Nord Stream Race: Nonstop to St. Petersburg
- 2013: The challenge goes on – 800 nm across the Baltic Sea
- Nord Stream philosophy: Bring people of different nations together and encourage team spirit.
Sept. 12, 2013 | Zug | In 2013 the challenge of the Nord Stream race is to cross the full length of the Baltic Sea to St Petersburg – some 800 nautical miles (approximately 1.480 kilometers) – nonstop: the yachts will sail to the South and East of the Danish island of Bornholm then approximately follow the Nord Stream pipelines.
Nord Stream AG is proud to lend its name again to the second edition of the challenging international sailing race across the Baltic Sea, starting in Glücksburg, Germany, on September 16.
Last year’s inaugural event was a three-stage race in the opposite direction from Russia to Germany with stops in Finland and Sweden. Now that Nord Stream’s gas pipeline system is complete and the gas flows across the Baltic Sea without having to be re-compressed along the route, it is appropriate that the challenge for this year’s crews is to race the full length of the Baltic Sea nonstop and set a benchmark to be recognized by the World Sailing Speed Record Council.
Nord Stream is also sponsoring one of the crews, Tim Kröger’s Team Europe, who will be sailing the 'Spirit of Europe', a Swan-60 class yacht. Tim Kröger said: "I am extremely delighted to be part of this race once more, this year again with a crew of experienced sailors from several Baltic Sea countries. This Nord Stream Race is a fantastic challenge for all competitors: with westerly winds this year’s race could turn out to be a very fast trip, but with easterlies or north easterlies we will all face a tough fight. This has all the ingredients to become a classic race in the Baltic Sea," he added.
Nord Stream Communications Director Ulrich Lissek said: "We would like to pay tribute to the pioneering spirit, international collaboration, and commitment to excellence of all the participating crews. The Baltic Sea can be quite challenging, as our own engineers can testify!"
"Like us, the crews need good strategy and excellent implementation: this requires teamwork, trust, responsibility and responsiveness," Mr Lissek added. "The Race fits well into our philosophy: bringing people of different nations together and overcoming frontiers," he added.
The Nord Stream Race was initiated and organised in 2012 by Russia’s Yacht Club of Saint Petersburg (www.yacht-club-spb.ru). The 2013 edition is organised by Germany’s largest yacht club the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (www.nrv.de), supported by the Flensburger Segel-Club (www.fsc.de).
