A small club, a big weekend: Day one of the Heinz Kettler Cup final in Belgium

Set-up, check-in and an opening night that already says a lot about this final

Bütgenbach, 18 September 2026. On Friday, the final of the 2026 Heinz Kettler Germany Cup got underway at the Bütgenbach Dam. For the first time in the series’ history, a race day is being held outside Germany – around twelve kilometres beyond the German-Belgian border, at the Royal Yacht Club Warche in East Belgium.

Friday was devoted to setting up and check-in. And to the first impression that stuck with everyone who arrived that day: the club is small. What its team has managed to put together here over the past few days, however, is anything but. A wonderful venue for the final of the Heinz Kettler Cup has been created on the club’s lakeside grounds, set up by a large team of volunteers alongside the club’s day-to-day operations.

Vorbereitungen, Check-in und ein Eröffnungsabend, der bereits viel über dieses Finale aussagt

Bütgenbach, 18. September 2026. Am Freitag fiel der Startschuss für das Finale des Heinz-Kettler-Deutschland-Cups 2026 am Bütgenbacher Stausee. Zum ersten Mal in der Geschichte der Serie findet ein Renntag außerhalb Deutschlands statt – rund zwölf Kilometer jenseits der deutsch-belgischen Grenze, beim Royal Yacht Club Warche in Ostbelgien.

Der Freitag war dem Aufbau und dem Check-in gewidmet. Und dem ersten Eindruck, der bei allen, die an diesem Tag ankamen, haften blieb: Der Club ist klein. Was sein Team hier jedoch in den letzten Tagen auf die Beine gestellt hat, ist alles andere als klein. Auf dem Gelände des Clubs am Seeufer ist ein wunderbarer Austragungsort für das Finale des Heinz-Kettler-Cups entstanden, der von einem großen Team von Freiwilligen neben dem täglichen Clubbetrieb eingerichtet wurde.

Alexandre Grosjean received special recognition that evening. As the main organiser, he and his team put the final in Bütgenbach together and did a brilliant job. On Saturday, he’ll be out on the water himself, as skipper of the BLAG Sailing Team.

Afterwards, it was time for dinner – Belgian style: meatballs with apple sauce and chips, the sort of home-cooked fare typically served in this corner of Europe – all homemade, all from the club kitchen.

Saturday will be all about sport. The regatta day begins at around 9 am with the skippers’ briefing, with races scheduled to start at 10.30 am. After two of the three days of competition, the SALTO SAILING Team Norway leads the overall standings; the battle for second and third place is tight, and the host BLAG Sailing Team has a chance of securing a podium finish on home turf. As is always the case in this series, people with and without disabilities will sail together in the same crew, in the same boats, under the same rules, without a separate classification. The 2026 title will be decided on Sunday at 4.30 pm.

Our thanks for this opening event go to the Royal Yacht Club Warche and its team, the Heinz Kettler Foundation as the series’ namesake and main sponsor, and the municipality of Bütgenbach. The final is being held as part of the ‘People to People’ Small Project Fund under the Interreg Meuse-Rhine (NL-BE-DE) programme and is funded by the European Union.