Lindberg nails it

Tense Scandinavian final at European Match Race in Hamburg

It was a thriller on the water. The 12 European Match Race sailors competed from 30 September until 3 October on Hamburg’s river Alster. Finally the Nordic sailors decided the victory among themselves, Staffan Lindberg from Finland and his crew beating Swedish Björn Hansen in an exciting final. Eric Monnin from Switzerland gained the third place in the petit final against the Italian Skipper Matteo Simoncelli. The home team of helmsman Andreas Willim missed out on the semi-final round robin and finished second last.

The final proved exciting until the end! The wind blew moderately from the south and hundreds of spectators, standing on the pontoon of the organising club, the Hamburger Segel-Club (HSC), watched the Lindberg v Hansen Final.

“We strained ourselves and this was our day!” said a delighted Staffan Lindberg. “The Alster is tricky, but we played the shifts and gusts well and saved the victory”. The 34 years old Finn, who will start an Olympic Star campaign in November.

Lindberg won the first two final matches. Then he picked up a penalty in the prestart of the third match. The Finn was in the lead but Hansen got a good gust and sailed past when Lindberg took his penalty to win the match. 2-1 - the final was open again. The forth match finally crowned the new European Champion from Finland. Hundreds of
spectators followed the grand final with noisy applause for the winner.

Björn Hansen, skipper of the Swedish team, who ranks eighth in the world, was disappointed: “We came to Hamburg to win, but Staffan did a great job. However we will get another chance to beat him next week during the Bermuda Gold Cup”, said Hansen (38).

Lindberg and Hansen live just one kilometre apart from each other. They are at home in the north of Europe between Finland and Sweden. They are good friends ashore and have known each other since their childhood.

Not so very good was the result of the German starters. Andreas Willim ranked 17th in the world, was one of the favourites on his home waters. But the trio Willim/Homann/Happel only finished 11th. After a bad start in the first round they could never catch up. “The European Championship was the highlight of a very good season for us, and we are really disappointed that we did not sail well especially here”, said Willim.

Altogether about 2,000 spectators watched the event from the HSC pontoon many more lining the banks of the River Alster, to follow the racing. Rüdiger Schach, President of the HSC was satisfied with the event: “We would have wished for a few more spectators, but the thrilling matches where easy to watch from the near shore”, he said.

Every day the 'Camp of Nations', supported by the clothing company Globetrotter invited about 20 Kids from migrant families in Hamburg. The children where allowed to not only watch the sailors but test themselves, how it feels to direct the wind. A full programme including climbing, tent building and other outdoor activities occupied the kids. On Tuesday four children where chosen to be offered a partnership of the Hamburger Segel-Club. The overfally kids Dobally (10) and Sainabon Barrow (12), as well as Elias Khosravi (12) and Islamzada Ekmuatullah (12) where happy about the possibility to learn sailing in a five-year programme in Hamburg.

Final results

Final (Best of 5):
1. FIN Staffan Lindberg - 3:1
2. SWE Björn Hansen - 1:3

Petit Final (Best of 3):
3. SUI Eric Monnin - 2:0
4. ITA Matteo Simoncelli - 0:2

5. CRO - Dario Kliba
6. POL - Marek Stanczyk
7. DEN - Peter Wibroe
8. GBR - Nick Cherry
9. RUS - Maxim Tarnov
10. FRA - Pierre-Antoine Morvan
11. GER - Andreas Willim
12. SLO - Jure Orel