The "HaspHamburg" shortly before reaching the Azores
While the "Bank von Bremen" and the "Walross 4" arrived in the Azores two and one and a half weeks respectively, the "HaspHamburg" made it to the first stage of the ocean race, which the three German club yachts from Rio de Janeiro via Hortnach, only yesterday Helgoland leads. The reason for the late arrival of the Hamburg crew was a rig damage that forced a repair stop on Cape Verde for several days.
In a report from on board the "Haspa" it says: Accompanied by the "Bank von Bremen" and a rubber dinghy that drove towards the crew for about nautical miles, the Hasp and its six-person crew ran this evening at 20:00 local time in Hortein. Georg and his crew were greeted by the waiting follow-up crew with a cold beer and large pizzas right at the pier. The overpass was characterized by fantastic sailing under beautiful conditions and a successful conclusion directly under the Pico. Tomorrow the crews want to work together to ensure that HaspHamburg is optimally prepared for the last stage of the "Hamburg Süd Southern Ocean Challenge".
The crew of the "Bank von Bremen" also described their arrival at the finish line in a blog entry. It says: Our finish on September 15, 2016 shortly before sunset was a very nice experience. Under mainsail and gennaker we sailed the last few miles at high speed and wonderful evening sun over the finish line between the pier heads of the harbor entrance. We were timed by an envoy from the organizing association. Then all the sails were recovered, the deck was cleared, and a berth was assigned to us.
After 22 days, 2 hours, 52 minutes 11 seconds, we covered 4281 nm. This corresponds to an average speed of 8.06 kn. In the evening our arrival was duly celebrated in the Peter Cafe Sport. In the next few days we will carry out further small repairs to hand over an intact ship to the successor crew.
The "Walrus 4" did not survive the stage entirely unscathed either. Your famous "bear game" broke
The course of the three yachts can still be followed via a tracker in the coming days. Current reports from board can be found on the websites of the clubs:
Sailing companionship The coat of arms of Bremen
Hamburg Maritime Association
ASV Berlin