IMS - alive and well in Northern Europe

Jon Amtrup brings us up to date with the HSH Nordbank blue championship

The Norwegian Espen Kristiansen in his First 36.7 First Jib became the first official entry to the HSH Nordbank blue championship last week. The new IMS series for Northern Europe has drawn a lot of attention and a number of high profiled sailing teams are ready for the championship.

“We want to use this opportunity to test ourselves against the best sailors in Northern Europe”, says Espen Kristiansen, the skipper of the First 36.7 called First Jib.

They have been one of the main contenders on the Norwegian regatta scene for quite a few years, but now they are taking their sailing effort to the next level. They have put considerable recourses into sail development, coaching and deck optimalization.

“The HSH Nordbank blue championship at Bornholm in September will be the grand finale for us this season, and our ambition is to finish among the top three”, says Kristiansen.

Peer Moberg, Olympic bronze medallist and helmsman on the Grand Soleil 42 R Al*Cap*One, are also considering their participation in the HSH Nordbank blue championship. But first they shall sail the Faerderseilasen, one of the qualification races for the Bornholm regatta.

The latest updated entry list for this year Faerderseilasen to be held in Oslo on 8 June has 20 IMS entries! This is a new record. Another record is that five or six boats come from Sweden and Germany. “One of the reasons for this has to be the fact that the race is one of the qualification regattas for HSH Nordbank blue championship 2006 / North European IMS Ranking," says Thomas Nilsson, head of the Norwegian Offshore Racing Council.

But it’s not only the Norwegian IMS sailors that are rising to this new occasion. Ladybird, an Akton 395, from Estonia has entered with Erki Melts as skipper, and in Finland the local IMS sailors are lining up for their first qualification race in the Volvo Suursaari Race, Espoo, on 9-11 June.

“We have two more entries from German and when I visited Russia a few weeks ago we got positive signals from at least two good racing crews there," says Hans-Eckhard von der Mosel, one of the key people behind the new regatta concept. "We also have two Swedish boats ready to enter. I’m sure we will have all the best sailors gathered at Bornholm in September and the winner can call himself the ‘North European IMS Champion 2006’”,