(Marstrand, Sweden)- Peter Pan lives and sails in Sweden? Flying all over the place magically happens to be one of those things that Peter Gustafsson and buddies do well with their BLUR Sailing Team.
While Peter G may not have the magic wand, certainly he and his crew
have the gift and passion for sailing anytime, anywhere and make the
most fun of it! Their most recent most excellent adventure happened to
be the delivery of the first J/70 to Sweden. Imagine the circumstance.
Middle of the winter next to the Arctic Circle. Sunny. Gentle breeze.
Snow on the rocks, next to the tide-line! OK, so it's really cold. But,
like their Viking brethren, it's yet another excuse to go sailing--
sunny with breeze! And, so they did. The first J/70 into Sweden experienced winter sailing in that gorgeous, exotic, magnificent summer paradise the worlds knows as just "Marstrand". The BLUR Sailing Team comprised of Magnus Hansson, Patrik Måneskiöld and Peter Gustafsson took the 70 for a spin-- why not!? Here's their report:
"The first J/70 came to Sweden a week ago and we were of course a bit eager to try it! The crew were looking a little skeptical about this when I picked them up in the city, but after a lunch at Marstrand's Havshotell there was no doubt left we'd go sailing- 2-3 m/s, -3C and the sun peeked out-- yes, it was actually quite pleasant.
The boat is one of three that are sold to Stenungsund. A little funny that the largest M24 fleet now will be joined by Sweden's first J/70 fleet. New owners stood on the dock and looked a bit jealous when we set out. I hope they got to sail the boat this weekend.
I brought Magnus Hansson and Patrick Moon Skiöld that normally sail with me on J/111 BLUR. Magnus also sails the M24 and it was so very interesting to get his input on the differences. Patrick is an old match racing sailor, so he has also seen a number of boats over the years.
Read the rest of Peter's perspectives and commentary here on the BLUR.SE blog (always entertaining!). J/70 Marstrand Sweden Sailing video J/70 Marstrand Sweden Facebook sailing album
