Quarter 2 Eleven tops J/70 Bodensee Battle Regatta

J70 fleet © María Muiña

There is this little lake in Switzerland that is known as the "Bodensee", it sits between three of Europe's more influential Alpine nations- Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. While maybe little compared to the remarkable Great Lakes in the USA (where 84% of North America's fresh water is contained and 21% of the world's supply); the Bodensee's impact on their region is giant over the course of time.

As one of Europe's largest freshwater lakes, it has been at the crossroads of civilizations and trading routes since time immemorial. For one, it is the headwaters of the famous Rhine River that flows through Germany north to the North Sea.

Sailors have always enjoyed the big beautiful blue lake, fed by run-offs from the snow-capped peaks and glaciers of the European Alps that surround it. From a sailing perspective, the Bodensee is co-managed by all of its yacht clubs/ sailing clubs that dot its shores- a sailing association that has over 100 clubs and over 15,000 member boats. Ironically, not even Lake Michigan in the USA can boast that density of sailing clubs and participants around its 1,000+ nm. of shoreline.

When the initial Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga was created five years ago, a critical decision was made by all of the Bodensee member sailing clubs. For the first time ever in three centuries of sailing on the lake, the member clubs agreed to standardize on one boat for inter-club competition; that was the International J/70. As a result, the camaraderie and fun experienced by all sailors on the Bodensee has simply grown dramatically. With a fun, easy-to-sail, boat that can be sailed by all; young & old 8 to 80s, beginners and Olympians; the J/70 class has taken off on the Bodensee. A boat you can daysail anywhere across the lake with family and friends, as well as enjoy great competition locally.

After a few weeks of "pandemic life", it was not surprising that "cottage fever" was driving just about everyone crazy. The mounting desire to "escape" from the four-walls of lock-down at home was going to manifest itself in some way, for the good.

In the case of the J/70 class on the Bodensee, that celebration for "escapees" was the J/70 Bodensee Battle Regatta hosted by the Kreuzlingen Sailing Club. A big, excited fleet of thirty-seven boats could not wait to get out on the water, onto the starting line, and simply enjoy some hearty competition while appreciating the spectacular vistas offered by the surrounding Alpine mountains.

Fast out of the gate on the first day was Nick Zeltner's crew on Quarter 2 Eleven, posting a mind-numbing 1-1-1-4 record to lead the fleet by a significant amount. However, Zeltner and crew could not maintain their frenetic pace on the final day. After their blazing start, they closed the regatta with a 5-12-13 to finish with 24 pts net. Congratulations to Nick Zeltner and his crew of Nilo Scharer, Till Seger, and Cedric Schenk.

The balance of the top five turned out to be a war of attrition for four teams, two Swiss and two German. It was nearly a four-way tie for the balance of the podium, with three boats in fact all tied at 33 pts each. Winning the battle on count-back to take the silver was Lorzen Kauschke's Rhubarbe team of Maren Kauschke, Laurent Forrer, and Emanuel Muller. The bronze medal went to Lorenz Muller's Attaque team of Chantal Suri, Jann Schupbach, and Alissia Muller. The top German team on Sherry Lady, skippered by Henrik Schaal with crew of Aaron Scherr, Timo Dahn, and Sven Herberger, had to settle for fourth place. Taking fifth place was another German team, Dennis Mehlig's JAI with crew of Kevin Mehlig, Yannick Hafner, and Lukas Ammon. The top Austrian team was Diem Klaus' Round 2 in 16th place.