‘Sailing like a pro is also possible here’

Christian Zuerrer founded the Black Star Sailing Team in 2019. He wants to encourage young people to dare to achieve great things in sailing too.

You don’t get to visit a world champion every day. The Oberer Zürichsee Sailing Club (SCOZ) in Nuolen will be able to enjoy one tomorrow evening at the Hotel Schi! in Pfäffikon. Christian Zürrer, who originally grew up on Lake Zurich in Au and now lives in Sarnen, will be doing the honours. He will present his team Black Star Sailing. The main aim is to promote young Swiss sailing talent. The enterprising sailor has made this his mission. His team sails in the RC44 class. An ultra-modern monohull yacht. All boats in this category are identical. This means that sailing ability is the decisive factor, not the material. Zürrer wants more young
Zürrer wants more young Swiss sailors to dare to dedicate themselves to top-class sport with wind and water. He is convinced that the young talent is available in Switzerland. Unfortunately, interest is mainly limited to western Switzerland. ‘I think that in German-speaking
professional sailing is also possible in German-speaking Switzerland. Of course, Swiss sailing has become famous thanks to Alinghi and will be again in the near future.’ Alinghi is setting off on a new America’s Cup campaign. ‘More money is invested in sailing in French-speaking Switzerland than in German-speaking Switzerland,’ Zürrer knows from experience.

Professional sailing in German-speaking Switzerland too

Space on Switzerland’s most famous yacht, Alinghi, is limited, which is where Zürrer wants to start. He also offers ambitious, international sailing, has a lot of experience and can pass it on. Black Star Sailing sails in the RC44 class, with nine team members, including at least one woman and at least two amateur sailors on board. The ambitious sailor doesn’t want to do things by halves, but he can’t offer full-time jobs either. ‘I can employ the sailors on my yacht for between 50 and 80 days a year.’ The rest of the time they are gainfully employed or sailing in other teams. At Black Star Sailing, the young, talented sailors have the opportunity to refine sailing as a whole and take it to a higher, more ambitious level. ‘I believe that you have to be able to do everything on a sailing boat. It is very important on board that everyone knows their position and what is involved. For example: If someone is operating a rope, they need to know where it runs through the bottom of the hull. That way, they can fix a fault themselves and don’t have to call a support boat.’ Christian Zürrer has learnt that it is not so easy to find young, ambitious sailors in Switzerland. ‘I was a bit ‘born into the world’. I had the feeling that they didn’t want that at all. I had a lot of unrealistic requests.’ Competitive sailing is simply not comparable to ‘bötlen’ at the weekend. ‘As a competitive athlete, you have to invest a lot throughout the week. ‘ According to Zürrer, young sailors lack the understanding and drive for this. Not always easy in a country where the motto is ‘learn something proper first’. Zürrer is well aware that it takes a big step and a lot of courage to take this path. ‘It will work out, but maybe it will just take longer than I thought.’

“I’m a bit
‘come into the world
come into the world‘.’

The goal for a young sailor, and not just in Switzerland, is the Olympic Games and the America’s Cup. It’s the equivalent of the Champions League in football. ‘It’s prestige, I’m aware of that.’ But training sailors in the team and then transferring them to

Alinghi for a lot of money doesn’t work in sailing. ‘That works in football, but definitely not for us.’

A sailing boat instead of a moped

Zürrer himself only came into contact with sailing late in life. ‘Not classically’, as he says. ‘At some point, my father had the idea of buying an old wooden sailing yacht.’ His interest and fascination were aroused and he soon joined the Yacht Club Au. ‘I’ve always been interested in competitive sailing. Especially the competition between ‘Schi!’ and ‘Schi!’ in the one-design classes.’ Instead of a moped, the 14-year-old Zürrer bought a 470 dinghy. Both in the club and in the family, Zürrer was the only sailor at the time
only sailor who also competed ambitiously in international competitions. ‘Sailing didn’t used to be the material battle that it is today. The effort involved was also less,’ says Zürrer.
Was Zürrer successful at a young age? ‘I competed in the Swiss, European and world championships, but never in the top 10 internationally. I became Swiss champion in 2003. But that was all at an amateur level. I always worked full-time back then.’

Today, successful international sailing is associated with huge effort from an early age. ‘An Olympic candidate today is on the water 256 days a year. He has to be a professional.’ This also increases the financial outlay. When asked about the elitist flavour of sailing, Zürrer has a clear opinion. ‘Yes, it can be. But if every lake community provided sailors with the same infrastructure as a football club, i.e. landing and parking spaces, everyone could enjoy sailing at a reasonable price.’

Zürrer sailed single-handed for a long time. ‘I had trouble finding people who had the same ambition as me,’ he smiles. He skippered the Tour de France à la Voile with a team in which some members were more interested in partying than sailing. From then on, Zürrer wanted to set up his own team with the motto ‘He who pays, commands.’ So he could decide who sailed with him. If things were no longer right in terms of interpersonal relationships or performance, Zürrer was able to react. ‘The time and financial investment is too great to simply sail around the world,’ explains the 55-year-old. In 2018, he looked for a boat class that met his requirements. It became the GC32 class, in which he was to win the world championship title with the Black Star Sailing Team in 2022. He founded the team in 2019 and started training. The first success came as early as 2020, when the team went ‘off the grid’ due to the situation surrounding cancelled competitions and won the European title in the M32 class.

“There will probably
there will be no place
where so many Olympic and
America’s Cup
winners
are there.”

World Championships on Lake Uri

From 21 to 25 August, Brunnen will be a sailing hotspot with a good infrastructure and plenty of public access. The RC44 World Championships will take place on Lake Uri. ‘As tough as the battles are on the water, the competitors are just as friendly on land.
The public should be able to see this for themselves in Brunnen at the end of the summer,’ hopes Zürrer. He will also be at the start with his Black Star team. ‘There will probably be no other place where so many Olympic champions, world champions and America’s Cup winners will be racing,’ he enthuses. The names are unimportant, nobody knows them. But there will be stars to touch. ‘They’re all normal people, they don’t have any airs and graces, it’s not elitist at all.’ Three races are planned per day, with the race distance being varied to keep to a duration of 35 to 40 minutes. ‘The water doesn’t have to be closed for the RC44 regatta because the lake belongs to everyone.’ Brunnen will be the fourth race in the series as part of the 44Cup Tour 2024. Lanzarote (ESP), Baiona (ESP), Marstrand (SWE) and a location in the Caribbean are the venues alongside Brunnen. It is therefore the only RC44 regatta on fresh water.
And who knows, perhaps more young Swiss sailors can be found in Brunnen in the future. Christian Zürrer would be delighted.