Helmsman Eric Monnin
Exciting duels, enthusiastic spectators, a final thriller and worthy winners: Record participant Eric Monnin and his Albert Riele Swiss team won the 20th Match Race Germany. In the eleventh attempt by the skipper and his crew since 2004, the quintet with Marc Monnin, Simon Brügger, Lukas Gerig, Dorén de Morsier and Loris von Siebenthal triumphed at the German Grand Prix just in time for the anniversary edition on Lake Constance near Langenargen. In the final, the 41-year-old helmsman from the sailing club Stäfund defeated his well-rehearsed team on Whit Monday after a 2-0 deficit and an impressive comeback Mati Sepps Estonian Sailing Team 3-2.
Happy Confederates: Eric Monnin and his Swiss Albert Riele Swiss Team achieved their first victory in the Match Race Germany
The highlights of the anniversary edition up to the award ceremony with the first Swiss winners and a good-humored Hamburg crew
After the race, Monnin explained why this title means so much to him: “We entered the match race as a very young team here in 2004 and competed against the world's elite for the first time. It was a whole new world for us. I even believe that it was the first time I had a tiller in my hand on these big boats, but a steering wheel. To win the Match Race Germany now in the eleventh attempt 13 years later is a huge thing for us and we simply connect very much with this regatta. But it wouldn't have been possible without my team. I think there is no sailing discipline where teamwork is so important!"
Over five days, Lake Constance serves all the conditions that the area has to offer: from storms to strong winds to light breezes and even calm. Whoever wins here must have a broad range of sailing skills …
The beaten Finnish helmsman Mati Sepp said: “These were good and tough races today. We hope that we can be there again next year. It is unbelievable how fantastically match racing is organized, presented and celebrated here.”In the small final for third place, Max Gurgel's Hamburg team Vmax Yachting prevailed 2-0 against the Austrian Trippolt Sailing Team led by the 26-year-old helmsman Max Trippolt and sailed the best result of a German crew in the Match Race Germany for 16 years. In 2001, Markus Wieser's team prevailed against Germany's most successful sailor Jochen Schümann and his crew in the final thriller.
Preliminary round duel between the eventual winner Eric Monnin and the Austrian Max Trippolt. Monnin's crew won ten of eleven preliminary round duels
The youngest crew in the field with a mixed character: The Swedish team around the ambitious helmsman Kim Kling missed the leap into the quarter-finals, but enlivened the sailing scene with its mixed approach: "It's nothing special for us, it's totally normal, with women and men to sail. Always the best for the job!"
The people of Hamburg were accordingly proud of their third place. Helmsman, physicist and “boat accelerator” Max Gurgel said after the victory: “It went faster than expected. We won both starts and then defended well. We are very pleased! And now with the good result I can also sign on the locker of our boat, which many well-known skippers have signed in front of us in the past few years. "Max Trippolt, cheered on loudly by a large Austrian fan club, said:" We were closed sixth fast, but Max was simply better today in the pre-start phases. Many thanks to my team and our fans! We are very satisfied with fourth place in this field!"
Had to bow to Max Trippolt's Austrian team in the quarter-finals: Markus Wieser, the only German winner in 2001, sailed into the quarter-finals on his anniversary comeback
They gave everything in the finals and achieved the best German result since 2001 with third place. At that time, Markus Wieser's crew was able to defeat the team of three-time Olympic champion Jochen Schümann 3-2 in the thrilling final
Enthusiastic spectators in Match Race Germany with third place: the German match race champion Max Gurgel and his team Vmax Yachting
In times of raging multihulls and more and more foiling racing boats, the Match Race Germany with its large monohull yachts is a strong reminder of the origins of tactical match racing. Its organizers Harald Thierer and Eberhard Magg, co-founders of the first German America's Cup campaign, have stayed true to their course and are now among the co-founders of the new Match Race Super League, which focuses on duel sailing on monohulls parallel to the world tour on catamarans want to ask. In 2017, the dress rehearsal for the new tour supported by the World Sailing Association, which will be continued with the Sopot Match Race in Poland.
Evening mood in the Langenargener gondola harbor
Photo artist Nico Martinez captured the most beautiful scenes of the 20th Match Race Germany
Duels against the magnificent backdrop of the Swiss Alps