By Laurie Fullerton

The Daimler Chrysler North Atlantic Challenge organizers finally counted all boats in on July 15 after an impressive fleet of over 60 yachts left Newport, R.I. on both June 7 and June 14. Huntington "Skip" Sheldon's Reichel/Pugh 65 Zaraffa crossed the finish line first overall and took the overall honors on corrected time. Sheldon's top speed of 25.7 knots highlighted a brilliant race in Class 1 logging 3,618 nautical miles in 13 days, 15 hours, 7 minutes and 28 seconds.

The DC North Atlantic Challenge commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Hamburg Yacht Club. It marked the first time a transatlantic race had been run from America to Germany in the 137-year history of transatlantic racing.

"We were extremely luck with our weather routing, " said Sheldon, age 73, who comes from Shelburne, VT. The team included Mark Rudiger (navigator), Richard Clarke, Neal MacDonald, Richard Mason, Greg Gendell, Michael Joubert, Justin Clougher, Josh Adams, Dave Flynn, Geoff Ewenson and Rodger Erker."

"We went up into the cold eddies when most of the others went further south. We invested early and that paid off," Rudiger said. "This was a trip we expected to be awful and it came out to be great."

While Zaraffa went home with the biggest prize, an outstanding performance was noted in Class 2 on Claus Murmann's 85-foot Judel/Frolijk. Murmann's UCA started a full seven days after Zaraffa and although they beat Zaraffa on corrected time, the fleets were divided into two divisions so the overall win went to Zaraffa. Helmed by Juan Vila, of illbruck and Volvo Ocean racing fame, and tactician Tim Kroger, a two-time Volvo racer and member of France's Le Defi America's Cup team, much of the team was made up of non-professional German sailors who were getting their first real taste of ocean racing.

The water-ballasted 86-foot San Francisco based MaxZ86 turbo sled Zephyrus V, skippered by John Bertrand was the biggest threat to UCA and Zephyrus V had hoped to break a record crossing the Atlantic to Germany. It was not to happen after the boat had to withdraw due to gear failure. Another contender, 78-foot Reichel/Puch design HSH Nordbank , which was chartered for the race at a cost of $1 million dollars, was also out of it early after gear failure.

"We were disappointed not to have finished in Germany, but would certainly look forward to racing in another addition of the race," said John Bertrand." Zephyrus V performed extremely well and we were enjoying the battle we were having with UCA up to the point where our rudder bearing started to work out of the boat!"

Kroger agreed, "It is a shame our main rivals had to abandon from racing due to gear failure. We would have loved to sail a close match against Zephyrus V and HSH Nordbank. We missed them out there on the Atlantic."

What Kroger also missed was the "ghost ship" Zaraffa, which flattened the competition in Class 1 clocking 25 knots or more. Kroger and his team were frustrated by the seven-day wait after the first gun was fired and had to fight to beat Zaraffa's time the entire trip.

"According to most reports, no one saw or heard from Zaraffa after the gun and she was referred to as a ghost ship by Class 1 sailors as she went so far ahead of the fleet. It appears she should have raced in our group to keep things more open in the first fleet. That does not mean that Zaraffa didn't deserve to win the overall prize," Kroger added. "They sailed a great race and deserve to win the overall prize. Congratulations to them!"

Dr. Klaus Murmann, owner of UCA said that he enjoyed the race so much because of the great team spirit. Kroger was one of the only professional German sailors aboard.

"We had a pretty tough watch system with three watches, four hours on and four hours on stand by and four hours off. That is not always easy for those not used to professional sailing, " he said.

The majority of the Germans aboard UCA were not professionals, and many were getting their first trans-Atlantic experience.

"All in all it has been great to do this race," Kroger noted. "There is room for improvements on the sport side (separating the fleet wasn't too great) but I think the organizers have done a great job. We had a wonderful reception in Hamburg," he said. "And, for me personally, it was the first time I have ever completed an offshore race in my hometown. To come back to Hamburg was a very special feeling, and to sail up the river Elbe and see all the people, flags and banners."

The race also had its share of maritime near misses, particularly when news reached Newport, R.I. and Germany that a 40-foot wooden ketch Monsun, had sunk off Newfoundland on June 13. The British Army yacht Discover, which was in second place overall and was 400 miles away, first received Monsun's distress call. With two yachts called Polaris and Salute, the Canadian Coast Guard was assisted in locating them via aircraft. The whole crew was, by that time, in a liferaft and was safely rescued.

Overall, the re-entry of Germany into trans-Atlantic sailing is a good sign for ocean racers.

"This race is a celebration of the 100th anniversary of a German Yacht Club, " said Dick Thursby, a fleet captain on the New York Yacht Club race committee who started the race off Fort Adams. "We don't always get to start a race to Germany and there seems to be a growing interest in this event."

Photos coutesy www.dcnac.de