DCNAC Special: From New York to Hamburg

Over 100 yachts are expected when the DaimlerChrysler North Atlantic Challenge starts in New York on 14 June 2003. The route measures around 3,500 nautical miles and is open to yachts from 40 feet upwards.

Next Saturday, 9 March, the tender will be presented to all owners and potential participants for the first time. The event will begin at 12.00 noon in the sales offices of A.W.Niemeyer, Holstenkamp 56, Hamburg-Bahrenfeld.
The Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV) is organising the DCNAC with the support of the New York Yacht Club (NYYC). The title sponsor is DaimlerChrysler AG. The Hamburg branch of the company is actively involved in the organisation. The occasion for this unique transatlantic regatta on the northern route around England, heading from Cuxhaven to Hamburg - is the big anniversary "100 years of the Hamburgischer Verein Seefahrt (HVS)".
The HVS was founded in 1903 from an idea by Albert Ballin. The General Director of the Hamburg-America Line (HAPAG) wanted to challenge Kaiser Willhelm II's schooner yacht "METEOR" with an equal opponent under the colours of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. In the Atlantic race from New York to Lizard (England) in 1905, the first "HAMBURG" of the HVS sailed to second place. "Tradition obliges. The DCNAC is the largest sailing event across the pond ever organised by a German yacht club. The final extent of this unique major event is still not really foreseeable today," says Gunter Persiehl, Chairman of the NRV, who is more than enthusiastic about the idea of the race. The patron of this mega-event is the President of the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.
Interest in this special regatta is huge and planning is in full swing, and not just in the organisation team. Some owners are having an ocean-going yacht built especially for this sailing challenge. Others are already organising transport groups to the "Big Apple". Some of the DCNAC yachts are planning to piggyback on container ships to the start in New York.
The main and title sponsor is DaimlerChrysler AG, on the initiative of the Hamburg branch. "The DaimlerChrysler North Atlantic Challenge is a team event at the very highest level, and the high-tech component also fits in with our company," says branch manager Gerhard Rötters about the car manufacturer's commitment, adding: "We don't want to organise gigantism or the biggest regatta in the world, but rather give many sailors the opportunity to take part in this unique highlight.