On the 6th of September, the legendary Nord Stream Race will start once again in Kiel, taking the five national teams via Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki to Russia, where they are expected to arrive on the 17th of September. The sailing teams each represent the best national sailing clubs from Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Russia and compete for the title “Best Yacht Club in the Baltic Sea”. For the first time, more than 100,000 e-sailors are expected to compete at the same time in the “NSR eTrophy” being the highlight of this year’s NSR eSeries. The e-sailors will navigate virtually the same challenging route as the sailors in the Baltic.
For the ninth edition of the Nord Stream Race (NSR), the five best national sailing clubs are competing in the 1,000 nautical miles offshore sailing race, the longest offshore race in the Baltic Sea: Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee from Germany, Aarhus Sejlklub from Denmark with Jonas Warrer (Olympic Gold Medallist) and Anders Geert Jensen (Olympian), Kungliga Svenska Segelsällskapet from Sweden, Esbo Segelförening from Finland and Akhmat Sailing Team from Russia. The participating clubs have qualified for the NSR through the National Sailing Leagues in their country.
Before the start of the Nord Stream Race, the fleet will spend two days at Kiel Week and take part in the Welcome Race. After several short inshore races in the Bay of Kiel, the official starting signal will be fired in front of the Kiel Yacht Club on the 6th of September. The first offshore leg of the 14-day regatta organised by the St. Petersburg Yacht Club will take the fleet on 150 nautical mile overnight sprint to Copenhagen. The sailors of the five clubs will race to Russia in 15-metre ClubSwan 50 racing yachts, facing challenging nautical and weather conditions in the Baltic Sea.
At the same time as the Nord Stream Race, the “NSR eTrophy” will take place as a virtual non-stop race from Kiel to St. Petersburg. The “NSR eTrophy” constitutes the fourth part of the NSR eSeries which began in March 2021 and has been embraced by e-sailors around the world as the first virtual regatta in the Baltic Sea.
Philippe Metayer from France became the overall winner of the first three NSR e-races. In the closely-fought races, the talented Frenchman was finally able to prevail against more than 260,000 participants from more than 100 nations. As the winner Philippe has earned a place onboard one of the boats during the “real” Nord Stream Race and will join the first offshore leg to Copenhagen. For the “NSR eTrophy”, more than 100,000 e-sailors are expected to join this two-week virtual regatta, being literally connected through sport.
The schedule for this year’s Nord Stream Race is as follows:
- Kiel as part of Kiel Week: 4th to 6th September 2021
- Copenhagen at Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub: 7th to 9th September 2021
- Stockholm at Kungliga Svenska Segelsällskapet: 11th to 13th September 2021
- Helsinki at Helsingfors Segelklubb: 15th to 16th September 2021
- Finish in Russia on 17th September 2021
Photo Credits: Nord Stream Race/ Anya Semeniouk
