The preliminary season planning for the SAILING Champions League, the highest international club competition in sailing, is set for this year. Two qualifiers are planned, one in Kiel, Germany, at the end of July and one in summer in St. Petersburg, Russia, as well as the final in Porto Cervo on Sardinia in October. 58 clubs from 19 countries have qualified and are fighting for the starting places for the final.

With confidence that international league sailing will take off on water in Europe in the coming months, the SAILING Champions League (SCL) is releasing its dates for this year. The top three clubs from each National Sailing League from the 2020 season are qualified for the two qualification regattas. Clubs in fourth and fifth place in the standings can move up. The best 15 clubs from each SCL Qualifier move on to the final.

For the first time from 29 July to 01 August, the city of Kiel invites the best European sailing clubs to a showdown on the Inner Fjord. The sailing area in the heart of Kiel has already been tested successfully several times by the German Sailing League and guarantees sailing action for spectators. Organising authorities are the city of Kiel in cooperation with the clubs TSV Schilksee, Segler-Vereinigung Kiel and Segelclub Baltic.

The date for the qualification regatta in St. Petersburg will be scheduled in the coming weeks. This is the fifth time that St. Petersburg Yacht Club will host an SCL event.

As in the previous year, the final will take place from 7 to 10 October 2021 at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in Porto Cervo on Sardinia. Already qualified for the final is the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, winner of the “SAILING Champions League – Asia Pacific”.

“The anticipation in the league nations for the upcoming SAILING Champions League season is huge. All clubs want to get back on the water. I am particularly pleased that we are hosting the Champions League for the first time in my home town of Kiel on the Inner Fjord. We had this idea for a long time,” explains Oliver Schwall, Managing Director of the SAILING Champions League GmbH.

The organisers of the SCL are currently in conversation with Bermuda for another qualification regatta.

The final event of the SCL season will be the Women’s SAILING Champions League from 15 to 17 October 2021 in Cascais, Portugal, organised by the Clube Naval de Cascais for the best European women’s teams.

Click here for the allocation of clubs for the SCL Qualifiers.