Danish KDY Team crowned SAILING Champions League winners in Kiel
by J/Boats 21 Jul 02:39 PDT
11-13 July 2025
For the grand finale of the SAILING Champions League 2025, the world's best sailing club teams competed head-to-head — a top-tier event in the heart of Kiel, a city steeped in sailing tradition.
The elegant Hotel Kieler Yacht-Club served as host, offering direct access to the water and a maritime atmosphere — it was ideal conditions for three days of high-level competition.
A total of 33 clubs from 17 nations qualified for this year's final — a remarkable cross-section of the European and global club sailing scene. Teams from Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom, France, Poland, Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, and Germany competed alongside participants from overseas, including Australia, the USA, and New Caledonia. The format remains the tried-and-tested league system, sailed in identical J/70 one-design class sailboats, with short, intense races right in front of the yacht club — fast-paced, spectator-friendly, and thrilling to watch.
Ultimately, victory went to Denmark's Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub. The team, led by skipper Jeppe Borch, prevailed against strong competition in a dramatic final four. As a result, they made history: KDY is the first team to win the prestigious title for the second time, eleven years after its first victory in 2014!
After 14 flights and a total of 42 races, the top ten clubs were only a few points apart before the final four finale.
In the first race of the Final Four, Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub won by a narrow margin of 9 seconds against Mühlenberger Segel-Club (GER). The second race was just as high-class: Bandholm Sejlklub (DEN) and Tønsberg Seilforening (NOR) were in the lead for a long time, but Mühlenberger Segel-Club and the KDY followed suit on the final downwind. In the end, Kongelig Dansk took the lead with a 30-meter advantage and never let the victory slip away. The team from Copenhagen was thus crowned the winner of the SAILING Champions League once again. The KDY team consisted of skipper Jeppe Borch, August la Cour, Gustav Wantzig, and Matias Rossing.
"This moment means an incredible amount to us," said KDY skipper Jeppe Borch after the final race. "The league has developed enormously since our first title in 2014! And, the fact that we were the first team to win for the second time today makes us proud."
The silver medal went to the German Mühlenberger Segel-Club team of skipper Jacob Ahlers, Till Kruger, Ole von Studnitz, and Benjamin Ahlers. The bronze medal team of Tonsberg Seilforening from Norway consisted of skipper Jostein Aker, Emil Dagsberg, Jorgen Smith-Meyer, and Magnus Behrens. The balance of the top five included the Danish Bandholm Sejklub team in fourth and the Finnish Alandska Segelsallskapet team in fifth place.
The organizers also drew a positive conclusion to the 2025 regatta. "With the record participation of 33 teams, and nations such as Ireland participating, which sent a team for the first time, or New Caledonia, which once again came from the South Pacific, it shows that the SAILING Champions League continues to grow," said Managing Director Oliver Schwall of SAILING Champions League GmbH.
Event website: sailing-championsleague.com