HSH Nordbank Blue Race - Finish News

Rambler sets a new record

It was a thrilling finish. The Swan 82 Grey Goose was the third yacht to cross the finish line off Cuxhaven, and received a stormy welcome by fans and friends. The super maxi Rambler, who had started a week later in the second group followed her on her heels, set a new record and is now first on corrected time.

It was tight in the end, but Tobias Koenig’s Grey Goose managed to hold her position and was the third yacht to finish the 3,600-nautical mile race from Newport, Rhode Island/USA to Cuxhaven near Hamburg, Germany. Not long after, the supermaxi Rambler rushed across the line at a speed of 20 knots and set a new course record of 11 days, 16 hours, 13 minutes and 59 seconds. The crew of professional America’s Cup and Ocean Race sailors thus clearly cut the record set by Klaus Murmann’s UCA in 2003 (13 days, 7 hours and 22 minutes). The Grey Goose of race partner König & Cie company had started in the first group on 16 June, and it took her 18 days, 14 hours, 26 minutes and 55 seconds to the finish line at 10.26 hours. “We had just enough wind to move forward against the current and keep ahead of Rambler,” said a happy Martin Borkmann from König & Cie. „Third ship home – we’ve made it!”

At 12.13 hours, the next gun sounded across the Steubenhöft area off Cuxhaven, and the team of Rambler was welcomed warmly. The sailing pros on board the 27,43 -meter racer of owner George David had tried to use the tidal stream to catch up with Grey Goose on the last miles to Cuxhaven. But they were not able to gain the top speed of 41.9 knots again which they had made in the storm on the Atlantic.

65-year old George David had also hoped to be able to come third in the race, but he sent the German crew his congratulations: “They started a week earlier, so that’s OK. Grey Goose is a great boat and her crew did a good job. It was very exciting, and more of a challenge than I thought,“ said the boss of United Technologies Corporation. “I’m very proud on our team“.

Skipper Ken Read agreed: „We had some hard times, but a lot of fun, too. The crew was the perfect mix of experienced and talented sailors and just right for the boat.“ Grey Goose and Rambler have reached the final destination of the race, the City Sporthafen marina in the centre of Hamburg on Thursday evening – just in time for the official opening of the HSH Nordbank blue race Village on Friday. Now the Bank von Bremen, Norddeutsche Vermögen Hamburg and Snow Lion are expected to finish next in Cuxhaven.