Star Sailor League - Szabo and Ducommun take Championship and $25,000

by Bob Fisher on 13 Sep 2015 Saturday 12th September 2015: The Star Sailors League Lake Grand Slam champions are George Szabo (USA) and Patrick Ducommun (SUI) after a thrilling four-boat final in light winds on Lake Neuchatel. It was the only race in a total of ten that the pair had won. They take the US$ 25,000.00 first prize.

Despite the slim breezes, the four-leg race was thrilling with the lead changing frequently.

From the start, off a suitably short line, Robert Stanjek and Frithjof Kleeh tacked to go right towards the Grandson shore – a move that had previously shown well in the early stages of the windward leg, and were 130 metres in the lead when they tacked. From the left, Mark Mendelblatt and Brian Faith (USA) just headed the German pair at the windward mark, with the Croatians, Ivan Gaspic and Jose Revkin just edging out Szabo and Ducommun.

Those positions were held downwind with Mendleblatt rounding the left hand gate mark and going left up the first part of the second beat, while the German pair went to the other gate mark and set off to the right. Szabo and Ducommun played the middle on the second beat to round the windward mark just 11 metres ahead of Mendleblatt and Fatih.

Stanjek and Kleen were 150 metres behind these two boats, but downwind they showed speed enough to overtake the early round leaders and move into second place to take the US$15,000.00 second prize, a gain of $5,000 on one leg!

Earlier the top eleven, less the leader, raced a quarter-final – the top six would go on to the semi-final, joined by the leader after seven races, Mendleblatt and Faith. That race went to Gaspic and Revkin (CRO) from Torben Grael and Guilherme de Almedia (BRA), but there were three eliminated - Kusznierewicz/Zycki (POL); Rohart/Lillia (FRA); Zarif/Prada (BRA) and Polgar/Koy (GER).

The top four raced the final and the winds were anything but kind, favouring first one side of the lake and then another, but as usual in these conditions the cream rises to the top and no one would deny that former world champion George Szabo and his Swiss crew Patrick Ducommun were anything but deserved victors. They chased the breezes and proved their superiority in the trying conditions.

The culminating event in this year’s Star Sailors League is the SSL Finals in Nassau in December.