2016 SSL City Grand Slam : Races by Class

2016 SSL City Grand Slam

Sailed at Hamburg, Germany.
Event Website

Event Photos
Report by Sailing Scuttlebutt:
Star Sailors League: Head Out of the Boat Conditions

Hamburg, Germany (May 3, 2016) – The first Star Sailors League City Grand Slam got underway today with three races for 86 Star teams on Lake Alster. The fleet was evenly divided into three groups for this first round of qualifying races.

There were a few surprises as the rapidly changing conditions caught out many of the teams taking part, resulting in several World Class Star Sailors failing to make the top ten after day one. With two more days of racing in the qualifying rounds scheduled, it is still early days but today’s conditions showed the venue to be an exceptionally challenging place to race. The key to today’s top performers was starting well and keeping your ‘head out of the boat’ to anticipate changes in the wind.

The Norwegian/ American team of Eivind Melleby and Josh Revkin put in a stellar performance with three firsts to lead the field. Melleby has been away from the Star fleet for some time but his young crew from Connecticut is a rising star, having come third in last month’s Star World Championship with Brian Ledbetter.

"We had to fight all the way," commented Melleby. "There are many world class sailors at the regatta and many more that know this lake very well. To be honest, I am a little surprised that we were so quick. The last time I raced was over a year ago but our speed was very good and so was our starting procedure."

In second is Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki, scoring two straight bullets and a rare tie for first place in the last race with Diego Negri and Sergio Lambertenghi.

"I have grown up sailing on lakes, so this was not unusual for me," noted Kusznierewicz. "Dominik and I have not sailed together as often as some of the other teams but in the past we have sailed together for so long and we have a fantastic understanding, it is like knowing how to ride a bicycle. It was our good starts and boat speed that were gave us the results today."

The young American team of Luke Lawrence and Ian Coleman put in a top class performance, scoring a win and two second places to end the day third overall. They are one of the youngest teams racing at the SSL City Grand Slam and came fifth at last month’s Star World Championship in April.

"We got off the line well today and kept in simple," commented Lawrence. "For the short first upwind leg, we decided to go for the right hand side of the course, as coming in on starboard tack was nearly always going to pay. Even if the left had a better breeze or a bit of bias, it is far better to come into the first top mark with rights."

Other top performers today included local sailors, Johannes Polgar and Markus Koy, who finished the day in fourth place and fellow Germans, Michael Koch and Carsten Witt, who finished the day in fifth place. Racing resumes tomorrow for the second day of the qualifying rounds with light winds are forecast for the day.

Day Two:
There were snakes and ladders on the second day of qualifying rounds for the Star Sailors League City Grand Slam on Lake Alster, set in the heart of Hamburg, Germany’s second largest city. A light gradient wind from the north produced difficult conditions to master. The land effects around the lake produced a course with more traps than a prophet’s tomb. Tomorrow is the last day for the qualifying section of the SSL City Grand Slam, the top 30 boats will go through to the second round and 56 teams will be eliminated.

Day Three
The sun shone brightly on the City of Hamburg today, as three million people celebrated the 827th birthday of its harbour. Thousands of locals and visitors lined the banks of Lake Alster to watch the third day of the SSL City Grand Slam, 86 Star Teams raced in three flights and put on a spectacular show on a tight windward leeward course. The top and bottom marks were within yards of parklands and bridges crammed with racing fans. After a delayed start, allowing an easterly breeze to settle in, the NRV race committee set inch perfect courses. With legs of just 600 metres, great starts and instinctive boat handling was at a premium today.

In the first heat, Italian duo, Negri & Lambertenghi won a battle royal against two passed Star World Champions. Germans Stanjek & Kleen led at the start, nailing the committee boat end of the line to lead at the first mark. Negri & Lambertenghi and Polish team Kusznierewicz & Zycki, were hot after the Italians, but once into clean air, Negri & Lambertenghi kept it simple to win the race. The Poles and Italians were locked in battle right up to the downwind finish. Stanjek & Kleen stayed high, refusing to let the rapid Polish team pass to windward, but a spectacular gybe by the Poles, nearly wiping the stern off the Germans, put them to windward and through to steal their wind. Three textbooks roll gybes in the last few metres, saw the Polish team slide through the line sideways, just edging the Germans into third place.

Kusznierewicz & Zycki finished the day at the top of the leader board to win the coveted Heinz-Nixdorf Trophy. "We are very happy with the boat and our performance – commented Dominik Zycki – The first round has been very enjoyable which has helped us remain relaxed and in control. However, tomorrow, we will just be down to the top 30 boats and there will be a lot of pressure to make the top ten, let alone stay on top to get a bye to the final. We will not change our style, things are going well, so we intend to just continue."

The second heat of the day was won by five time Olympic medallist, Volvo Ocean Race and Louis Vuitton winning skipper, Torben Grael, racing with Stefano Lillia: Grael left it late to take the lead. Approaching the last top mark, Hellmich & Lacher were leading but Torben Grael & Stefano Lillia passed the German pair, which held on to second, just ahead of Michael Koch & Carsten Witt.

The last flight of the day produced a fantastic battle between a German team and the reigning Star World Champions, Augie Diaz and Bruno Prada. Hubert Rauch & Kilian Weise got away to a great start at the committee boat end and accelerated into an early lead. Diaz & Prada went for the pin end and judged the line perfectly, but it was the other side of the course that paid, and Rauch & Weise led the fleet. By the last leg, Diaz & Prada were all over Rauch & Weise and in the private battle, Diaz & Prada took the lead, on the last leg, to take the gun. Rauch & Weise were second with the young German team of Dominik Fallaise & Markus Kattenbusch in third.

Racing continues tomorrow for the top 30 teams in the SSL City Grand Slam. Carrying points through to the second round, four to five races are scheduled and the overall winner will get a bye through to the final. Second place will get a bye through to the semi-final. Of the thirty teams racing tomorrow, only the top ten will survive, as the SSL City Grand Slam goes into the knock- out stages.

Final: Xavier Rohart and Pierre-Alexis Ponsot (FRA) are the Star Sailors League (SSL) City Grand Slam Champions, winning 3000 points for the SSL ranking system and US$25000. After an intense battle between 86 Star teams, battling through fourteen races in just five days, a boat length was the only difference. On tight windward-leeward courses on Lake Alster, Hamburg, Germany, some of the finest, most intense yacht racing was witnessed by over 100,000 people.

Thousands of people from the city of Hamburg watched from the banks of the lake, and over 80,000 people around the world, watched the drama unfold live over the Internet. The superb facilities and race management of the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein were outstanding, and the 172 Star sailors that took part were a fine example of the ferocity, but also gentlemanly conduct, in the sport of sailing.

"I can say that was great, because it was so hard", commented Xavier Rohart, "In this fleet you never knew if you would be first or last and after a great start I was thinking, this is our chance. We pushed hard at the start and we got in front, in clear air we could increase our lead. Then right at the end, the competition was coming with the wind and there was nothing we could do, except to keep a good angle and wait and we got the fresh breeze, just before the finish.

To win with Pierre-Alexis (Ponsot) is something special, we trained together for four years before the London Olympic Games and although we had a couple of good results, we did not feel good at the games, so there was something unfinished. Now with the Star Sailors League, this new movement, we have the opportunity to create something new and achieve something new, and it is wonderful that we can do that together."

Norway’s Elvind Melleby, racing with American Josh Revkin were second taking 2764 SSL Ranking points and US$15,000. Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Zycki (POL) were third taking 2528 SSL Ranking points and US$10,000. Negri and Lambertenghi (ITA) were fourth taking 2292 SSL Ranking points and US$8000. The SSL Ranking points will be updated next week, top ranking sailors will go to the SSL Finals in Nassau later this year.

Star

Place	Boat	Skipper	Crew	Sail #:	Fleet	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12 QF	13 SF	14 Final	Total
1	FRA 8237	Xavier Rohart	Pierre-Alexis Ponsot	FRA 8237	NI	2	1	11	9	17	4	18	4	1	7	2	3	2	1	41
2	NOR 8317	Eivind Melleby	Joshua Revkin	NOR 8317	NOR	1	1	1	2	3	12	7	DNF	6	4	10	2	3	2	35
3	POL 8404	Mateusz Kuznierewicz	Dominik Zycki	POL 8404	ISOL	1	1	1.5	4	1	2	3	3	23	8	6	-	1	3	53.5
4	ITA 8497	Diego Negri	Sergio Lambertenghi	ITA 8497	VE	17	2	1.5	5	5	1	2	2	3	2	1	-	-	4	21.5
5	GER 8442	Johannes Polgar	Markus Koy	GER 8442	Ess	3	2	6	6	1	4	5	16	4	3	14	4	4	-	42
6	USA 8465	Augie Diaz	Bruno Prada	USA 8465	BisB	2	3	8	3	7	1	1	5	12	13	3	5	5	-	37
7	BRA 8510	Torben Grael	Stefano Lillia	BRA 8510	Gua	4	4	4	BFD	5	1	12	7	2	10	8	1	6	-	45
8	USA 8320	George Szabo	Patrick Ducommun	USA 8320	SDB	4	8	4.5	1	1	10	8	12	7	5	15	6	-	-	38.5
9	GER 8204	Michael Koch	Carsten Witt	GER 8204	KF	6	3	3	7	2	3	9	8	5	15	11	7	-	-	39
10	USA 8323	Eric Doyle	Payson Infelise	USA 8323	SDB	3	12	4	8	3	6	20	11	10	1	7	8	-	-	46
11	USA 2	Luke Lawrence	Ian Coleman	USA 2	BisB	1	2	2	2	8	9	4	RET	8	22					49
12	GER 8340	Robert Stanjek	Frithjof Kleen	GER 8340	BF	3	6	4.5	1	5	3	22	1	24	16					55.5
13	RUS 8281	Alexey Zhivotovskiy	Lev Shnyr	RUS 8281	Mosc	6	5	3	7	3	15	15	15	11	28					65
14	ITA 7488	Roberto Benamati	Alberto Ambrosini	ITA 7488	Gar	5	5	14	11	10	BFD	11	6	26	9					71
15	BRA 8172	Francisco Siemsen	Arthur Lopes	BRA 8172	Cop	12	6	7	8	2	25	6	21	14	25					76
16	GER 1122	Jan Seekamp	Bjorn Schutte	GER 1122		6	3	6	12	12	8	16	28	9	20					80
17	GER 8378	Frank Tusch	Sven Winkelmann	GER 8378	Moh	4	7	23	14	6	15	26	17	15	6					84
18	GER 7860	Alexander Hagen	Uli Seeberger	GER 7860	KF	7	10	9	19	4	17	DSQ	10	16	11					84
19	CRO 8339	Marin Lovrovic	Dan Lovrovic	CRO 8339	ISOL	2	25	8	1	BFD	9	10	20	18	14					87
20	GER 8225	Helge Spehr	Jesper Spehr	GER 8225	KF	14	10	2	DNF	8	6	27	14	13	21					88
21	SWE 8352	Lars Edwall	Hakan Lundgren	SWE 8352	Kat	13	4	6	15	17	4	19	22	20	12					93
22	GER 8355	Christian Paucksch	Peter Hubner	GER 8355	Sta	18	14	8	10	6	8	14	19	25	17					96
23	FIN 8121	Jesper Sundman	Tom Sundman	FIN 8121	FIN	11	14	5	6	12	14	13	26	17	19					97
24	USA 8464	Jack Jennings	Phil Trinter	USA 8464	LS	12	4	1	19	24	6	24	18	22	18					100
25	DEN 8380	Johnny Jensen	Frederik Jeppesen	DEN 8380	DF	15	5	19	3	11	20	17	9	21	29					100
26	NED 8381	Haico De Boer	Matthias Wolff	NED 8381	Med	16	7	10	4	10	14	DSQ	13	28	24					110
27	GER 8491	Ulrich Vater	Karsten Morf	GER 8491	BF	9	8	7 RDG	10	7	16	25	27	19	26					111
28	GER 8109	Thorsten Hulsmann	Magnus Bothe	GER 8109	Moh	14	21	16	2	4	5	21	25	DNF	27					114
29	GER 8299	Joachim Hellmich	Stefan Lacher	GER 8299	Moh	10	13	12	BFD	8	2	23	23	DNF	DNC					122
30	SWE 8433	Calle Schroder	Alex Schroder	SWE 8433	Kat	8	51.0	12	6	9	19	28	24	27	23					126
31	GER 8450	Hubert Merkelbach	Gerrit Bartel	GER 8450	UB	5	13	15	BFD	9	11									53
32	GER 8361	Stefan Lehnert	Dietmar Hobbie	GER 8361	Brm	22	16	10	12	4	12									54
33	DEN 8261	Rune Schytt	Henrik Ahrentsen	DEN 8261	DF	7	DNC	5	5	26	12									55
34	NED 8334	Thomas Allart	Christian Gianni	NED 8334	Hol	7	9	3	26	20	18									57
35	UKR 8119	Pavlo Bondar	Mykola Dmytrenko	UKR 8119	EUkr	21	6	14	11	29DPI	8									60
36	GER 7866	Philip Behn	Matthias Wolff	GER 7866	HF	11	7	10	DNF	19	13									60
37	CRO 8360	Marin Misura	Tonko Barac	CRO 8360	Dal	5	DNF	DNC	4	18DPI	5									62
38	DEN 8428	Frank Berg	Martin Hejlsberg	DEN 8428	DF	25	18	21	16	2	7									64
39	GER 7920	Andreas Dellwig	Oliver Hahne	GER 7920	Moh	13	22	19	3	25	7									64
40	GER 8400	Jorg Mellis	Uli Daub	GER 8400	Ess	14	19	7	9	18	20									67
41	SUI 8351	Henrik Dannesboe	Jan Bonhoeffer	SUI 8351	Sem	12	8	18	14	15	DNC									67
42	GER 8179	Klaus Meyer	Jorg Muller	GER 8179	Brm	8	16	20	9	15DPI	25									68
43	GER 7806	Wulf Kahl	Wulf Peter Kahl	GER 7806	Lub	19	13	15	10	11	24									68
44	NED 7584	Alwin Van Daelen	Jean Louis Flier	NED 7584	Med	10	11	13	DNF	27	9									70
45	CHI 8173	Frank Schonfeldt	Carlos Schultz Oettinger	CHI 8173	Val	19	10	25	15	23	5									72
46	ITA 8373	GUIDO FALCIOLA	Luca Paloschi	ITA 8373	FdAL	22	14	12	27	6	18									72
47	GER 8027	Sonke Westphal	Andreas Kaerger	GER 8027	HF	9	11	16	20	16	BFD									72
48	GER 7483	Nils Hansen	Sven Johannsen	GER 7483	HF	15	12	14	5	27	DNF									73
49	GER 7557	Florian Richter	Sebastian Richter	GER 7557	Lub	19	9	11	DNF	21	13									73
50	GER 8093	Tobias Brinkmann	Marko A Hasche	GER 8093		11	9	19	DNC	16	18									73
51	GER 8118	Tillmann Wiese	Benni Brau	GER 8118	Brm	20	17	9	17	12	19									74
52	GER 8414	Achim Griese	Michael Marcour	GER 8414	KF	13	DNF	DNC	11	7	15									76
53	GER 8384	Frank Thurner	Michael Ziller	GER 8384	GER	22	12	7	18	21	19									77
54	GER 768	Rainer Kamrath	Henning Wiezorke	GER 768		16	23	DNF	12	14	13									78
55	SWE 7978	Ingvar Krook	Christoffer Lundgren	SWE 7978	AR	16	15	13	22	13	22									79
56	GER 8213	Felix Gold	Norbert Peter	GER 8213	KF	17	11	15	16	23	21									80
57	GER 8150	Olaf Richter	Andreas Kohler	GER 8150	Lub	24	19	17	20	9	17									82
58	GER 8416	Hubert Rauch	Kilian Weise	GER 8416	And	21	23	17	DNF	20	2									86
59	SWE 7758	Robert Sjogren	Mattias Heiding	SWE 7758	PN	18	15	22	7	22	DNF									84
60	DEN 8296	Flemming Sorensen	Niels Thrysoe	DEN 8296	DF	10	22	17	25	25	10									84
61	GER 8124	Uwe Hannemann	Annette Dahms	GER 8124	Ess	28	20	24	14	15	11									84
62	GER 8346	Thomas Kohler	Christian Knoll	GER 8346	AM	18	18	16	13	19	21									84
63	GER 8130	Henning Voigt	Dirk Struve	GER 8130	Aac	20	21	13	BFD	17	14									85
64	GER 7674	Dominik Fallais	Markus Kattenbusch	GER 7674	Aac	23	27	26	15	19	3									83
65	GER 8020	Thomas Appel	STEPHAN WAGNER	GER 8020	Sta	23	17	11	22	14	26									87
66	GER 8483	John H Helmsing	John Schlubach	GER 8483	HF	17	15	18	18	20	24									88
67	GER 8262	Jochen Diercks	Herbert Braasch	GER 8262	Lub	20	16	RET	DNF	13	11									90
68	GER 99	Tim Kamrath	Axel Schulte	GER 99		21	21	21	13	15	22									91
69	POL 8365	Mariusz Modrzynski	Maciej Dabrowski	POL 8365	ISOL	28	20	28	8	BFD	10									94
70	GER 8190	Florian Kuke	Lars Lensing Hebben	GER 8190	BF	9	18	21	25	25	28									98
71	GER 8005	Jurgen Paust	Stefan Paust	GER 8005		DNF	DNC	DNC	13	11	16									100
72	SUI 8133	Urs Infanger	Oleg Chtchetinine	SUI 8133	Luv	24	26	20	DNF	14	17									101
73	GER 8321	Arnd Glunde	Marcel Beltz	GER 8321	And	15	19	18	DNF	28	21									101
74	GER 7272	Reiner Petersen	Oliver Berger	GER 7272	BF	24	25	23	23	21	16									107
75	GER 7686	Robin Nolte	Andree Nolte	GER 7686	Glu	23	24	22	24	18	22									109
76	POL 8417	Ireneusz Stawiany	Jakub Stawiany	POL 8417	ISOL	26	20	20	21	19	27									114
77	USA 8310	Benjamin Sternberg	Stuart MacIntosh	USA 8310	CLIS	19	DNF	DNC	DNF	24	23									115
78	GER 7466	Gunter Kellermann	Erik Kellermann	GER 7466	Glu	26	28	27	DNF	28DPI	7									116
79	ITA 83	Edoardo Cattapan	Tommaso Saponaro	ITA 83		25	DNC	DNC	21	16	26									118
80	GER 7449	Peer Petersen	Frank Wiesner	GER 7449	Brm	27	26	26	17	26	23									118
81	GER 8311	Axel Hampe	Christian Conrads	GER 8311	ZuW	25	27	24	DNF	22	20									118
82	SUI 7948	Alexander Tennigkeit	Jo Schwarz	SUI 7948	UB	27	DSQ	27	23	22	27									126
83	NED 8350	Hein Dijksterhuis	Jim Dijksterhuis	NED 8350	LO	DNC	DNF	DNC	DNF	18	24									132
84	GER 7859	Peter Toedt	Stefan Kashammer	GER 7859	HF	26	24	25	DNF	DNC	DNC									133
85	GER 7251	Henning Dieckmann	Michael Heinlein	GER 7251	Glu	DNF	28	28	DNF	29	23									138
86	USA 8507	Jim Revkin	Hannes Lindauer	USA 8507	BH	DNF	DNC	DNC	24	30DPI	25									139