Return of the DaimlerChrysler

New York YC and Norddeutscher Regatta Verein announce new eastbound fully crewed transatlantic race to be held next year.

A successor to the 2003 DaimlerChrysler North Atlantic Challenge has been announced. The HSH Nordbank blue race 2007, will run on a course from Newport, RI, to Hamburg, Germany and is being organised by Norddeutscher Regatta Verein with the support of the New York Yacht Club. In 2003 the transatlantic race attracted 63 entries, ranging in size from 40 to 152ft.

The HSH Nordbank blue race will start on two dates: the first on Saturday 16 June and the second on 23 June for the larger yachts entered. Pre-race activities will be held at Harbour Court, the New York Yacht Club’s on-the-water clubhouse in Newport. The start will be within Newport Harbour. From there the course will be routed south of Nantucket Shoals, south of 'Point Alpha' - a variable ice limit, north of Fair Isle to the finish line at Cuxhaven, Germany. Then the fleet will proceed up the Elbe River to Hamburg, where the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein will handle post-race festivities.

20 yachts have already entered the HSH Nordbank blue race, with yachts racing under IRC handicap, although yachts may also compete in an IMS division. The organisers are also welcoming chartered yachts. As before, each competing yacht will be fitted with satellite-tracking so that boat's relative positions can be followed via the event’s web site.

The first yacht to finish the 2003 transatlantic race was Zaraffa, skippered by Huntington 'Skip' Sheldon. “The fleet was huge by ocean-racing standards: 63 entries," wrote Sheldon of the DaimlerChrysler event three years ago. "The course would include the Gulf Stream, a turning point (alpha), the sight of icebergs, a series of lows as expected, a few periods of calm and for us, luckily, winds mostly below 40 knots and from the south or southwest except in the final two days. We expected fog (had little), much spinnaker work (had less) and were prepared for a 21-day crossing, but were lucky to finish in 13 days, 15 hours..."

The Notice of Race and entry form are on the web at http://www.hsh-nordbank-blue-race.com/1.0.html?L=1.

The race contact is Torben Knappe +49-(0)40-32-03-02-54 or torben.knappe@nrv-marketing.de.