third place. The event - held from 18th to 20th September in Porto Cervo, Sardinia – played host to 30 top sailing clubs from across Europe.

The final day of racing brought a change from the strong mistral breeze that teams had faced over the previous two days. As the wind moved to a more northerly direction and turned lighter and more shifty those competitors who thrive in light airs had a chance to shine in today’s 12 races. There was little hope, however, of ousting the reigning KNS team who deservedly held on to first place thanks to seven victories and two second places out of 10 flights raced.

"We were a bit excited today, because we didn't know how it would go,” commented Royal Norwegian skipper Kristoffer Spone, “but now we have the trophy, we are very happy. The level of competition at the SAILING Champions League was very high, so it’s a very good feeling having won against the best clubs in Europe. It has been a terrific event here in Porto Cervo."

Second-placed Yacht Club Costa Smeralda flew the home flag high by chalking up six victories over the weekend while Yacht Club Navigator of Moscow claimed five wins to take third place overall.

YCCS team captain Federico Michetti commented on the Club-centred ethos that is at the heart of the Sailing Champions League concept: “It was an honour to compete here for my club together with the team. These were great races with a superb organization behind them. It’s a format where you can really feel how everyone is fighting for their Club and think that is important.”

“As always our thanks go to everyone who made this event possible: the race committe, jury, umpires and the sponsor Audi as well as all of the teams who travelled from across Europe to participate in this first event in our waters.” commented YCCS Commodore Riccardo Bonadeo during this evening’s prize giving ceremony.

In addition to the Robbe & Berking Trophy for the winning Club, trophies were awarded to the second and third-placed yacht clubs. Special prizes were also awarded to the Yacht Club Malta, whose team was entirely composed of members of the same family, and the Royal Danish Yacht Club, who fielded and all-female team.

The results, entry list, event programme and information are available on the websites www.yccs.com - www.sailing-championsleague.com - www.sapsailing.com. For further information follow the YCCS Twitter profile (#bestsailingclub) and the Sailing Champions League Facebook page or contact the Press Office.

Contatti
PRESS OFFICE YACHT CLUB COSTA SMERALDA
Jill Campbell 
T +39 340 1674755

SAILING CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Sophie-Karolin Wehner 
T: +49 40 226 316 4-63 / +49 176 617 351 87

ENTRY LIST

Aarhus Sejlklub (AS), Denmark
Åländska Segelsällskapet (ÅSS), Finland
Burgenländischer Yacht-Club (BYC), Austria
Club Canottieri Roggero di Lauria (CCRL), Italy
Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club (DTYC), Germany
Ekolns Segelklubb (ESK), Sweden
Göteborgs Kungliga Segel Sällskap (GKSS), Sweden
Hellerup Sejlklub (HS), Denmark
Jacht Klub Wielkopolski Poznań (JKWP), Poland
Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub (KDY), Denmark
Kongelig Norsk Seilforening (KNS), Norway
Kungliga Svenska Segelsällskapet (KSSS), Sweden 
Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV), Germany 
PIRogovo Yacht Club (PIRYC), Russia 
Regattaclub Oberhofen (RCO), Switzerland 
Royal Malta Yacht Club (RMYC), Malta 
Royal Thames Yacht Club (RTYC), Great Britain 
Segelclub TWV Achensee (SCTWVA), Austria 
Seglervereinigung Itzehoe (SVI), Germany 
Skovshoved Sejlklub (SKS), Denmark 
Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano (SVBG), Italy 
Société des Régates Rochelaises (SRR), France 
Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), Switzerland 
Stavanger Seilforening (SSF), Norway 
Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee (VSaW), Germany 
WaterSportVereniging Almere (WSVA), Netherlands 
Yacht Club Bregenz (YCB), Austria 
Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS), Italy 
Yacht Club Navigator (YCN), Russia 
Yacht Club Sopot (YCS), Poland