Three new entries

The big fellas sign up for this summer's HSH Nordbank blue transatlantic race

With only two months to go until the start of the HSH Nordbank blue race, an additional number of crews have now confirmed their entry in the race across the North Atlantic from Newport, Rhode Island/USA to Hamburg, Germany.

Three new teams have now publicly announced their entry. Two of those will be starting with high ambitions in the faster group 2 on Saturday, 23 June, seven days after the first start.

The most high-profile entry is from American Ken Read, who will using the race as crew training for his newly announced Volvo Ocean Race campaign with Puma Racing. See our interview with Ken Read here. Even though the former Alfa Romeo, under her new name Rambler has not been officially filed for entry yet, there is no doubt that she will be sailing the HSH Nordbank blue race. The 27m yacht, designed by Reichel/Pugh and launched in 2002, will sail in group 2.

Another new entry is the German-American project BonBon. This 24m yacht has been chartered by skipper Johann-Stephan Reith. This boat is another ex-Neville Crichton racer, built by McConaghys in 2000 as Shockwave, before she was bought by German businessman Hasso Plattner and renamed Morning Glory who sailed her very successfully. Her new crew is all set for victory in the second group.

"We want to be right at the top," says crewman Justus Kellner from Lübeck. The student of maritime technology is the youngest crew member and will serve as bowman on board the racer. "I'm sure that this will be far from a comfortable holiday trip - I expect it to be a fast, cold and wet crossing. But we have good mix of crew and a great boat," adds Kellner, who has already crossed the Atlantic once. Navigator in the German-American crew, Bill Biewenga will do his best to point out the right course for BonBon. Apart from his many sailing successes, the Newport-based Biewenga is also a weather strategist and has been a consultant to many offshore projects.

The third new entry is the Swan 45 Iskareen. Her crew from Hamburg sailed the 2003 Atlantic Race aboard a Swan 391. Skipper Arnt Bruhns will be supported by his brother Soenke and father Reemt when setting sail off Newport for the start of group 1 on 16 June. The Bruhns family's new boat was only delivered in March and is currently being fitted out in Germany. "We still have a lot of work to do," says Arnt Bruhns. "It was my father's wish to cross the Atlantic once more, so we have decided to embark on this course again. But the new boat will help us do it much faster this time", adds Bruhns, whose crew had taken 21 days in the 2003 race. And even though the 37 year-old has put quite a few nautical miles behind him so far, he thinks: "A race like that is a big challenge, there's no doubt about it."

The fleet of yachts sailing this race west to east across the North Atlantic now number 24. Additional crews may still register for entry to the HSH Nordbank blue race until 19 May.

The HSH Nordbank blue race from Newport/Rhode Island, to Hamburg is due to set off on 16 June 2007. The race is organised by the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV), with the support of the New York Yacht Club (NYYC). Covering about 3600 nautical miles across the Atlantic, the route passes the United Kingdom to the north and then heads to Hamburg. The race is open to all monohull offshore yachts of at least 40 feet in length.