Rambler leads big boat fleet out of Bay

by Herb McCormick on 24 Jun 2007 In an ideal 12-14 knot northwesterly breeze, the three yachts constituting the 'big-boat' fleet in the HSH Nordbank blue race across the North Atlantic set out from Newport, RI this afternoon to join the 21 yachts that began the race on June 16th.

Meanwhile, some 240 miles south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, German sailor Kerstin Troeger – who’d suffered a severely broken ankle when she was launched across the cockpit of the 48-foot HSH Nordbank several days ago – was successfully transferred to a Canadian Coast Guard vessel this afternoon and is bound for shore where she’ll undergo immediate surgery on her injured leg.

Conditions were perfect when the 90-foot Rambler, owned by Connecticut sailor George David and skippered by sailmaker Ken Read, led the fleet out of Newport’s Narragansett Bay and into the blue Atlantic. Rambler, under main and jib, held a slight early lead over the 80-foot Bon Bon, which started with main and jib alone but hoisted a small staysail moments after the start. Bringing up the rear in majestic style was the grand, ketch-rigged, 177-foot Perini Navi Parsifal III. Read is hoping for an 11-day passage, which would bring Rambler across the finish line on the Fourth of July.

While Read and the other big-boat sailors were starting the race, several hundred miles to the east, Kerstin Troeger was finishing hers. On Friday, HSH Nordbank skipper Martin Friedrich had made the difficult decision to abandon the race and alter course for St. John’s to seek medical care for his stricken crewmember. However, after conversations between Alan Green, the principal race officer for the HSH Nordbank blue race, and rescue authorities in Canada, it was decided that a Canadian Coast Guard vessel would be dispatched to make a high-seas Medevac transfer.

In southeast winds of 10-15 knots and in moderate seas, the Canadian Coast Guard ship Cape Roger rendezvoused with HSH Nordbank earlier today and took Troeger aboard. Motoring at 17 knots, the Cape Roger will take about 17 hours to reach St. John’s, which the ship is scheduled to reach on Sunday morning. Once Troeger was safely aboard the Canadian rescue vessel, HSH Nordbank resumed racing. Of the 21 boats that set sail last Saturday, HSH Nordbank is the sole yacht still west of Point Alpha, the mid-ocean waypoint at 41N, 45W, that the fleet is obliged to leave to port to avoid risk of running afoul of icebergs.

At the front of the fleet, the Elliott 52 Outsider continues to set the pace and hold the lead, with the Cookson 50 Chieftain maintaining its lock on second place. Earlier today, Outsider was the most northerly boat in the fleet, at 47 N, and was making 12 knots while continuing to consolidate and extend its lead.

www.hsh-nordbank-blue-race.com