(Vasteras, Sweden)- For the eighteen Swedish sailing clubs that participated in the 2019 Allsvenskan (Swedish J/70 Sailing League), there was no question the outcome of the four event series (Strängnäs, Malmo, Örnsköldsvik, Vasteras) was nowhere near predictable.
Winning the first two regattas in near “runaways” was SFS Hunnebo. However, an incredibly disastrous 13th place performance in the Örnsköldsvik event proved to be their undoing. Despite an amazing rebound to take a third in the final event, it was not event to top the leaderboard, but sufficient to bronze overall.
The Hjuviks BK sailing club was not considered by the “betting parlors” to be a top team at the beginning of the season. But, after a 3-5 in the first two events, everyone took notice the HjBK team was an incredibly competitive crew to contend with. Despite a 7th at Örnsköldsvik, the HjBK team bounced back with a vengeance to take second in the final event and secure the silver for the overall series, much to the surprise of the other top teams from the previous season.
If HjBK was a surprise, the stunning performance of the SFS Hunnebo team simply came out of “left field”. Who? The team won the first two series in Strängnäs and Malmo quite handily. They, like their HjBK colleagues, simply sent their fortunes “down the mineshaft” at Örnsköldsvik, finishing 13th— ouch, like almost last!! In the finale, they redeemed themselves as a team and pulled themselves up by their bootstraps to secure a third in the finale to take the bronze overall! A thrilling finale for the SFS team!
The ultimate winner, KSSS (Royal Swedish YC), started off with a humbling 4th place finish in the first event in Strängnäs. However, like a team and train gaining steam and strength in every event, their 2nd in Malmo, 2nd in Örnsköldsvik, and winning the finale in Vasteras sealed the deal for what became a very, very strong team in the end. Congratulations to the KSSS team- Hugo Christensson, Mathias Hermansson, Björn Hansen and Jenny Hammersland. Plus, congrats to all the other team members during the year- Mikael Lindqvist, Pontus Meijer, Liv Gyllfors, Mathias Bredin, Niklas Edler, Hedvig Liljegren, Carl Johan Leuckfeld, Fredrik Liljegren, Hampus Appelgren, and Linnea Floser. Follow the Swedish J/70 Sailing League on Facebook For more Swedish J/70 Sailing League sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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