We talked to Edoardo Recchi, Sports Director of Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS), last year’s winner of SAILING Champions League and hosting club of Semifinal #1 (May 31 to June 03). YCCS is hosting SAILING Champions League for four consecutive years, now.

SCL: What are the “secret ingredients“ to win SAILING Champions League?
Edoardo: There are no secrets, just a lot of training and good teamwork. One of the most important things is starting at full throttle.

SCL: What importance has the SAILING Champions League for YCCS?
Edoardo: We organised the first SAILING Champions League event in Italy in 2015 (editor’s note: after the kick-off event in Copenhagen 2014) because we believe in the format. We felt that a serious challenge between clubs from all over the world was missing on our calendar at that time, and the SCL gathered more than 30 clubs together, which is rare for a single event.

SCL: What is the “magic factor“ for you of this league format?
Edoardo: Year after year, the level is getting higher, I remember the first edition as a very demanding regatta in terms of organisation but now all the countries have their selection rounds and this raises the bar at the finals. The format is very fast and the sailors really like it: 50 races in 3 days is pretty rare…weather permitting of course.

Find all information for Semifinal #1 here.

Photo: YCCS