| Germany. The Northern Atlantic is waiting for HSH Nordbank blue race |
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| Friday, 03 November 2006 | |
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Mareike Guhr: It will be the most spectacular northern race in 2007: 3600 nautical miles across the Northern Atlantic lead the route of the HSH Nordbank blue race from Newport/USA to Hamburg in June next year. A press conference at the hanseboot boat show gave a good outlook of the big event which will be recognised not only in the Hanseatic city of Hamburg. Beside the organisers and partners, the principal race officer Alan Green from London and nearly all skippers came to provide the public with information about their preparations. “We are setting up a multifaceted program including a big Farewell-Party at the New York Yacht Club and the reception of the senate at the town hall of Hamburg“, reports Torben Knappe of the organising Norddeutschen Regatta Verein. “We realize a trend towards performance yachts, compared to the 2003 edition of the race”, he said. “23 racer and cruiser/racer from seven nations have signed in already and numerous started their preparations, but will fill in the entry form later - we are used to that. For the moment we are calculating with 50 yachts“, adds Knappe. The latest entry is the V.O. 60 “Assa Abloy“ which was the strongest opponent of the victorious German “Illbruck” in the Round the World Race 2001/02. “We are happy to welcome Georgsmarienhütte Holding as our newest partner on board“, said Knappe. They are not only partners of the event but will start in the race itself, too. “Parsifal“ was chartered for this reason and is momentarily the biggest yacht (172 feet) among the competitors. Race officer Alan Green from the Royal Ocean Racing Club (London) came to Hamburg and had details about the race available. “We send out the main fleet on the 16th of June. Only the extremely fast racers will be starting one week later to make sure the time of arrival in Hamburg is not spread to wide“, he announced. ”The sailors have to pass the imaginary “Point Alpha” which marks the ice border to the south, on their way north around Great Britain to Hamburg“, adds Green, “so the fleet does not get to close to the dangerous iceberg zone“. Green attaches special importance to the safety equipment of the yachts. „Everybody is on its own on the Atlantic so the yachts have to be well prepared“, he stated. The new partnership with the “German Association of safety at sea” (DGzRS) is an important point in the security concept.The title partner HSH Nordbank also places a yacht in the upcoming event. The Luffe 48 named “HSH Nordbank“ will be skippered by Martin Friedrichs from Kiel. Sailors from the Kieler Yacht-Club and the Flensburger Segel-Club take part in the collaborative project of both clubs. And sailor and employee of the HSH Nordbank, Kerstin Troeger will represent the partner on board. “The HSH Nordbank blue race is the highlight of our sailing commitment “blue sailing”, states Gesine Dähn, press consultant of the HSH Nordbank. “We are partner of the sailors – during the Kiel Week as well as for the HSH Nordbank blue cup on the Baltic sea or the HSH Nordbank blue race on the Atlantic Ocean.“ One of the main partners, König & Cie takes part with an own project, too. Tobias König said about the participation with his “Grey Goose: “We are involved in different sailing events and want to be a part this time. Not only because I am an enthusiastic sailor since childhood. We facilitate extraordinary performances, sportive engagement, talent and team work due to we believe in it. Exciting sport events with peak performances is the best way to built team work“, he said. Inken Braunschmidt is not just the only female skipper in the event but sails also with an all women crew. The Deutsche Hochseesportverband Hansa (DHH) organises the “KPMG“ women project. “We practised hard in the last weeks and had to choose the crew in several tests. But the team is fixed now and we are looking forward to start with concrete preparations“, stated the 32 years old skipper. 13 women will sail on the yacht, type X-612, called “KPMG“. “We will not have much time for practise“, said Tilmar Hansen, multiple Admirals Cup winner from Kiel. The businessman is building a brand new Elliott 52 for the HSH Nordbank blue race. The new Outsider” will be finished in New Zealand during spring. “We will sail a little bit in those waters, but there is not much time left before the transport to Newport starts. We have sailed the HSH Nordbank pre blue race to Skagen in Mai with our Elliott 45, which we used as a training – the new boat will be for grown-ups“, said Hansen. The racer promises a wide speed range with its canting keel and Hansen wants to sail to the top of the leader board. The fastest yacht in the 2003 race across the Atlantic was the “UCA“ sailed by Klaus Murrmann and his crew. They crossed the finishing line after 13 days and six hours. The brand new HSH Nordbank blue race collection from Marinepool was presented during the press conference for the first time. The collection does not just include foul-weather-gear but also dressy tops to wear onshore. The new collection can be purchased on the event website: www.hsh-nordbank-blue-race.com. All attending skippers finally received the official “HSH Nordbank blue race competitor – flags“ during the press conference. The competing yachts can now be perfectly identified during the next month prior to the start and start to build a community. The HSH Nordbank blue race from Newport/Rhode Island, to Hamburg is due to set off on the 16th June 2007. The race is organised by the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV), with the support of the New York Yacht Club (NYYC). Covering about 3600 nautical miles across the Atlantic, the route passes the United Kingdom to the north and then heads to Hamburg. The race is open to all monohull offshore yachts at least 40 feet in length. |
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| Last Updated ( Friday, 03 November 2006 ) |
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