(Skagen, Denmark)- The Skagen Race is the offshore season premiere in
Scandinavia. A quick 120nm overnight dash from Norway to Denmark over a
cold, and sometimes rough, Skagerrak sea. But it’s usually worth it and
the reward is the famous weekend party in the little Danish town of
Skagen. Sun, cold Danish beer and late night boat parties attract crowds
from far away!Peter Gustafsson and his crew on board J/111 Blur³ are preparing for the Fastnet Race in August and decided to get the most out of the race. They started with a 140nm delivery to Norway in full-on “race mode”; 26-30 knots of wind and massive seas were a decent shake-out for both the boat and the crew.
”It
was unbelievably wet. Just before dark we hit some monster waves that
just flushed the crew along the deck and down in the cockpit. Starting a
boat delivery with a headcount felt a little strange. But the boat
stayed dry, and we managed to get into our routines,” explained Peter.As they got to Norway the wind dropped, and Oslo Fjord was picture perfect. Race registration, some lunch and the team was ready to go again.
In a light northerly breeze, the J/111 really showed some good pace; easily leading it’s start and overtaking earlier starts. Later that night, it was all about timing a big wind shift from NW to NNE and working hard to keep the speed up.
”We worked through the inventory, rotating A2, A3 and a Code 0. We timed the shift ok and had a comfortable lead at the mark at Väderöarna,” commented Peter.
In
the morning the fleet left the Swedish coast for the final sprint to
Denmark, BLUR kept a loose cover on the competition (so much easier when
everyone has AIS). Working the shift they extended the lead to a huge,
mind-numbing, ego-crushing 33 minutes margin for an epic class win.”We won the class big with the J/109 in 2010. To be able to come back for a repeat performance in a faster class with the J/111 is just fantastic. It was also very valuable to get a 48-hour shake down and to get into offshore mode with rotation, food and sleep,” concluded Peter. His crew consisted of Andreas Turesson, Mats Björk, Magnus Hansson, Mattias Bodlund, Simon Kindt, Pelle Pedersen, Patrik Månesskiöld and David Johansson.
In addition to BLUR’s amazing win, the J/109 JUBLE sailed by skipper Jon Holm (Oslo Seilforening) took 3rd in NOR 2 Class. Sailing Photos here courtesy of BLUR Sailing Team. For more Skagen Race sailing information (in Swedish).
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