"UCA"
After the registration deadline, it is now becoming clear who will sail for victory in the first ever race from Kiel via Copenhagen to Hamburg. It starts on May 20th.
Around 25 teams on yachts between ten and 26 meters in length will take part in the HSH Nordbank pre blue race. Including many well-known yachts and successful sailors. The fastest time around Denmark's northernmost cape will probably be provided by the "UCA".
Ex-employer president Klaus Murmann had the largest yacht in the fleet built for the 2003 transatlantic race. "The" UCA "is designed for long-distance races, which is why such regattas are particularly suitable for us," says Jörn Bock, co-skipper of the "UCA", who was Murmann during of the HSH Nordbank pre blue race is represented as a skipper
The smallest yacht will be the “Brinkmann & Partner”, a 10.70 meter long yacht of the type J109, skipped by Hans-Jürgen Rieckhof. And on board the X-612 “World of Tui” (18.50 meters), 14 women are sailing who want to take on the North Atlantic challenge in the coming year as an all-women crew. "We see the HSH Nordbank pre blue race as a first test and as a training session," says Kirsten Harmstorf, co-initiator of the project. The 33-year-old from Hamburg successfully drove a J / 24 for many years and now sees the North Atlantic race as the crowning glory of her regatta career with her women's crew
Jakob Hinrich Leverkus has recruited reinforcements from the North sailmaker team: Frank Sothmann will board the Lütje 48 “Mamelie”. And Heiko Tornow, who won the Baltic Sprint Cup 2005 in the crew of the “Emil Reiseschwein”, is at HSH Nordbank pre blue race with his "Luv", an X-482 there
"The participants are among the strongest teams in the German sailing scene, and many are using the Regattrund Skagen as training for the HSH Nordbank blue race in the coming year," says Torben Knappe from the North German RegattVerein (NRV). The NRV organizes the HSH Nordbank pre blue race in cooperation with the Kieler Yacht Club (KYC), the Blankeneser Segel-Club (BSC) and the Altona-Oevelgönne Sailing Association (SVAOe).
About 700 nautical miles through the tactically demanding Baltic Sea and the rough North Sea to the current area of the Elbe lie in front of the sailors. The regatta is only interrupted by a stop-over in Copenhagen
"Just as the HSH Nordbank blue race is a bridge between our Hamburg and New York locations, the HSH Nordbank pre blue race connects the two headquarters of HSH Nordbank in Hamburg and Kiel with the largest branch of our company in Scandinavia," says Ulrich W. Ellerbeck, board member of HSH Nordbank and an active sailor himself. HSH Nordbank is the title sponsor of the HSH Nordbank pre blue race.
On Friday, May 19, the crews will be greeted with a barbecue in the Kiel-Düsternbrook marina. AngelikVolquartz, Lord Mayor of Kiel, and Hamburg's First Mayor Ole von Beust will give the starting shot on Saturday, May 20, at 10 a.m. and send the participants of the HSH Nordbank pre blue race on their way.
The reception in Hamburg, 700 nautical miles and a few days later, should be no less enthusiastic. The yachts are welcomed at the finish in Blankenese and then moor in the city sports boat harbor. The winners will be celebrated in Hamburg on May 27th.
The HSH Nordbank pre blue race from Kiel via Copenhagen to Hamburg takes place as a preparatory regatt for the great transatlantic race, HSH Nordbank blue race. The HSH Nordbank blue race from Newport, Rhode Island, to Hamburg starts on June 16, 2007 in Newport (USA). The approximately 3,600 nautical miles long route leads across the North Atlantic north around Great Britain to Hamburg. The race is open to all winhull ocean-going yachts over 40 feet in length.
