Cape Crow Yacht Club (Team Sweden) win the Nord Stream Race

Cape Crow Yacht Club (Team Sweden) has won the Nord Stream Race 2017, after finishing third in the fourth and final leg from Helsinki, Finland, to St Petersburg, Russia.

It was a tense and closely fought battle all the way to St Petersburg, with Lord of the Sail – Europe (Team Russia) just holding off their rivals to secure leg 4 victory by a margin of just one minute in home waters.

Skipper Maksim Taranov from Lord of the Sail - Europe (Team Russia) in the Nord Stream Race - photo © Andrey Sheremetev / Nord Stream Race

Maksim Taranov, skipper of the Lord of the Sail – Europe (Team Russia), said he was looking forward to racing towards his homeland but pointed out that there would be no home advantage. "Actually I have never sailed here before, so it is the same for me as all the other crews," said Taranov, who comes from Yekaterinburg, more than 2,000 kilometres inland from St Petersburg. He and his crew are excited to win the final and most challenging leg to St. Petersburg. "We never expected to be first, but the team was great and we did a very fast race."

Second Place for Nyländska Jaktklubben (Team Finland) in the Nord Stream Race - photo © Andrey Sheremetev / Nord Stream Race

Nyländska Jaktklubben (Team Finland) was second across the finish line behind the Russians, earning the Finns second place overall behind Sweden. Deutscher Touring Yacht-Club (Team Germany) were fourth in leg 4, placing the Germans third overall on the podium. Frederikshavn Sejlklub (Team Denmark) suffered minor damage to the mast track yesterday and while the Danes set out on the race course, decided to divert to Tallinn in Estonia in case the damage got worse.

Tense and closely fought battle all the way to St Petersburg in the Nord Stream Race - photo © Andrey Sheremetev / Nord Stream Race

Swedish skipper Patrik Sturesson and the rest of the Cape Crow Yacht Club crew will celebrate victory on Thursday when they are presented with the Nord Stream Race Trophy at the final prize giving hosted at the Navy Museum by St Petersburg Yacht Club.

Schedule:

• 26 August 2017: 10:00 Inshore racing, Kiel Fjord, 13.00 pm Start Leg 1 Kiel to Copenhagen (150nm)
• 27 August: Arrival Copenhagen
• 28 August: 13.00: pm Start Leg 2 Copenhagen to Stockholm (470nm)
• 31 August: Arrival Stockholm
• 2 September: 14.00: Start Leg 3 Stockhom to Helsinki (230nm)
• 4 September: Arrival Helsinki
• 5 September: 12.00 Start Leg 4 Helsinki to St. Petersburg (150nm)
• 6 September: Arrival St. Petersburg
• 7 September: 12.00 Prize giving Ceremony

www.nord-stream-race.com