HSH Nordbank Blue Race - Day 1

A clever chief

Ger O’Rourke had a nose for the right course. The Chieftain’s Irish owner and skipper is in the lead by taking a very northern course. But the Outsider is right on his heels and approaching fast. Since Saturday, 21 yachts are now on their way across the North Atlantic. On 23 June the three spectacular maxi yachts of the second group will set sail to chase the boats of the first.

At first glance, there is nothing special with the nose of Ger O’Rourke from Limerick, Ireland. It seems to be doing a good job, though. This season, the Irish yacht Chieftain has already been good for some surprises. At the Antigua Sailing Week she even beat top favourite Mike Sanderson’s V.O. 70 ABN Amro, and now the Cookson 50 is leading the 21-yacht fleet of the HSH Nordbank blue race, because her skipper had a nose for the right course. After passing Point Charlie, the 44-year old O’Rourke sailed further north than the rest of the fleet, and then took a wide swing south. His decision to do so paid off. However, the first serious reckoning looms at Point Alpha. By now the teams are about half-way to this imaginary point en route which marks the southern ice boundary. From here, the yachts may change their general course from 80 to 40 degrees and head for the coast of Scotland. But they still have a long way to sail before they get there.

The crew of Bank von Bremen with skipper Rainer Persch (64, from Bremen) currently sneaked just ahead of the biggest yacht of the first group, the Swan 82 Grey Goose of Tobias König (44) from Hamburg. All yachts sailing further north are still fairly close together, with only the American Snow Lion of Lawrence Huntington sailing away on an even more northern course.

The crews are now battling against winds of between 15 and 25 knots. “The weather has become a bit uncomfortable,“ explains German weather expert Meeno Schrader. “We had a classic low passing through with the wind changing to Northwest and at times even North. It is now steadying in its general direction of around 330 to 320 degrees. The middle wind is strong with stormy gusts,“ says Schrader from his base in Kiel. Conditions have become rough, but the crews enjoy the strong wind from astern. “Now it’s just like we thought it would be, and how we wanted it to be: Atlantic weather!“ writes Inken Braunschmidt, skipper of the all-female crew on board KPMG. „We set the storm spinnaker yesterday and sailed our first speed records in the first reef. Today we are sailing in the third reef and with genoa4 in 9 to 10 knots. The waves around us are mounting to a height of four to five metres. Here in the Gulf Stream, it’s OK temperature-wise, but it’s bound to become less comfortable when we get further north. We’re all doing well and are having a lot of fun,“ reports 32-year old Braunschmidt from Dortmund. And Thomas Ebert, skipper and owner of the DK 46 Tutima, too, raves about the race: “The Gulf Stream makes for fantastic sailing conditions, it’s pushing us with up to 3.5 knots. Our top speed was at 17.1 knots above ground. As a mere precaution, we decided to change one of the rudder ropes. Our bowman had to go up the mast twice. First, to check the spinnaker halyard for chafing spots, second to protect the main with extra patches at the spreaders,“ writes the 40-year old watch-maker from Frankfurt.

Tilmar Hansen’s Outsider crew also experiences some ups and downs on her way back to Europe: „The conditions last night were like we know them from Volvo Ocean Race pictures,“ reports boat captain Ole Satori (42, from Kiel). „It was pure fire-hosing with water gushing in from the front like out of a hose. At a boat speed of up to 25 knots, we jumped across and ploughed through the high Atlantic waves. Two life-vests set themselves inflating, and at times the boat was jamming so hard that it sent you flying down the berth when the boat slowed down. That’s why the experienced ones sleep with their feet up front. Spirits are still fine, but most of us are soaking wet since last night. Below deck, it feels like in a dripstone cave. I hope we will soon be able to improve the micro-climate.“

The oldest yacht in the fleet, Christoph von Reibnitz’ Peter von Seestermuehe, is doing well. „Last night, we had up to 35 knots of wind (eight Beaufort). A wave that crashed into the cockpit bent the life-belt rail and took our nice brass compass cover with it. It was such a bang that lying in my bunk, I thought the rigg was coming down, but above deck, everything was OK. Maybe the men on watch were a bit shaken. The crew is doing a proper job. This morning, we took out one reef, and we are still going at top speed. In conditions like these, I feel like we are able to keep up with the rest of the fleet quite well,“ reports the skipper from Seestermuehe.

Next Saturday will see the three maxi yachts Parsifal III (177 feet), Rambler (90 feet) and Bon Bon (80 feet) starting off Newport to catch up with the fleet from behind. It remains to be seen whether the racers will be able to catch up with the leading Chieftain. At the end of the race, though, the corrected time based on the IRC handicap factor will be deciding on who will win the HSH Nordbank blue race.

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.

More information at www.hsh-nordbank-blue-race.com