Set New World Record Crossing the Atlantic

By ThorNews on December 7, 2013 • ( 1 )

The Statsraad Lehmkuhl sailed 1,469 nautical miles in 124 hours. – I doubt anyone will beat us, says Commanding Officer Lasse Hiis Bergh.

The Statraad Lehmkuhl, Norway’s Largest and oldest square rigged sailing ship, set course for Cape Verde and the United States with 60 cadets on board on September 24, BT reports.

Every autumn the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy hires the sailing ship for cadet leadership training.

– Here they learn seamanship, and we focus a lot on leadership. At sea, we see how dependent we are on each other, that everyone can and must do their job. It is an important part of the training, says Lasse Hiis Bergh to BT.

World Record

The 60 cadets also set a new world record crossing the Atlantic at record speed. In 124 hours the ship sailed 1469 nautical miles, which is the quickest the route has ever been sailed.

– No other ships have been close, and I doubt anyone will beat us, says Hiis Bergh.

The old world record from 2009 was on 1,437 nautical miles, also set by the Statsraad Lehmkuhl.

See also: Tall Ship Christian Radich Celebrates Her 75th Anniversary

Statsraad Lehmkuhl in Brief

The Statsraad Lehmkuhl is a 3-masted steel bark, built by Johann C. Tecklenberg AG in Bremerhaven-Geestemünde in 1914 as a training ship for the German merchant marine. Her original name was “Grossherzog Friedrich August”. During most of World War Ι the Statsraad Lehmkuhl was used as a stationary training ship in Germany, and was, after the war, taken as prize by England.

It has served as a school training vessel for the German Navy, and has been chartered for the same purpose by the Royal Norwegian Navy since 2002.

The Statsraad Lehmkuhl is today Norway’s largest and oldest square rigged sailing ship and also the oldest amongst the large square riggers in the world today.