2nd DaimlerChrysler North Atlantic Challenge start tomorrow

The second group of entries in the DaimlerChrysler North Atlantic Challenge are set to depart Newport this coming Saturday, June 21 on the 3,600 nautical mile race to Cuxhaven, Germany. The first group started on June 14. The larger, faster boats will join them in this first-ever race across the North Atlantic, around Fair Isles and into the river Elbe for the finish. The five boats are Zephyrus V, a maxZ86; HSH Nordbank (formerly Morning Glory); Team888 (formerly Kingfisher); UCA, a maxiracer; and Windrose, the 152-foot schooner. The race commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Hamburgischer Verein Seefahrt, a long-standing sailing club based in Hamburg.

As in the first start, the New York Yacht Club race committee will set the starting line off historic Fort Adams.

Zephyrus V, owned and skippered by Robert McNeil of San Francisco, Calif., is potentially the fastest boat overall in the race. With a rating of 1.693m the 87-foot (26.50 meters), high-tech maxZ86 yacht is stocked with veteran ocean racers. The crew, led by McNeil and John Bertrand, an Olympic silver medallist and America’s Cup veteran, includes Guillermo Altadill, Ola Astradsson, Glen Attrill, Neil Cox, Peter Doriean, Sidney Gavignet, Brian MacInnes, Gordon Maguire, Anthony Nossiter, Andrew Scott, Fred Serafin, Mark Sims, Justin Slattery, Matt Wachowicz and Ian Moore, who served as a navigator aboard illbruck.

The brand new 85-foot (26 meter) UCA, owned by Klaus Murmann (former president of the Employers Association), will sail with the experience of six circumnavigations. Tim Kröger, who was part of the French America’s Cup team Le Défi, brings experience from two around the world races. Four times around the globe sailor and navigator on UCA will be the well-known Juan Vila from Spain. “Juan was our first choice,” said Murmann. “He read the Gulf Stream very well in the transat-leg so that illbruck could set the 24-hour record. That experience will count in the DaimlerChrysler North Atlantic Challenge.”

The closest match might develop between UCA and the 80-foot (24 meters) Morning Glory, now named HSH Nordbank. It was chartered from SAP boss Hasso Plattner, who broke records in the Cape-to-Rio and in the Sydney-Hobart races.

Skippered by Admiral’s Cup sailor Walter Meier-Kothe of Germany, the fast yacht is a maxi racer like UCA, but without water ballast or a canting keel. The yachting journalist and Admiral’s Cup sailor Erik von Krause will do the navigation onboard.

Perhaps one of the most striking yachts to compete is Windrose. Built in 2001 for offshore passages, it is a combination of old-world elegance and high-tech performance.

All yachts are equipped with InmarSat D+ tracking devices and regularly updated positions will be broadcast on the event website www.dcnac.de.