The SAILING Champions League (SCL) has shortened the SCL Series 2020 to one qualifier and the final due to the currently tightening COVID-19 regulations and the worldwide travel restrictions. From 20 to 23 August the only qualifier of the 2020 season will therefore take place in Tutzing, Germany. The final from 15 to 18 October in Porto Cervo, Italy, will be held as planned. The two planned qualifiers in St. Petersburg, Russia, and Mariehamn, Finland, are cancelled without replacement.

“We’ve held on to the three qualifier dates for a long time in the hope that conditions will improve. As things stand at present, however, the worldwide travel possibilities are so limited that we now had to take appropriate steps,” says Anke Lukosch, Project Manager of SCL.

The winners of the national leagues from 2019 automatically qualify for the final in Porto Cervo at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda. In Tutzing on Lake Starnberg, as a guest of Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club, the second and third place finishers of each national league will have the chance to fight their way into the top 11 and thus get a ticket to the final.

“The shortened mode is certainly not an ideal scenario, but we are nevertheless looking forward to welcoming the best clubs from a total of 19 nations to the final in Porto Cervo,” underlines Lukosch. “We are grateful for the flexibility of all the sailors and the numerous clubs and their representatives who have worked with us over the last few weeks to plan and prepare every conceivable scenario”.

Photo credits: SCL / Anya Semeniouk