SWISS RACING SAILORS Win Swiss J/70 Super League Opener in Brissago
(Brissago, Switzerland)- It was a great kick-off for the 2026 season for the Swiss J/70 Super League on Lake Maggiore, Switzerland. Hosted by the Regatta Club Lago Maggiore, sixteen teams enjoyed six races each on the tricky, shifty mountain breezes typical of the northern end of Lake Maggiore, a lake shared with Italy along the southern half of the lake.
The weather forecasts looked grim, but the reality was significantly better than anyone expected! On Saturday, the winds started light, but built to a solid 12 knots with pure sunshine. Then, on Sunday, the fleet was blessed again with good winds from the south.
The highlight of the regatta was definitely the dinner at the fire station! Huge thanks to the Ski Club Brissago for the hospitality and the traditional risotto!
In the end, it was refreshing to see two “new faces” at the top of the leaderboard. Winning was the SWISS RACING SAILORS team with Emmanuel Muller as skipper and his crew of Barbara Brugger, Phillipp Brugger, and Christian Frohlicher; finishing with 15 pts.
Leading the regatta for the first four races with the stunning scoreline of 1-1-1-2 was the SEGEL-CLUB ENGE team, led by skipper Christina Sprecher. However, their last two races were a classic case of “sending it down the mine shaft”, posting two abysmal races of 7-6 to throw away their massive lead and finish with 18 pts to settle for the silver medal. Sprecher’s crew included Pascal Abegg, Nikolas Warminski, and Jonin Zumsteg.
Rounding out the podium to take the bronze medal was a veteran of the Swiss J/70 Sailing League wars over the past few years- REGATTA-CLUB OBERHOFEN. Led by skipper Stefan Seger, his crew of Cedric Schenk, Matthias Fahmi, and Karin Nordstrom also had a regatta-winning scoreline of 2-2-1-2-1-5. But, they had to count an OCS in race 3 to torpedo their chances for the gold medal, finishing with 20 pts.
Still in the hunt for series honors are the balance of the top five. Taking fourth place was CERCLE DE LA VOILE D’ESTAVAYER, and in fifth place was SEGELCLUB STAFA.
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