2007 transat

Following on from a successful event two years ago, the HSH Nordbank Blue race is to be held again this year

Spray sweeping violently over deck, drenching everything into ice cold water. Waves as high as houses. No land in sight for weeks. Taking on the northern Atlantic is still one of the greatest challenges facing mankind. And the famous 'white nights' in the northern latitudes when it barely gets dark in summer holds a special fascination .

The HSH Nordbank Blue race starts in June 2007 and takes the fleet over 3,600 nautical miles from Newport, Rhode Island along the ice border, then north around the top of Great Britain to the finish in Hamburg.

The race also has a historic background. In 1905 the Kaiser's yacht Hamburg from the Hamburgischer Verein Seefahrt (HVS) took second place in a race from New York to Lizard (England) - the first German yacht to take part in a transatlantic race. The winner of this regatta was of course the American yacht Atlantic steered by Charlie Barr In June 2003 the Norddeutsche Regatta Verein (NRV) organised a new transatlantic race to mark the jubilee of the HVS. Fastest yacht on the course was the German yacht UCA, but on correct time, the American yacht Zaraffa won.

For the 2007 race, the NRV asked for organizational support from the place the race originated: the New York Yacht Club (NYCC). One of the former Commodores of the NYYC, Lawrence S. Huntingdon, will be sailing the race with his Snow Lion to defend the title for his club.

Two starts are planned for the HSH Nordbank blue race one on 16 June, the other on 23 June and both groups will be given a great farewell party at the Harbour Court clubhouse of the NYYC in Newport.

In Hamburg the sailors will be welcomed by a great festival in the Race Village.
One of the first ships arriving will surely be the brand new Outsider which was built especially for sailing the HSH Nordbank blue race. Admirals Cup winner Tilmar Hansen from Kiel (Germany) recently launched his 52 footer designed by Greg Elliott. and the new boat has already shown her potential in Auckland. The Outsider crew will get famous support during their first race with the new boat with Volvo Ocean Race winner Mike Sanderson and wife Emma (nee Richards) joining the crew for the Bay of Islands Regatta. "Afterwards we will sail the North Island Race, rounding the north of New Zealand, to test the yacht and see whether it is prepared for the deep waters of the HSH Nordbank blue race," says Tilmar Hansen. " Outsider will then be shipped to the US for the start."

To follow the sailors during the HSH Nordbank blue race from shore side, fleet tracking will be used. "We have decided to work with the OC tracking system from Offshore Challenges, the company of Ellen MacArthur and Mark Turner", says Torben Knappe from the organizing NRV. As a special feature of the OC system, the positions of the yachts can also be displayed on Google Earth.

"For the moment it is difficult to say how many yachts will be starting in June", says Knappe. "We know that a lot of crews are preparing for the race, but have not filed their entry form yet. Among them are some very hot machines."

At present the entry list is 22 strong. Biggest boat (by far) is the 54m Perini Navi Parsifal III, followed by Tobias Konig's Swan 82 Grey Goose. There appears to be a highly competitive fleet of 50-60 footers including Outsider, Irishman Ger O'Rourke's Cookson 50 Chieftain, one of the former Assa Abloy VO60s, the Judel Vrolijk 52 Bank von Bremen, the X-612 KPMG, the Andrews 56 Norddeutsche Vermögen Hamburg along with a large number of Swans.

Kerstin Tröger is one of the sailors who will be tracking the race live from on board. She is employee of the title partner HSH Nordbank and was selected to help sail on board the Luffe 48 HSH Nordbank. "This has made a dream come true for me", says Tröger, who works as an ideas manager for the bank. "I hope that by participating, I will be able to convey a little of what offshore sailing feels like to all my colleagues."