blu26 - International Class Association

Finest Maloja wind and the unique mountain scenery have made the last weekend in St. Moritz into one of the highlights of the Swiss sailing calendar in 2020, the event being the first official Swiss Championship of all boat classes in Switzerland this year.

16 fully crewed entries took up the challenge and pushed the current class champions to the limit. Yet, despite the strong line-up this year, the blu26 Swiss Champion trophy remains in trusted hands with team ‘Hazel’ who sailed ahead of all the teams, unwaveringly.

The first blu26 Swiss Championship took place back in 2016 – in St. Moritz. This weekend the 5th Swiss Championship took place again on the privileged lake of St. Moritz. 16 strong teams from Denmark, Germany and Switzerland signed up for the Fleet Race Battle Engadin over the 3-day event. Among them two junior teams, with eight sailing talents, that benefited of the ‘blu26 Class Rookie Initiative’ and two wildcards to start at the blu26 Swiss Championship.

All sailors travel to St. Moritz lightly, as the format means that all the boats are pre-prepared, waiting on site for the teams. The dynamic rotation mode and the relatively short up-and-down course are further attributes that make this regatta to a must-join event of the blu26 season. Wonderful wind conditions allowed for 35 thrilling runs in total during this late summer weekend. The on-water umpires were constantly at the pulse of the fleets and ensured fair sailing across the event.

What makes the blu26 class so special is its ‘big family’ character. Along with competitive sailing, getting together is important and valued. The Piöda-Dinner on Friday and pasta evening on Saturday offered opportunities to talk over the most critical sailing situations and assess winning strategies among the sailors. True to the motto: friends on the shore, competitors on the water!

On Sunday the wind was a tad more reluctant, but after a bit of patience the final runs took place and decided the ranking: team ‘Hazel’ with skipper Michael Klötzli won the blu26 Swiss Championship with a clear lead, followed by the Danish team ‘GoSail’ with skipper Søren Laugesen second, and the local team ‘Giachen Ün’ with Skipper Christa Kuster third.

The event was once again extremely well organized! The class thanks the regatta committee, under the leadership of Marc Knöpfel, that did an amazing job, the persistent on-water umpires, all the helpers on site, and of course the loyal sponsors. A special thank you goes to the Sailing Club St. Moritz for the generous hosting. We will be back!