Gazprom Swan 60 Class attracts top international sailors
by Jessica Francis 6 Sep 2013 18:02 BST
15 September 2013
Adrian Stead will skipper the British entry for the Nord Stream Race © Kurt Arrigo
The Gazprom Swan 60 Class is welcoming a wealth of world renowned, international sailors to the final event on the Gazprom Swan 60 Class Circuit 2013, the Nord Stream Race.
With five Swan 60 yachts competing in the final event of the inaugural, four-event circuit, the crew line-up onboard each yacht is highly impressive and will surely lead to fantastic fleet competition during the 800 nautical mile race across the Baltic Sea.
The five overall teams are Team Russia, Team Europe and Team Germany and the second edition of this race also herald's two new teams; both Team GBR and Team Turkey have confirmed entries. The Class will welcome back some key sailors from the first edition of the Nord Stream Race whilst also introducing new faces to the thrill of racing onboard a Swan 60.
Newcomers to the race Team GBR will be led by British sailor Adrian Stead. Adrian already has experience of the Swan 60 and is the current Gazprom Swan 60 World Champion having raced on board Bronenosec earlier this season. Adrian represented Great Britain at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games; he has also competed in the Whitbread Round the World Race, before moving onto the Admirals Cup and the America's Cup. Other successes include winning the Rolex Fastnet Race and the Transatlantic Maxi Yacht Cup in 2012. He is joined by Phil Harmer who has competed in the America's Cup and 3 Volvo Ocean Races; Jules Salter, a member of the victorious Volvo Ocean Race 2008/09 Ericsson 4 team and a runner up in the 2005/6 campaign aboard Pirates of the Caribbean, and Simon Fisher who has over a decades experience of sailing the Volvo Ocean Race and America's Cup.
Additional newcomers Team Turkey are also raring to go; as the only crew to be made up of male and female sailors, they have a great deal of experience between them. Top sailors onboard include Skipper Cenk Tekkaya who has completed more than 20 open-sea voyages in a range of sailing boats in addition to being celebrated as one of Turkey's most successful coaches. Sailing with Cenk will be Joachim Conrad; having captained three crossings of the Atlantic Ocean he has fantastic offshore sailing abilities.
Team Russia, winners of the Nord Stream Race 2012 have an almost identical crew again this year. Key crew members include America's Cup and Volvo Ocean Race sailor Tommaso Chieffi, the 17 times World and 5 times European champion represented his country at the Los Angeles Olympics. Francesco Mongelli, 4 times World champion and 6 times Italian champion will also race with Team Russia, taking the position of Navigator. Russian sailor Pavel Savenko has also become a World champion in J80 Class this year whilst Alexander Shalagin is several times Russian Champion in Dragon Class and currently stands in the top 10 of IDA ranking.
One of the most experienced and successful German offshore sailors, Tim Kröger will skipper Team Europe; the team are returning to the second edition of the race with a similar crew to last year. International professional sailors onboard include Tim himself who has sailed in several Whitbread Round the World and Volvo Ocean Races as well as the America's Cup and TP52-Series. Swiss professional Christian Scherrer is another key crew member; the America's Cup winner was also Match Race World Champion in 2006. Olympian Robert Stanjek and Mumm 36 and IMS-World Champion Brit Tom Swift will also add their fantastic experience and skill to this team. After taking second place in the Nord Stream Race 2012; Team Europe will be pushing even harder for that first place title.
Team Germany will be led by skipper Thomas Jungblut and a crewed by a team who have great experience of sailing onboard Dr Johann Killinger's Swan 60 Emma. Jungblut is four times Maxi World Champion and a Rolex Fastnet Race sailor whilst key crew member, America's Cup expert Gregorz Baranowski will contribute tactically. Further members of the crew also have experience of sailing onboard a Swan 60 and the fact that many of the Team Germany crew have sailed together for over 10 years creates a unified and complimentary team who can easily build on each other's strengths. Together they will add great competition to the race, and as winners of the 2012 Nord Stream Race Match Race they will be competing to keep this title.
This final event on the Gazprom Swan 60 Class Circuit 2013 will illustrate how far the crews have come over the past year, with teams fighting for the title of 2013 Circuit winners. The start of the Nord Stream Race is fast approaching with boats scheduled to start at 12.30pm on Monday 16th September in front of the Yacht Harbour Glücksburg, Flensburg.
A Match Race will take place ahead of the start on Thursday 12th September, followed by a prize giving in the Regatta Village and live music. Crews then have the option of a coastal race on Friday 13th September before a number of social events take place over the weekend including a welcome reception and crew party.
Current Gazprom Swan 60 Class Circuit results:
Bronenosec (RUS) 1 – 1 – 1 Total: 3
SGM (GER) 2 – 5 – 2 Total: 9
Spirit of Europe (GBR) 6 – 2 – 6 Total: 14
Tsaar Peter (BVI) 6 – 3 – 6 Total: 15
Petite Flamme (RUS) 6 – 4 – 6 Total: 16
www.gazpromswan60class.com
www.nord-stream-race.com