Zurich, 5 October 2020 - It will go down in history books since the 2020 sailing season was a memorable one. Even though the health crises implied limitations, the class of Blu26 was engaged in maintaining an appealing schedule of events that concluded last weekend with the Blu26 cup Zurich. A strong, impressive lineup consisting of 11 crews from across Switzerland and Denmark met during two spectacular autumn days to race in Zurich's lake basin.
There was a steady and fresh wind from the south accompanied by lighter, a bit of twisting winds that enabled four runs overall. Team Hazel from the Zurich yacht club came out strong with its leadership and won the Blu26 cup Zurich and the overall Bluboats cup 2020.
Team Hazel
Team Hazel, with Anita Di Lasio, Michael Klötzli being the skipper, Bruno Coduri and Dirk Euler, had a smooth sail through this condensed season with only one mission in mind - winning again. After clinching the first position at the Blu26 cup Zug and the Swiss Championship in St Moritz, the team maintains an unbeaten record and wins the Blu26 cup Zurich. With this, the Blu26 cup Zurich 2020 goes to Hazel's team from Zurich Yacht club, then followed by the Danish team GoSsail with skipper Soren Laugesen second and team Wyuna with skipper Michael Adamczyk from Yacht club Zig coming in third.
Taking annual ranking into consideration, which usually determines the Bluboats cup 2020, team Giachen Ün from St. Moritz comes second while team GoSail comes third. Congratulations are to these achievements. You can access the ranking of the Blu26 cup Zurich and the bluboats cup 2020 here (annual ranking). Great thanks to Zurich Yacht club for the perfect organization and execution of the Zurich Herbstpreis 2020 and a generous hosting.
A day before the races, Friday, 2 October, the Blu26 International Class annual meeting took place. Julian Franke-Ruthel was confirmed as a new committee member and Soren Laugesen as the class ambassador for the Nordics while going through the Blu26 2020 season, the class reflects on a remarkable year in various ways:
Despite the Covid-19 restrictions, the blu26 season kicked off in May with unique training and racing combo. The training was led by Christian 'Blumi' Scherrer and represented a Swiss version of the traditional Blu26 Garda camp.
In August, the Blu26 class was the first to host an official Swiss championship in St. Moritz, which is considered a highlight of the Swiss sailing calendar.
The class introduced the 'Rookie Initiative', a new program and contribution to the sailing youth. Two young teams benefitted from the training sessions on Lake Zug and Zurich and wildcards to participate in the Blu26 Swiss championship St. Moritz. An additional team later joined the Blu26 cup Zurich under the Rookie initiative patronage. This program will be upheld by the class in 2021 to support passionate young sailors in their journey of evolving from jolly boat to yacht sailing and opening the door to an attractive sailing class.
The Blu26 class is looking forward to an exciting sailing 2021 season and to welcoming you next year. Register with the newsletter program to be up to date on the Blu26 agenda 2021.
Wrap up
The Blu26 International association was founded in January 2010 to promote and support all activities of the Blu26 class. Since 2015 the Blu26 class is an official Swiss Sailing class. To learn more about the Blu26 class, the regatta season and the event plan, check out on www.blu26.org.
Photography Sébastien Rohner