The Stockholm Archipelago Raid 2018 will take place on the 23-26 of August, 4 days of intense sailing. At the base camp: sauna, food and drinks before the next long day of sailing begins. The course will bring sailors to the outer, arcane rocks and skerries where seals, birds and naked rocks will be their only company.
Registration opens on the 1st of April. Maximum 30 teams will be accepted for logistical and safety reasons.
Filmed at the F18 Raid Worlds 2017, credit to Hamnen.se.
All winners since the first raid in 2001 can be found in the F18 Hall of Fame.
Starting Monday 4th of September Nautical Channel starts broadcasting a 1 hour programme from the F18 Raid Worlds in 42 countries dubbed to 4 languages. The programme captures the spirit of the Stockholm Archipelago Raid in an excellent way. The adventure, the tight racing, the Stockholm archipelago, the social aspects and why F18 is the coolest boat to sail. Watch the trailer.
Tune in on your Local TV networks to get the Channel. During the first week the programme will rotate on the following hours:
The first F18 Raid Worlds 2017 is over, but the Stockholm Archipelago Raid will be back next year.
Congratulations to the F18 Raid World Champions, Leff Dahl and Roger Bodén and to William Sunnucks / Freddie White on second and Elke Delnooz / Jeroen van Leeuwen on third (winners of the Mixed class)! And all the other 24 teams who got around the course and gained an experience out of the ordinary.
700+ fantastic pictures by Jasper van Staveren, on Facebook.
Daily films by Hamnen.se
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Day 4:
Big thanks to our partners and sponsors who made it possible, and of course to all volonteers who worked 24/7 and where completely awesome.
Yet another day with good winds as the fleet sails into the inner parts of the Archipelago to reach the final destination; the city of Stockholm. A puffy story with two legs, the first to the village of Vaxholm and the second a sprint of just over an hour into the city of Stockholm.
Tuesday was a day of extremes for the sailors. In winds over 20 knots in the open waters of the Baltic Sea they had the time of their lives.
The racing started 6 AM to be able to make 3 legs during the day. Leg 1 was epic. It took the fleet from Sandhamn to the rocky, beautyful archipelago of Gillöga and all the way out to Svenska Högarna, the remote island with a light house. It was the first time ever an F18 raid has passed this place.
Leg 2 started in increasing winds of 20+ knots and a half wind start. The fleet then set gennaker and was screaming up through Fredlarna before reaching the paradise Rödlöga where the little bakery and café became very busy.
Leg 3 was upwind sailing for the first time in two days. Wind now steady 20 knots all the way to the finish line at base camp 3 Nässlingen.
Second day started on the beautiful island of Rånö in perfect F18 conditions. It was a full day of down wind and gennaker reaching and some chrashes towards base camp 2 Sandhamn 50 Nm to the north.
After a morning with good winds the fleet had lunch-stop at Mörtö-Bunsö, refueling for the afternoon. The wind direction offered a up-wind leg and the local weather systems gave all sorts of conditions. Ranging from medium winds and grey clouds to 20 knots of wind and really harsh weather to a sunny finish by our base camp at Rånö.
William Sunnucks and Freddie White are leading after day one:
Sunnucks: “The first thing on my mind now…. I’m cold!!! I should have been in the sauna like everyone else. Today was great racing. We started in almost no wind. This quickly developed into fast reaching conditions with showers coming through. We enjoyed a 7 mile beat with solid wind nd up to 30 degree shifts, with multiple routes through the islands. You think you are going well, and suddenly someone appears miles ahead having found a better route. We were the same speed as everyone else in open water, but our EDGE seems to accelerate very well in the shifty conditions in between the islands. ”
The second race finished with a close battle with Lars Linder/Eric Brunnberg and Leff Dahl/Roger Boden, all finishing within a minute after almost 3 hours of racing.
6 days remains until the start of Stockholm Archipelago Raid, which is also the 2017 World Championship for F18 long distance racing (raid). 27 teams from 6 countries have signed up for this adventure that is really tough and demanding. The sailors have to push their boats really hard and at the same time navigate at high speed through the 36 000 islands and rocks of the Stockholm Archipelago to find all Check Points along the course.
The starts are scheduled for sunrise when possible, which means about 4.30 AM this time of year. After 2 or 3 legs per day the sailors will reach a base camp that changes every night. Sauna and dinner awaits the sailors as reward for their effort and then some well deserved sleep. This repeats for 4 days until the finish at Fjäderholmarna in central Stockholm on Wednesday the 9th of August between 3 or 4 PM.
The race can be followed in real time since the boats are equipped with trackers. Each day a selction of pictures will be released on Facebook and short films will be published on Hamnen.se. A few weeks after the race a program will air on Nautical Channel with a reach to 42 countries around the world.
