Image: Per Roman’s JPK 1180 Garm (SWE) wins IRC One © Pepe Korteniemi /pepe@photex.fi
Marina Bay in Helsinki was buzzing all day with sailors from the Roschier Baltic Sea Race celebrating completing the challenge of the tough 635 mile race. The RORC Race Team supported by local volunteers greeted every team ashore with cold beers and pictures of that memorable moment when the challenge had been completed. Class winners were grinning from ear-to -ear, but it was smiles all round for every boat in the international fleet.
IRC ONE:
Per Roman’s JPK 1180 Garm (SWE) is the top boat in a highly competitive IRC One class, as well as an impressive second overall for the Roschier Baltic Sea Race. Second in IRC One, by less than three hours after IRC time correction is Taavet Hinrikus’ MAT1220 Nola (EST). In third place is Dirk Clasen’s Humphreys 39 Gingko (GER).
All three boats on the IRC One podium are roughly the same waterline length and recorded speeds of over 20 knots during the race. Per Roman’s crew on Garm has many top Spanish sailors, including Maserati Multi70 bowman Oliver Herrera. Swedish trimmer on Garm, Tore Lewander has a long offshore sailing CV, including more than 25 Round Gotland races. Garm, Nola and Ginko all intend to compete in next year’s Rolex Fastnet Race.
“Garm has an absolutely star crew, the best of the best!” smiled Per Roman. “They come from all-over Spain, but Tore is from Stockholm. I look for the best across the continent! I don’t care about the flag, I care about the quality and the personality!”
IRC TWO:
Team Pro4u powered by KSS Offshore Clinic is the standout winner of IRC Two and also third overall after IRC time correction for the Roschier Baltic Sea Race. Perttu Monthan’s JPK 1030 Tenet (FIN) is second in IRC Two. Third place is still not confirmed. Philip Schröderheim’s J/99 Vitesse (SWE) racing doublehanded with Madeleine Lithvall is currently third. However, Julius Haartti & Sanna Moliis’ J/109 Irie (FIN) has approximately an hour to race the last four miles to make the podium.
Team Pro4U is crewed by young sailors from the Royal Swedish Yacht Club’s youth programme - the KSSS Offshore Clinic. Some have developed through a traditional pathway, such as dinghies and match racing like Leanna Linnea Floser. Emil Forsgren is the son of the owner of the boat Patrik Forsgren who is the founder of the KSSS Offshore Clinic. Emil has sailed the boat with his family since he was a child but his early sporting years were spent playing ice hockey.
“The team has been racing together for a while, so we have really improved our performance and we love racing in strong wind,” explained Linnea Flosser. “We all have our own specialist role on board, but also have a secondary position. We try to put the best driver when the conditions are good for their skill set, as well as other positions. This has been a fantastic race for us and we hope to do much more. We really love the long distance of the Roschier Baltic Sea Race.”
IRC TWO-HANDED: The winner of IRC Two-Handed is confirmed, Fredrik Rydin’s J/121 Jolene (SWE) racing with Johan Tuvstedt is the winner, with Irie or Vitesse claiming second or third.
“For the first part of the race the weather played out pretty much to the forecast as planned, which was good,” commented Fredrik Rydin. “For the second part, the forecast was okay but not as much wind as predicted; we had heavy winds but nothing horrific. For any race preparation is very important. We have sailed together a lot and the boat is in really good shape. You can’t have a rigid watch system when you are doublehanded, you have to adapt. In the second part of the race, boat speed was really important, so we managed to get plenty of sleep during the race. This allowed us to stay focused, especially driving.
MULTIHULL:
The only multihull in the race was the TS 42 Squid (FIN) owned by Janne Kjellman and co-skippered by Marko Mäki. Squid finished the race in an elapsed time of 3 Days 06 Hours 56 Mins and 48 Secs. Squid beat their own record set in 2022 and raised the Multihull Record benchmark. The all-Finnish team of six on Squid were greeted with cold beers in Marina Bay and owner Janne Kjellman and his crew were in a great mood.
“We would like more multihulls to race with but on Squid we had a great race and plenty of laughter. We broke a few things so I am going to write a long letter to Santa Claus!” joked Janne. “Top speed was over 20 knots on the way to the south of Gotland. After that the race from there to the finish was not as uncomfortable as we thought. Early on after Gotland the sea state was quite rough but there was not really enough wind to push through it. When the wind speed got up Squid was riding well over the waves, it was superb sailing.”
Kenneth Bjoerklund’s CNB 76 Enderpearl (NOR) was the fourth boat to finish the race. Weighing in at 55,000 Kg with a full interior, Enderpearl completed the race in an elapsed time of 3 Days 05 Hours 25 Mins and 15 Secs; beating their elapsed time for the 2022 edition by about one hour. Kenneth Bjoerklund’s 13 year-old son Lyder was the youngest sailor in the race.
The latest boat to finish the Roschier Baltic Sea Race is the Swan 55 yawl Galiana WithSecure (FIN), skippered by Finland’s famous round the world sailor Tapio Lehtinen. The oldest boat in the race crossed the finish line and continued with all sails aloft, all the way into Marina Bay. The classic Sparkman & Stevens yawl received a rapturous welcome with Tapio Lehtinen at the wheel.
All of the boats still at sea in the race are expected to finish the Roschier Baltic Sea Race by today Thursday 1st of August, in time for the Prize Giving Ceremony on Friday. Provisional IRC Class winners have now been decided.