SAIL & RACE founded and managed the DaimlerChrysler North Atlantic Challenge 2003 from Newport R.I. [USA] to Hamburg [GER]. With 63 yachts and 611 sailors the race was one of the biggest to ever cross the Atlantic from west to east. Against climatic predictions the event encountered hurricane force winds, fully testing the fleet. The DaimlerChrysler North Atlantic Challenge [DCNAC] was a worthy birthday present from the NRV on the 100th anniversary of the Hamburgischer Verein Seefahrt [HVS].
In 2004 SAIL & RACE developed a ground-breaking idea to link the Baltic coastal countries in a significant new offshore sailing challenge. The event matured quickly as the annual BALTIC SPRINT CUP that by the end of summer 2006 had visited eleven ports in nine countries and had 77 starters.
The 2005 NORD/LB Baltic Sprint Cup sponsored by NORD/LB Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale, Hannover, had a great send-off from Sandhamn, Sweden, celebrating the 175th anniversary of the Royal Swedish Yacht Club [KSSS] and sailed seven legs over 1.200 miles via Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga, Klaipeda, Gdansk, Copenhagen and Warnemünde, Germany where an enormous party was held at the end of July.
The 2006 BALTIC SPRINT CUP was mainly sponsored by the newly-established BANK DnB NORD, Copenhagen. Another celebration – this time the 100th anniversary of Stavanger Seilforening – gave the event a memorable start on 1st July from the heart of the historic and picturesque port. Next were Gothenburg, Aarhus, Copenhagen [where a football party was integrated into the programme for a giant screen broadcast of the Football World Cup] and Warnemünde, home of Hohe Düne, one of the most luxurious brand-new marina/hotel developments in the Baltic.
Following the BALTIC SPRINT CUP concept of east/west in alternate years the 2007 edition is planned to start from Copenhagen on 20th July then to Sassnitz [Rügen/Germany], Gdansk [Poland], Klaipeda [Lithuania], Ventspils [Latvia], and to finish in Pärnu [Estonia]. More information see www.balticsprintcup.com.
