Five Sisters Trophy: “Gorch Fock” in the lead at half-time – Live tracker

The youngest of the five is the defending champion: the “Gorch Fock”, which has served as the German Navy’s training sailing ship since she was commissioned in 1957, won the first – and so far only – race between the sister ships, which are almost identical in design. The occasion at the time was the 200th anniversary of the United States.

Five sisters at the start

Now, 50 years later, four of the barques are still in service: the US Coast Guard’s “Eagle”, the “Sagres” flying the Portuguese flag, the “Mircea” for Portugal, and finally the “Gorch Fock”. Only the oldest, the first “Gorch Fock” – which was renamed “Tovarischtsch” for a time – is now moored, recently restored, now a museum ship in Stralsund. The reason for the meeting is Another birthday for the United States, this time the 250th.

Tried-and-tested training ships

With the exception of the second “Gorch Fock”, which is currently in service and was built after the war, their predecessors date from the Nazi era; and with the exception of the “Mircea”, which was originally built for Romania, they all served in the Kriegsmarine. They proved themselves so effective that, following the end of the Third Reich, they remained in service around the world as part of war reparations.

From New York to Boston

The current second edition of the Five Sisters Trophy now covers around 400 nautical miles from New York to Boston. The race started on 7 July at 9 am local time in New York (3 pm German time). The fleet has now covered around half the distance and is currently situated some 80 nautical miles south of Nantucket Island.

“Gorch Fock” in the lead

​​“Gorch Fock” is currently in the lead, closely followed by “Eagle”. Ahead of them are now three waypoints which the boats must pass and which will take them northwards around the Cape Cod peninsula. Given the prevailing wind conditions – south-westerly, force 4–5 on the Beaufort scale – the winner is expected to arrive in Boston tomorrow. The live race ticker can be found here!