Nord Stream Race underway
by Annette Krüger 16 Sep 2013 21:09 BST
16 September 2013
Spectacular start for the Swan 60 yachts
Whilst the ORC yachts left in time yesterday towards Russia, the Swan 60 had to wait for their start until 4pm today. Earlier the race committee followed a request from the Swan 60 class and announced a start postponement. The reason for this was damage of the forestay of the Russian yacht 'Bronenosec' which occurred before the originally planned start time of 12.30pm. However, this was repaired in the course of the day.
For the start of the Swan 60 teams from Great Britain, Germany, Russia, Turkey and the all-European Team on board 'Spirit of Europe', the weather conditions were volatile with sun, rain and gusts up to 25 knots. At the moment the fleet is still very close together. It will be interesting to see how they position themselves during the first night and which tactical decisions the different yachts will make.
Swan 60 teams agree with race committee's decision
The start postponement of the Swan 60, which jumbled up the schedule a little, was accepted by all teams who were very relaxed about it. Thomas Jungblut, skipper of Team Germany, "I agree with the decision of the race committee. The Russians couldn't have sailed with that damage. In the end we all want a fair race with all participants."
Robert Klein, Watch Captain of Team Turkey, "It would have been a pity if we couldn't have started with all five Swan 60. For me the postponement was the right decision."
Adrian Stead, skipper of Team Great Britain, "That is absolutely fine. We are happy to wait for Bronenosec."
And the German offshore-professional, Tim Kröger from Team Europe, also supported the decision, "We are all in for a good race, so let's have it - even if we have to start the fleet a bit later..."
'Outsider' leads the ORC fleet by far
The five ORC yachts taking part in Nord Stream Race already had their start yesterday. After a short upwind course to the windward mark in 12 to 14 knots from a westerly direction allowed the crews to set their gennakers and spinnakers and as expected, 'Outsider' with helmsman Tilmar Hansen raced away. At the moment they are leading the fleet by far in front of the Russian 'Blagodarnost 2' and 'UCA' from Kiel, followed by 'Haspa Hamburg' and 'Nordic Falcon'.
The 'Outsider' crew has proposed an ambitious target - they announced their target time for arrival in St. Petersburg for Wednesday, 18th of September at 14.28h (CEST). The navigator who gets closest to his ETA-prediction will win the Navigator's Prize of Nord Stream Race. The mood on board 'Outsider' seems to be great at the moment, "Southerly winds with around 20 knots are blowing up the small spinnaker and the staysail. The waves are allowing for some nice surfs", writes crew member Ole Sartori.
Follow the race at yb.tl/nordstream2013
www.nord-stream-race.com
Gazprom Swan 60 Class begin the epic 800 nautical mile Nord Stream Race (from Emma Upton)
They are off! The Gazprom Swan 60 Class has begun the 800 nautical mile race across the Baltic Sea, racing from Flensburg, Germany to Saint-Petersburg, Russia in the second edition of the Nord Stream Race.
The five teams; Team Russia, Team Europe, Team Great Britain, Team Germany and Team Turkey started the race in front of the Yacht Harbour Glücksburg at 1600 hours in the final event on the Gazprom Swan 60 Class Circuit 2013. They will now race for 3-4 days non-stop in the Classes longest offshore race to date.
Winners of the Nord Stream Race 2012 and current Class leaders and World Champions, Team Russia believe that the competition is even higher this year. Tommaso Chieffi from Team Russia commented; "The Nord Stream Race has gone up a notch in terms of competitiveness; people are now used to the boat, they know the boat and the how to race her competitively. The quality of the teams has also increased since last year and we see a number of world class sailors here this year. The fleet is now very evenly matched, as we have seen in the Gazprom Swan 60 World Championship in the summer.
With the race taking the new format of one long leg, it makes it a proper offshore race which is in line with other offshore races such as the Fastnet Race, the Middle-Sea Race and the Sydney Hobart, although this is actually longer as the majority are around 600nm, this is 800 nm. It is going to be a great race and it will be interesting to see how the teams perform this year."
Newcomers to the Nord Stream Race, Team Great Britain have a crew of professional and youth sailors; a team with plenty of experience and energy, Skipper Adrian Stead believes that the team is looking good; "We have a great mix of Volvo sailors who raced in the last Volvo Ocean Race so they bring the ocean experience to the team, then we have a number of guys who have raced the RC44 circuit over the past year, we have a good mix.
The race is looking quite windy to start but it will be downwind for part of the way; I would say the first 150 miles will be intense, there are lots of corners and marks to go around, it will be a busy 20 – 24 hours for the crew, then the course settles down a bit. We want to make sure we have a great start in order to be competitive for the rest of the race. Team Russia, being the current Nord Stream Race holders and World Champions are our biggest competition; they set the bench mark last year. Team Europe is a very well prepared boat with great sailors onboard and Timmy Kroger leading and Team Germany is also very strong; the Turkish team is more unknown at the moment but it will be interesting to see how it will go."
Team Europe took second place in the Nord Stream Race 2012 and are back with an almost identical team to challenge for the first place position. Skipper Tim Kroger commented; "A straight race, 800 nautical miles is a challenge, a challenge which we want to take on, we think it is a great race. The challenge really starts here in the Flensburger Forde because it is a winding route; we have many corners here to get around so this will be the first obstacle. Then once we are out in the Baltic we have some narrow gaps and islands, there are lots of funny areas which we know about, but then there are also unknown areas, for example when we turn right into the bay towards Russia it can become complicated, so we will see what happens. All teams are very competitive this year with some fantastic world renowned sailors taking part."
Russian sailors onboard Team Russia, Pavel Savenko and Vladimir Ikonnikov highlight how the end of the race may become a challenge for all of the crews; "The lane coming into Saint-Peterburg is very busy, there will be a lot of commercial ships around. We will need to keep our eyes wide open as we come into Russian waters. It will make it quite tough as we are at the end of a long and tiring offshore race and one of the biggest problems could be avoiding the commercial ships whilst keeping hold of our race position, especially if it is an upwind section, we may see some split of the fleet towards the end as the boats navigate the lanes."
In the run up to the Nord Stream Race, the Gazprom Swan 60 Class took part in the Nord Stream Inshore Race in the Flensburg harbour on Friday 13th September. After two windward leeward races, Team Germany took first place overall with Team Europe in second place and Team Russia in third. This has given Team Germany confidence and as they currently sit in second place overall in the Class standings, they have every chance of winning the circuit here.
Current Gazprom Swan 60 Class Circuit Standings:
Bronenosec (RUS) 1 – 1 – 1, 3pts
SGM (GER) 2 – 5 – 2, 9pts
Spirit of Europe (GBR) 6 – 2 – 6, 14pts
Tsaar Peter (BVI) 6 – 3 – 6, 15pts
Petite Flamme (RUS) 6 – 4 – 6, 16pts