SSL City Grand Slam Hamburg – Polgar and Koy to deliver fantastic show

by Louay Habib on 30 Mar 2016 Eleven VIP teams are confirmed for the inaugural Star Sailors League City Grand Slam, in Hamburg 2-7 May and Johannes Polgar and Markus Koy can be considered as the local team for the City Grand Slam, both are members of the host club, Norddeutscher Regatta Verein on the banks of Lake Alster, Hamburg.

Markus Koy was born in Hamburg and lives there to this day and Johannes Polgar has lived in Germany’s second largest city for over 16 years. Polgar’s rise in the Star Class has been impressive, he represented Germany at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the vastly different Tornado Class, before switching to the Star with Markus Koy. Just three years later, the German pair won the Star European Championship and this year finished fourth in the SSL Finals in Nassau.

“We always sailed in Kiel with the Tornado because Lake Alster is too small but when I started looking into the Star, a competitive fleet of over 30 boats was racing on the lake, but still I have only sailed on Lake Alster no more than eight times. There are some very good sailors from the NRV Yacht Club (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein), because it is tricky with shifty wind, a bit of local knowledge makes the local sailors race really well. For example Achim Griese was the 1984 Olympic Silver Medalist in the Star, he was born and raised on Lake Alster. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the sailors from the NRV are near the top of the leaderboard. If the wind is light or medium and the boat handling is not the focus then local knowledge becomes more important. I remember the first time I sailed on the lake in a Star, we were winning by a long way and then the breeze just went and the boats behind came with a fresh breeze. My partner, Markus (Koy) has sailed a lot on the lake in the Dragon, I hope he has been making some notes! I called him last week to write down a few scenarios with different wind direction. He laughed and said the best advice is to go with whatever you can see. I think the best advice is that on Lake Alster, it is never over, you have to stay focused until you have passed the finish line.

Hamburg is a very sportive city and I hope that we can communicate to them about the SSL City Grand Slam. In Spring the people of Hamburg love the lake, they come down from the city and they will get a fantastic show. The regatta has many World Champions and Olympic medallists competing with local sailors. Everyone in Hamburg should come down and watch the racing. I am sure this will be the biggest sailing event that Hamburg has ever seen and they will have a perfect view of incredibly close competition – It will be absolutely thrilling.

For myself and Markus to win the SSL City Grand Slam in Hamburg, would be the biggest win ever. Winning in home waters would, for sure, be something very special. The NRV yacht club has a huge tradition and there will be people supporting in club colors and our responsibility towards the club and members is to give everything we have.”