Image: Volvo 70 Cockatoo © Tim Wright/RORC
The second edition of the Roschier Baltic Sea Race will start from Helsinki, Finland on 27th July 2024. This new 635nm offshore race is attracting a diverse range of boats eager to take on a new challenge, racing to win The Baltic Trophy for the best corrected time under IRC.
The second edition of the Roschier Baltic Sea Race will start from Helsinki, Finland on 27th July 2024. This new 635nm offshore race is attracting a diverse range of boats eager to take on a new challenge, racing to win The Baltic Trophy for the best corrected time under IRC.
Passion for the sea is ever present in Finland’s capital Helsinki with centuries of seafaring tradition. The sea features prominently in Finland’s folklore and literature; the Finns are fanatical about The Baltic Sea. The Roschier Baltic Sea Race is organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club and supported by the City of Helsinki, as well as the major yacht clubs and racing organisation in Finland: Nyländska Jaktklubben (NJK), Finnish Offshore Racing Association (AMP), Helsingfors Segelklubb (HSK), FINIRC and the Xtra Stærk Ocean Racing Society.
Niklas Zennstrom’s Carkeek 52 Rán (SWE) is confirmed for the 635-mile Roschier Baltic Sea Race. Zennstrom hails from Sweden and will also race in the 350-mile Gotland Runt, which takes place three weeks before the Roschier Baltic Sea Race. The two races provide a thousand miles of offshore racing in the Baltic summer.
One of Rán’s main competitors will be Infiniti 52 Tulikettu (FIN). One of the world’s most advanced grand-prix racing yachts, Tulikettu sports DSS side-foils and all carbon-fibre build. Team Tulikettu’s primary goal is to be the first all-Finnish crew to win RORC’s important offshore races.
“The Roschier Baltic Sea Race is unique, a new experience for many sailors from overseas,” commented Tulikettu’s Finnish owner Arto Linnervuo. “Teams will experience racing on a new course which goes around three lighthouses. There are plenty of affects from the land, and as we saw in 2022, the gradient wind can be anything from really light to strong. The race is attracting professional teams racing high performance boats and also the amateur teams racing production yachts, the race is really important to promote racing in The Baltic. In Finland there is a huge amount of passion for sailing, and I am sure everyone who races this year, will feel that embrace!”
In 2022, Line Honours for the inaugural Roschier Baltic Sea Race was taken by Volvo 70 I Love Poland (POL) winning the Bobby Lowein Wheel. Skippered by Grzegorz Baranowski, the all-Polish team set the Monohull Race Record of 4 Days 22 Hrs 45 Mins and 45 Secs.
So far, four Maxi Yachts are expected on the start line for 2024. The largest entry to date is the Swan 88 Spiip, sailed by Pascal Oddo from the New York Yacht Club. Three Volvo 70s are expected to be racing including Christian Zugel’s Tschüss 2 (USA) with a professional crew skippered by Johnny Mordaunt. Johannes Schwartz is planning to be on the start line with two Volvo 70s; Green Dragon and the newly named and completely refitted Cockatoo, formerly known as Monster Project.
“The Roschier Baltic Sea Race is something very different,” commented Johannes Schwartz. “The Baltic is a distinctive cultural area, a different sailing region, and people are always interested to do something new in their lives. This race is far north and in the Baltic summer the race is in daylight for 20 hours. Typically our Volvo 70s have pro-am crews with guests taking a berth-charter supported by our team. We are also getting enquiries from teams for whole boat charter, such as a group of friends or even a professional team that want a Volvo 70 already in Helsinki. Tschüss 2 is a really fast Volvo 70 with a professional crew, so that would be a big challenge for any team.”
Winning the Roschier Baltic Sea Race overall is decided by IRC time correction, the time on time rating rule that is used for nearly all of the prestigious 600-mile offshore races. The first overall victory for the Roschier Baltic Sea Race was a fairy tale win for the Finnish H-323 Silver Moon II (FIN), skippered by Salla Kaven. Second overall was Swedish Albin Nova Team Mobline (SWE) raced by Paer Lindfors & Nadine Kugel. Team Mobline was also the winner of IRC Two-handed. After the race, Paer Lindsfors gave high praise for the Roschier Baltic Sea Race.
“Helsinki is a fantastic city with great cafes and restaurants and the race itself is a great course,” commented Paer. “Starting and finishing in Helsinki you go straight out to the open ocean. The communication with the race management team was perfect. We would definitely encourage other teams to come to race in 2024.”
Per Roman chartered Volvo 70 HYPR for the inaugural Roschier Baltic Sea Race and will be racing again with his much travelled JPK 1180 Garm (SWE) which raced in the 2023 Rolex Fastnet Race and Rolex Middle Sea Race