SAILING Champions League

The Club recently sent a Team to Berlin to compete in the Sailing Champions League Qualifier in Berlin at the Berliner Yacht Club. The Team had qualified thanks to Ali Morrish's 4th place finish in last year's British Keelboat League.

The team of Nicole Mcpherson (helm), Hamish Taylor, Daka Fadipe and Robin Young were excited about the event with Nicole saying, "We're looking forward to testing ourselves against other clubs, learning to sail J70s better and hopefully drinking a German beer or two with the opposition."

The opposition came from 10 Nations, each one qualifying to compete in the SCL as a result of finishing highly in their own National Keelboat Leagues last season. The 18 teams lined up in Berlin included the winners of the leagues in Finland, France, Norway, Germany & Switzerland, so it was a strong test for the RN&CYC team.

Following the event Nicole summed it up well in saying; "Like Scottish Teams that have competed in the Champions League in Germany in other sports, we found the competition pretty tough! But we had a great time, lots of close racing and felt we really improved over the course of the event." As with all sailing events a key part of a successful event is meeting new people and enjoying your time off the water. The team did that with some over enthusiastic S Club 7 dancing with the vice commodore and kitchen staff in the excellent Berliner Yacht Club.

The Royal Northern & Clyde Yacht Club is once again hosting a British Keelboat League Qualifier event on the 24th/25th June which is the pathway into this SAILING Champions League. It is open to teams from any club, more details can be found at BKL 2023 | rncyc (www.rncyc.com/bkl-2023)