Past weekend, the Esse 750 International Class was established under most beautiful conditions at St. Moritz. The event, held by Segelclub St. Moritz, started on Friday night with the official establishment of the class. Under the lead of Esse-Mastermind Josef Schuchter, the seven owners present brought the class into being and elected its first steering committee. The president, Michael Ring, as well as all further committee members were elected unanimously, which cleared the way for some first class sailing action on Lake St. Moritz.
On Saturday at around 11am, the race officer, Stefan Züger of Segelclub St. Moritz, started a series of four up-and-down races for the fleet of seven Esse 750. With best southwestern winds, the atmosphere at the starting line reminded somewhat of the In-Port Races at the Volvo Ocean Race. The hot-blooded boats showed some stunning moves during the starting procedure, fighting for the best spot to take up the first leg of the race. Some nice racing action evolved and after four close races the team of SUI 025 with Stefan Schuchter were at the top of the provisional leader board.
After a gala dinner on Saturday evening, which was sponsored by Schuchter Sportboot AG, the crews only had little time to recover for four more races in an even stronger breeze on Sunday. Followed by many amazed spectators around the lake, the SUI 021 with Michael Ring and the leader of day 1, the SUI 025 with Stefan Schuchter battled for victory in every single race. At the end of the day, Stefan Schuchter and his crew, Florian Schuchter and Mark Huber, again pushed through and won the overall ranking with a five-point lead. Overall second came the SUI 021 with Michael Ring, the third place on the podium went to the SUI 001 with Jakob Lutz.
With the prize giving ceremony taking place on the grounds of Segelclub St. Moritz on Sunday at around 4pm, a fantastic weekend of sailing drew to a close. The smiles on the faces of all sailors, organizers and helpers were an awesome evidence of this exciting, sportive and companionable weekend of the establishment of the young Esse 750 International Class!
