(Marstrand, Sweden)- Amongst sailing cognoscenti, Marstrand is
considered to be one of the world premier sailing locations. Currently,
the Stena Match Cup and RC44 Sweden Cup draws the rock stars of our
sport, but many remember the famous Skaw Race, the J/24 Worlds and the
Dragon Gold Cup.This year the Marstrand Race Committee, together with blur.se and North Sails, invited all sailors to the first edition of "Marstrand Big Boat Race". The format was simple-- two days of intense windward/leeward racing as well as some great parties. Hard to beat that proposition in one of the world's sexiest places to go sailing!
The starting list featured 37 boats from western and southern Sweden and a "who's who" list of offshore racers. From the current ORC European Champion Salona 37 Feelgood and Farr 30 European Champion Farrbar II (with Olympic sailors Martin Strandberg and Mattias Rahm on board) to X-50 Krabat with Lars Idmyr as helmsman.
Challenging conditions with up to 24 knots of wind on Saturday, and the notorious steep waves of the Marstrand fjord, rewarded crew work and small errors resulted in spectacular wipe-outs. One boat broke their mast after a huge surf going 16-18 knots before the fun ended with a bang. Late afternoon the wind increased even more and the third race was canceled and everyone was relieved to go back to the surprise dock party and a huge regatta dinner.
Even better conditions Sunday. Sunny and 12-18 knots of wind. A shorter windward/leeward course and many general recalls made everyone work hard and the race committee easily pulled off three races. With many OCS in the last two races, the final results were unclear until they were posted online. With a dominating 16.5 points margin, it was self-evident the J/109 BLUR with Peter Gustafsson as skipper won the regatta.
"We know we're fast in these conditions, so we sailed conservatively and didn't take any chances. Also, we're on the third seasons with the same crew which helps when it's blowing +24 knots. I'm so happy to be able to compete with all those great sailors!" said Peter Gustafsson.
"We've had some amazing racing with the J/109, but now we're focusing on the J/111. We started out with Spi Ouest and have done a lot of training, but still there's much work to get 100% out of the new speedster. On some of the downwind runs this weekend I really missed the 111 - going 18 knots instead of 12!!" Sailing photo credits- Dan Sjunnesson - Studio CA For more J/109 BLUR sailing information
