Strongest yacht clubs of Baltic prepare for Rebooted Nord Stream Race

by Gerald Gebhard on 9 Aug 2017 This summer, a new format for the Nord Stream Race brings together some of the most high-achieving yacht clubs from the National Sailing Leagues.

Starting on 25th August, the Baltic Sea’s best clubs to emerge from the 2016 season of the Sailing League will compete for the honour of becoming the “Best Yacht Club of the Baltic Sea”. The long-distance regatta takes the fleet from Kiel via Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki to the finish in Saint Petersburg.

The best yacht clubs of the National Sailing Leagues from the Baltic countries Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Russia will be competing this year at the relaunched Nord Stream Race. The clubs will be racing in a fleet of brand-new, one-design ClubSwan 50 racing yachts. From 25th August to 7th September, the 1,000 nautical mile race course follows the Nord Stream pipeline from Kiel to Saint Petersburg, with stopovers in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki. The goal of this revised format for the Nord Stream Race is “Connecting Baltic Nations through Sport”.

The renowned sailing clubs Norddeutscher Regatta Verein and Kieler Yacht-Club (Kiel), Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub (Copenhagen), Kungliga Svenska Segelsällskapet (Stockholm) and Helsingfors Segelklubb (Helsinki) are inviting crews and sailing fans to a series of events for a cultural and sporting encounter. At the finish, Saint Petersburg Yacht Club – one of the leading yacht clubs in Europe and main organiser of the race – invites Europe’s sailing elite to the award ceremony in this spectacular city.

Five champions have qualified to participate in the Nord Stream Race 2017 via their National Leagues from the previous season: Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club from Germany, Frederikshavn Sejlklub from Denmark, Cape Crow Yacht Club from Sweden, Nyländska Jaktklubben from Finland and Lord of the Sail – Europe from Russia. Each of the five sailing clubs will be sending a crew with ten of their best sailors.

This year’s Nord Stream Race has a direct connection with the National Sailing Leagues and the SAILING Champions League. These competitions form the qualification process for the Nord Stream Race and will offer all league clubs another high-class format to find out who are the best of the best in club fleet racing.

Their strong backing for the race shows just how committed Nord Stream AG and Gazprom have become in their support for sailing. Aside from supporting the Baltic offshore Nord Stream Race, the companies have joined forces with the National Sailing Leagues of the Northern European countries and Russia.

Sponsored by Nord Stream AG and Gazprom and in cooperation with the Saint Petersburg Yacht Club, the Nord Stream Race has been held annually since 2012. Initially, the regatta connected Russia and Germany, with the route following the Nord Stream Pipeline after which the competition was named.

The countries for the race stopovers have been chosen for a reason. The winners of the national sailing leagues of those countries will form five teams that are set to compete in the Nord Stream Race. The new course for the race will cement the event’s connection with Europe and enhance Nord Stream AG’s cooperation with the Northern European countries, as the company is also set to become the national leagues’ partner.

The national sailing leagues’ calendar started in March and concludes in November 2017. Each of the five countries has more than 20 teams competing in their national leagues, all of them competing for the title of best yacht club. First to hit the water in the new season was the Russian Sailing League with an opening event on 23rd March 23 in Sochi.

From 2018 onwards, the organisers plan to include the current champion of the SAILING Champions League and also bring in other Baltic States as additional participants.

Main organiser Saint Petersburg Yacht Club is holding the new edition of the long-distance regatta through the Baltic Sea together with Konzeptwerft Holding GmbH from Hamburg, the marketing agency that launched the new concept, and which remains focused on developing innovative formats in sailing.