The "BBC" is an invitation event for 50 of the most active big boat teams in Northern Europe. For many of the competitors from Denmark, Norway, Germany and Sweden this is the first big event of the season, as well as kickoff for the new Baltic Open IRC series.
Two days of sailing were planned with five windward-leeward races. However, Saturday's races were cancelled as a thick fog made racing impossible. But Sunday was a completely different story, the conditions were perfect, with sunshine and a northwesterly wind blowing 18-22 knots. Many crews were anxious to get going, as evidenced by the fact that most classes had general recalls and several teams got black flags in races 2 and 3.
After three races the Swedish team on J/109 BLUR won the IRC 2 class, narrowly beating Jesper Bank and his newly designed Faurby 396 Sport by only 17 seconds in the last race. For BLUR this was actually their third victory in just two weeks. Earlier victories include (i) handily winning class in the Helly Hansen Skagen
Race (a 100 mile offshore race off Oslo, Norway) by 50 minutes corrected time to the next boat and (ii) winning both class and overall in the local Oset Race in the Swedish archipelago. Said Peter Gustafsson, skipper of BLUR, "it sure was a great start to our 2010 season, winning both inshore- and offshore races in three different countries and in three different handicap rules".Photo of crew to right: in the top row: Anders Ryberg (floater), Peter Gustafsson (helmsman), David Jackson (foredeck). Bottom row: Patrick Moon Skjold (tail), Mattias Bodlund (mast), Fredrik Roos (trim), Magnus Hammer City (keyboards), Mathias Lindeborg (large) and Pete Pedersen (tactics). For more photos and video and the sailing chronicles of the J/109 BLUR.
Big Boat Challenge- http://www.blur.se/2010/05/25/big-boat-challenge-2010/
Helly Hansen Skagen Race- http://www.blur.se/2010/05/14/helly-hansen-skagen-race-2010/