KSSS Draws First Blood at Swedish J/70 Sailing League

(Strängnäs, Sweden)- The first of four events in the Swedish J/70 Sailing League took place in Strängnäs, where city-based sailing on the Ulvhällsfjärden Lake just below the cathedral provided an amazing landscape for the eighteen teams participating from across Sweden.  The organizing clubs- Strängnäs Segelsällskap and Ekerö Båtklubb- created a creating a memorable sailing event with short-course races along their picturesque waterfront.

“Since we have a sailing arena that is centrally located, it is a perfect way for us to create interest both for the sport of sailing and for the club. We aim to offer the sailors an urban sailing experience with beautiful scenery and an easily accessible race village," said Tommi Rotonen from Strängnäs Segelsällskap.  “Most importantly, each crew must consist of one person of each sex and at least one sailor under 25 years!”

Day One
The first day of racing was hot and produced very light winds on the lake below the cathedral in the center of Strängnäs.  The light winds permitted just three races to be sailed by each team.  Despite the light winds, the racing attracted a crowd along the town’s waterfront.  The ruling champions from the Cape Crow Yacht Club got off to a slow start and were sitting in eighth place.

Day Two
The second day offered perfect conditions- sunshine, winds around 5-7 m/s and tight city-front racing in front of hundreds of spectators - and unusually smooth sailing.  After ten of a total of 15 scheduled races, the champions from 2015- the KSSS team- were tied on points with Hjuvik and Trea, followed by the champion Cape Crow club.

“Strängnäs delivered another great day with fantastic sailing. The race track is close to land, which gives great spectator viewing, but also very difficult conditions," said Oscar Lundqvist from KSSS. "After a tremendous opening race with a penalty at the first start, we managed to win three of six races today. That means we are now leading overall, on a tie-breaker. Before tomorrow, we will try to minimize the mistakes and use our talented crew to beat our competitors!”

Day Three Finale
"Today, it was a little different scenario, with even more winds on the lake, shiftier, too! Before the final race, the starting point was clear; we had to get at least a 2nd to win overall,” said Oscar Lundqvist from KSSS. "We took the start of the last race, but got a bad track up to the first mark and rounded last!! After an incredible first leg downwind, we were up to second place and halfway up on the second windward leg, we were leading! Unfortunately, the last battle at the gate marks with Cape Crow made us take a penalty. Again, we were closest to the last puff and had to do our utmost to take second place in the race. Fortunately, everything went our way and we slipped over the finish line just a few centimeters before our competitors!!”

In the end, victory went to KSSS team of Jacob Lundqvist, Per Vickberg, Ida Svensson and Oscar Lundqvist.  Tied with them on points, but losing the tie-breaker was the Cape Crow YC team of Magnus Holmberg, Lasse Linger, Frida Magnusson and Axel Munkby.  Third was Hjuvik BK from Torslanda, who had 21-year-old Johanna Bergqvist at the helm this weekend; her teammates included Isabelle Bergqvist, Sten Bergqvist and Anders Höije.

The next round in Allsvenskan Sailing will be taking place in Ekerö, just outside of Stockholm, from June 9th to 11th.   Follow the Swedish J/70 sailing league on Facebook here   For more Swedish J/70 Sailing league information Add to Flipboard Magazine.