Nord Stream Race - Team Holland prepare for battle

by Cailah Leask on 4 Oct 2012 The greatly anticipated 2012 Nord Stream Race is fast approaching and with only two weeks remaining before the inaugural 750 nautical mile race gets underway, Team Holland have been training hard aboard Swan 60, Tsaar Peter. The Dutch Team, skippered by Pieter Keijzer and sponsored by Gazprom International are preparing for the Baltic Sea event which will see the team race from Saint Petersburg, Russia to Helsinki, Finland and on to Gotland, Sweden before finally finishing in Greifswald, Germany.

Skipper, Pieter Keijzer is aware that the Baltic Sea race will offer an intense challenge for his crew; 'The Baltic is a destination our crew have not been to very often, I sailed there a few years ago but only on small boats and now we are going to be doing this inaugural long distance race in a 60 foot Swan – a completely new challenge. As the race is in October, it won’t be straightforward, with average temperatures between minus five and plus ten degrees, so we are obviously hoping for the higher temperatures, if not it will be tough for everyone but we are prepared for this.'

Keijzer however has every confidence in his crew; 'We selected the crew as we would for a club racing team; we have selected people of different ages, young people on the foredeck and the more experienced at the back of the boat. The different experience and skills means we hope to mount a serious challenge in the race. We haven’t sailed together many times before so we are putting in a great deal of training now to see how we work together in order to prepare for the Nord Stream Race in the best way possible.'

'When we look at our competition we know if will be a tough job for us, we also know we will learn a lot from the other boats and competitors. We have experience in North Sea Races, World and European Regattas, the Fastnet and Americas Cup and Anders Skogman – he knows the Round Gotland Race extremely well, so will be a big advantage we hope! Everyone on board Team Holland is very professional and it is going to be a great experience for all of us.'

The Nord Stream Race has a €100,000 prize fund for the winner and Keijzer believes the prize money is an added bonus but not the most important factor: 'In sailing we are not used to having prize money so yes it is a great incentive to be aiming for, but also we want to have tried our hardest and performed to the best of our abilities, these are the most important things for me. It will be interesting to get the skippers who are used to the Mediterranean over to the Baltic and see how they perform. I believe that this could become a very prestigious race and I hope that this year will be the start of many great races in the Baltic.'

Starting in Saint Petersburg, Russia on Thursday 18 October, the fleet of Swan 60s will race directly to Helsinki, Finland. Helsinki will host the fleet for three days with a Match Racing Regatta scheduled for Saturday 20 October followed by an Open Day for the general public, media and guests to view the yachts. Monday 22 October will see the fleet depart to race to Gotland, Sweden where they will pit-stop overnight on Wednesday 24 October before the final leg to Greifswald, Germany. The race is scheduled to end on Saturday 27 October with a parade of sail by the fleet along the river before a final celebration and prize giving. The event will attract a range of European nationals – with stops in four different countries and crew members from around Europe.

The Nord Stream Race is an invitational event, open to Swan 60s for the inaugural edition in 2012 with open entry for future editions. The environment is perfectly suited to offer high-class sailing with the promise of challenging winds. The other four entries are: Team Europe, Team France, Team Germany and Team Nord Stream Race website