Nord Stream Race 2013 Prize Giving

Team Russia take 2nd place in the Nord Stream Race © onEdition

Team Germany take 3rd place in the Nord Stream Race © onEdition

Team Great Britain wins Gazprom Swan 60 class, 'Outsider' with skipper Tilmar Hansen dominates ORC fleet

Nord Stream Race 2014 planned for May next year

In a thrilling final of Nord Stream Race 2013 that could not have been more exciting the British Team on board the Swan 60 "Tsaar Peter" has prevailed over the Russian "Bronenosec". After 800 nautical miles both yachts passed the finishing line off Saint Petersburg only 26 seconds apart. In contrast to this the ORC class has been clearly dominated by "Outsider" who finished the regatta with some distance as First Ship Home and winner of her division. Additionally plans for Nord Stream Race 2014 were revealed at the concluding press conference today.

The exhaustion was clearly visible when the "Tsaar Peter" crew around skipper Adrian Stead arrived in Saint Petersburg: "It was an eventful race with a great ending for us. The crew has done an outstanding job and has given their all on the rails in the final 16 hours up to the very last tack", said Stead.

For Adrian Stead Thursday morning, the 19th of September, was the deciding moment of the race. "We came into the night with a lot of wind and all five boats were still very close together. The fleet was lying in between two wind systems and everyone tried to find the right tactic in order to get away from the others. We were the first ones who got away and so the battle between five turned into a duel with the Russian team."

Vladimir Liubomirov, owner and skipper of the second-placed "Bronenosec" and winner of last year's edition expressed his congratulations and respect for Team Great Britain's performance: "It really was extremely exciting. We were so close together that we could hear the whispers from 'Tsaar Peter'."

"SGM"/Team Germany with Thomas Jungblut at the helm finished as the third-placed Swan 60-yacht. The German project that started for Norddeutscher Regatta Verein prevailed over the Turkish "Petite Flamme" by a narrow margin. The likable up-and-coming team from the Bosporus area with helmsman Cenk Tekkaya was the only Swan 60-yacht who also sailed with female crew members. In fifth position followed "Spirit of Europe" with some distance.

Fantastic victory for "Outsider" from Kiel

Tilmar Hansen, the skipper of the German "Outsider", also received great applause at the prize giving ceremony. He and his team dominated the ORC fleet of Nord Stream Race with a brilliant performance. "Outsider" raced away from the competition right after the start in Flensburg on Sunday, 15th of September, and could constantly increase the distance to the pursuers during the 800nm of the race. Just over three days later the yacht crossed the finishing line as 'First Ship Home' and winner overall of the ORC division. "It was a fantastic race for us", said Hansen in Saint Petersburg. "The first 600 nm we had ideal conditions with wind from south-westerly direction which were perfect for 'Outsider'", said the man from Kiel.

With her performance "Outsider" has set an impressive benchmark at the World Record Council. Their best time of 3 days and 48 minutes will be the time to beat in Nord Stream Race 2015 when the route will again lead from Flensburg to Saint Petersburg.

A good one day later "Haspa Hamburg" with Georg Christiansen at the helm reached Saint Petersburg. "Nordic Falcon" with Eckhart Gerlinger passed the finishing line afterwards as the third-placed yacht. Their navigator Alexander Bruhne won the Navigator's Prize because his ETA prediction and their actual arrival time only differed by 1 hour and 25 minutes. "UCA" from Kiel and the Russian "Blagodarnost 2" both had to retire from Nord Stream Race due to technical problems and a broken forestay respectively.

Nord Stream Race 2014: From Saint Petersburg to Warnemünde via Helsinki

At the concluding press conference this morning the organisers Saint Petersburg Yacht Club (SPBYC) and Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV) announced their plans for Nord Stream Race 2014. It is planned to start with a medium-haul from Saint Petersburg to Helsinki on 29th of May. The Swan 60 will then compete in a match race series and the ORC-boats will sail an inshore race. Following this the yachts will start to a 600 nautical mile race from Helsinki to Rostock/Warnemünde on 2nd of June 2014. One year later, in 2015, a new edition of the 800 nm non-stop long distance regatta from Flensburg to Saint Petersburg will take place.

At the official prize giving ceremony afterwards everyone looked very satisfied. "Outsider" skipper Tilmar Hansen said: "I am especially happy to have finally managed to sail to Saint Petersburg - something I wanted to do for a long time. It is just great here." And the president of the NRV, Andreas Christiansen, feels confident: "Nord Stream Race 2013 was not only a great sailing event but also cultural event."

Altogether 121 sailors participated in Nord Stream Race, ten of whom were female. The youngest competitor was 18 years young, the oldest 67 years. Altogether the yachts have travelled around 7,570 nautical miles and it took them 38 days, 17 hours and 16 minutes. On German and Russian side 35 volunteers and 15 zodiacs were in action in Flensburg and Saint Petersburg. Also the interest of the public is impressive: The website www.nord-stream-race.com alone registered more than 20,000 clicks between 12th and 21st of September and the event page on Facebook www.facebook.com/nordstreamrace attracted almost 8,000 'Likes'.

Overall Results: