4 days to start of the 21st consecutive raid in the Stockholm Archipelago and the first foreign teams have arrived in Stockholm. 22 teams with some of the best F18 sailors from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, France, USA and Sweden will participate this year, despite some late cancellations due to Covid travel restrictions and quarantine rules. No less than 9 different F18 models will be sailed including some brand new designs and earlier models.

The high pressure with hot air that parked over the Scandinavian peninsula for over a month in June / July feels long gone this rainy and windy August night. However the sea temperature is still up and and the weather forecast is quite uncertain.

What is certain though is that the Race Committe is prepared, the Base Camps are ready and the 66 Check Points (bouys, light houses, islands, rocks etc) are set waiting to be rounded. The course will be in the middle and northern parts of the archipelago, an area of about 50 km * 100 km.

The name of the game is that teams will be briefed during dinner about the CP’s that will be used during the 2-3 races the following day. They can then prepare their navigation, study different options and short cuts and make their strategy and plan for the next day. Typically 3 to 5 CP’s are used each race and the sailed distance each day is from about 40 Nm and up. The winning concept is to have reasonably good boat speed while making the right navigational choices, dodge the rocks to keep the boat in one piece and to eat and drink to get the energy to keep going to the finish line.

Safety equipment includes VHF, GPS, knives, towing lines, paddles, flares and spares on each boat and all sailors wear a dry or wetsuit, floating aid and sometimes helmet and a Personal Locator Beacon.

The spirit of the raid is as much about the adventure and nature as it is about the sport. Being far out in the wilderness in places that you would not normally go to in these small, super fast catamarans or any boat is exhilarating. The changing scenery as you leave Stockholm behind and move from islands covered with woods to the outer bare rocks and skerries inhabited by seals and sea birds is amazing. And after a sauna, a good dinner and drink or a glass of wine the party is on before it is time to hit the sack. Repeat times four.

This year will be no exception!

I just received the wonderful news from the President of the International F18 Association that the Stockholm Archipelago Raid has been granted the Raid World Championship in 2022!

The F18 Raid World Championship is the long distance discipline of F18 sailing. In addition to boat speed and endurance the top teams must also be good at navigation to find all the check points and to avoid the underwater rocks on the way. The first F18 Raid World Championship took place during the Stockholm Archipelago Raid 2017.

The plan is to race four or five days around the 17th-21st of August 2022, but since we have not received confirmation from all base camps the dates are yet to be confirmed.

The check points, base camps, saunas, dinners and number of races will be similar to a normal year and the ambition is to keep the nice atmosphere between sailors, even if the stakes are higher. The usual cap of 30 teams will be removed, but since there will not be beds for more than 30 teams some teams might have to sleep in their on tent or on the floor.

Vikingarnas Sailing Society, where teams will park their cars, register, measure and set up their boats and where the price cermony and regatta dinner will take place is in central Stockholm. It’s an exceptional club with lots of space in a spectacular and central location, very convenient for media, friends and family as well as public spectators.

Now we look forward to make this year’s edition awesome and a great tune up for both sailors and the race organisation for the World Championship in 2022.

On behalf of the Swedish F18 Association

Lars Linder

The level of competition is going to be very high. Will a Swedish team win again for the 10th consecutive time since Darren Bundock and Jeroen van Leeuwen won in 2011? One week after registration started 26 teams from eight countries signed up. The teams are from Sweden (13), Germany (3), UK (2), Denmark (1), Finland (3), France (1), Belgium (2) and the Netherlands (1).

Karlsson/Nordblom (SWE) are sailing to defend their three consecutive wins from the last years. Chased by Demesmaeker/Thery (BEL) who have finished second several times and could have made it to the top last year hadn’t their navigation equipment failed them. Ad and Maarten Noordzij (NED) came 4th in 2020 after breaking a daggerboard on the last day, for sure aiming to get on the podium. The raid veteran William Sunnucks, who win the raid in 2014 and came 2nd in the raid worlds in 2017, will also be a contender of the gold. The F18 Raid World Champion Leff Dahl is back, this time with Niklas Bredberg.

3 mixed teams are registered To date. The team Hedman Jensen/Wyon (DEN) are back to defend their victory in the mixed class in 2019. Antman/Wetterling (SWE) who has sailed the raid many times will not give the mixed class trophy away easily. From the UK the Sturm couple are joining.

3 Finnish teams are joining, most of which has sailed the raid before. So have some of the 3 German teams. Olivier Gagliani (BEL) who sailed the “old” Archipelago Raid 3 times with Yves Bourgnon is back and sails with Charles Hainneville (FRA) who sailes Flying Phantom and other multihulls.

The youth team Rehman Linder/Forhaug, who was the youngest team to sail the raid ever in 2018, are have become stronger (silver medalist in the Swedish Championship in 2020) and might challenge the top teams, in particularly in strong winds.

We look forward to welcome these and more teams the the Stockholm Archipelago Raid 2021.

Registrations for the Stockholm Archipelago Raid 2021 has begun. There is a cap of 30 teams for safety and logistical reasons. Are you ready to join the adventure?

The base for the event will be KSSS at Saltsjöbaden (1) and the base camps will be Nässlingen (3), Fejan (2) and Lökholmen (4). The race area covers 3000 square kilometres of wilderness with eagles, seals and other wild life just outside the capital of Stockholm. Race course area for the raid 2021

The base camps offer great places to beach the cats (or leave them in the water at Fejan), sauna, restaurant and enough beds or mattresses for all sailors to get a good nights sleep. They are also ideally situated in beautiful places in the archipelago and the alternative courses are endless and each day courses can be optimized for the wind and wave conditions.

Base camp Nässlingen

Base camp Fejan

Base camp Sandhamn/Lökholmen

Welcome to Stockholm in August!

The planning of the Stockholm Archipelago Raid 2021 has been going on for some time and the dates and some base camps are now set! It will take place from the 19th to the 22nd of August with start and finish in Stockholm. Pencil it into your calendar and stay tuned.

In 2020 we were very lucky that the raid was right in the middle of the Covid19 spring outbrake and the second wave in the fall. 15 registered teams still had to bail out, but 20 teams from 4 countries finally made it to start.

The pandemic will not be over by August 2021, but that the situation will most likely be so much better that it will be possible to organize the event with international participation. Probably with similar pre-cautions that we made in 2020 to be on the safe side.

The race course will, as always, go far into the wilderness of the outer archipelago where seals, eagels and other birds and wild life will be our company. There will be plenty of sailing and long distances covered each day, breath taking views, broken dagger boards, nice food and drinks and a possibility to charge the batteries at night.

The registration will start on the 1st of April and a maximum of 30 boats can attend for logistical and safety reasons. I will be there. Will you?

/Lars Linder
Swedish F18 association

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Once again Karlsson and Nordblom managed to snatch the win from the Belge Demesmaeker and Thiery. Karlsson Nordblom sailed very consistent and it didn’t matter that they capsized during the last leg and lost many places.

Demesmaeker and Thiery will probably get a better GPS for next time since the GPS died many times causing them to sail the wrong way.

Seifert and Almstedt had one 3rd and one 1st during the last day while the Dutch team father and son Noordzij hit a rock and lost a dagger in the first race the final day. Finishing 5th in the last race was not enough to get the on the podium.

All sailors where happy and very tired at the finish at Saltsjöbaden. For many it felt like a winner to just make it to the finish without braking anything in the hard conditions during the final 2 days.

The Race Organisation felt like winners too after 4 amazing days in the archipelago with all friends from the F18 community from 4 countries.

Thanks to our partners Goodall design, Zhik, One Design Center and InnTech for making this possible.

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It is a challenge to organize the Stockholm Archipelago Raid not knowing how many teams will come in the end due to the pandemic and different countries travel restrictions changing back and forth. Out of 36 teams that signed up originally, 19 teams seem to make it to the starting line. They are from Sweden, Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium. The level of competition is, as always, very high with many top teams and several winners from previous years. There are also several rookie teams doing the raid for the first time and a two teams doing a come back for the first time since the old “Archipealgo Raid”.
Confirmed teams 2020/08/12 (subject to national travel restrictions):

Course and Base Camps
The start and goal will be in Saltsjöbaden and the base camps will be on the beautiful Islands of Rånö in the south (one night) and on Lökholmen (Sandhamn) in the middle of the archipelago (two nights). It gives the opportunity to round iconic places like Huvudskär before going north towards Sandhamn on day 2. On day 3 the fleet might reach Rödlöga In the north passing magic islands of the outer archipelago on the way. The aim will be to start early (6 AM) at least one day to be able to reach remote places far from the base camps. Possible course 2020 (for illustration).

Preparation and gear

Coming prepared with the right equipment can often be the difference between making it to the finish line or not. In terms of navigation sailors need to be acquainted with their GPS and be confident that it works in the very wet and difficult conditions of an F18 raid. Mandatory and recommended equipment is listed in the Notice of Race.

Some useful tips to the sailors:
• Bring food for lunch breaks for all 4 days (not catered for) + energy bars or similar to be able to eat while sailing.
• Put your VHF in a cover and have it on the boom.
• Make sure your mobile phone cover is water tight. Make sure that the mobile battery lasts the whole race.
• Bring camel backs with some sport drink and take small sips all the time.
• Make sure you have tested your GPS device and know it works in wet conditions with wet fingers and over extended period of times. Bring an old GPS as a spare in case it breaks.

In addition each sailor is allowed to bring one waterproof bag of maximum 10 kg (typically 30 L) on the assisting boats. One common tool box and spare will also be available on one of the assisting boats.

Covid-19 situation and mitigations

While the virus is spreading quite uncontrolled in the US, Brazil and other places around the world the EU has managed to contain the pandemic quite well. However, a resurgence in new cases has sparked concern in Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, and France among other.
In Sweden cases has continued to decrease steadily since the peak in mid- April when we had over 100 deaths and 1250 new cases per day. Now there are less than 250 new cases daily despite massive testing and no or less than 5 new patients go to intensive care per day in Sweden.

However, the situation changes day by day and the pandemic can pick up speed again. The SAR organisation monitor the situation and will take the following measures to prevent the spreading of the virus during the raid.
• Maximum 50 persons are allowed, Race Committee and Media excluded.
• Breifings / gatherings will be limited and courses published online etc.
• Dinner and breakfast served in tents at Rånö and the large boat house Slipen at Lökholmen.
• Max 2 teams share a room (the same teams all days)
The participants
• If you get ill or show symptoms of Covid-19 you should withdraw from the race.
• Limit your contacts with people outside your family prior to the race.
• Make a travel plan for how to get to the race and back home safely.
• Spread out and keep some distance to other people during dinner / breakfast
• Avoid using showers or go at different times. The sea is always nearby.
• Sailors should complete the World Sailing Personal Location Form.

With these measures the Stockholm Archipelago Raid will be carried out in a safe and responsible way. Because once the sailors has left shore only the race, the stunning nature and the adventure will be on their mind for 4 long, lovely days. That’s what F18 is all about…

Lars Linder

Status update

I just received some wonderful news from the Swedish Sailing Federation. The way they interpret the new Covid-19 guidelines from the Swedish authorities is that the Stockholm Archipelago Raid will be allowed to have 50 competitors, i.e. excluding the Race Committee. The Notice of Race will be updated accordingly and published at a later stage together with a Covid-19 safety plan based on the risk assessment and mitigations.

For the time being there are 27 teams who has said that they would like to come as long as it will be possible. They are from from the following 7 countries NOR (2), FIN (2), DEN (1), BEL (1), NED (2), GER (3) and SWE (16). Since there are still travel restrictions to or from Sweden from some of these countries a few foreign teams are uncertain if they will be able to come in the end.

What this means

All teams that have signed up to date shall pay the entry fee prior to the 1^st of July (if they haven’t already) if they want to be certain to claim their place and to get the “early bird fee”. After the 1^stof July the entry fee increases by 2000 SEK. 

The special reimbursement rules due to the pandemic applies (see NoR)

1.      If a non-Swedish team has paid the entry fee but is not able to participate due to special rules due to Covid-19 that prevents the team from travelling (closed borders, quarantine-rules etc) the whole amount minus bank fees will be reimbursed. 
Important: If the situation is such that you would like to come, but only if your National authorities changes the current rules regarding travelling to/from Sweden, then you shall contact me and explain the situation prior to paying the entry fee.

2.      If a sailor has symptoms that can be suspected Covid-19 (cough, fever, difficulty breathing, runny or blocked nose, sore throat, headache, nausea, muscle or joint pain) he/she is not allowed to participate and shall immediately (on the same day) inform the event organisation. The entry fee minus 2000 SEK will be reimbursed.

The plan

The planning for the event will be much easier from now on and as soon as possible after the 1^st of July I will confirm the number of beds needed, how big the race organisation need to be, how many security boats will be needed etc.  Since we are fewer teams than usual there might be beds for most teams even if we have to spread out and be fewer in each room.

This year we plan to go south. Far south. The preliminary base camps for Thursday and Friday will be Rånö in the Southern Archipelago. Depending on the weather we might go to the beaches of Askö or round the inhabited island Öja (Landsort) which we did last in the raid in 2012. Or, if the winds are to strong we can sail further north, sheltered by the islands Utö, Ornö etc. On the third night we will stay at Lökholmen which is an iconic venue for all sailors and perfectly situated both for the 3^rd and 4^th days of sailing. We had a very nice 3 days practice raid this weekend in the waters around Sandhamn and it was an awesome experience with 10-18 knots of warm winds, amazing sailing and amazing food outdoors on the rocks. See the Swedish F18 association facebook page or the Relive track from one leg for inspiration. Thanks to Gustaf Dyrssen and Fredrik Karlsson for organizing, now we know for sure that raid sailing is both possible, safe and fun also during a pandemic.

Best regards

Lars Linder