Dehler 41 - first view

I had the privilege to check out the brand new Dehler 41 at Lökholmen earlier today. "Midnight Rambler" literally brand new, both in terms of design and in terms of production. She was delivered last Monday and I can assure you that the Dehler 41 is a very slippery design... The best of luck to her crew in this years Gotland Runt (or whatever they have decided to call the race this year...). As for me I will compete on the Norlin 34 "Stress". One day of rest first though...

Obviously carbon wheels on a racer like the Dehler 41.

One word - tidy.


The engine lever can be reached on the starboard side together with some other instrumentation.

The sail wardrobe was extensive to say the least and still not all the sails are in this picture.
The price tag?

Like a small apartment with light weight materials in e.g. the stow compartment lids. Weight is obviously essential on a race boat. Leather seats and...

...a spacious kitchen.

The forepeak is definitely more spacious than on the Dehler 29. But at a different price...

Behind this door (in the lavatory) you'll find the port side aft cabin.

Express-SM Race Report Day 3 (final day)

"Josefin" at Lökholmen after the final race. She served as tender boat to Express 978. Very practical and compared to the Express - very comfortable.

Express 978 being towed home by "Josefin" after the final race day. Sandhamn is in the background.

We won't put the 9th and final race in any of our CVs, that's for sure. Although we did not make all that many clear mistakes we still could not keep up with competition during the tacking routine and slowly but (very) surely we dropped through the field. Today's race left us with a 27th postion overall among 36 boats starting. Considering the fact that we simply never practice on Express 978 - we've actually just sailed Lidingö Runt once before in this crew setup - we are quite happy with the result. The Express class is still one of the most competitive in Sweden so expecting to get anything "for free" is simply naive. I would like to congratulate the winning boat - Henri Lloyd Sailing Team - to a phenomenal race suit. Also Björn Österberg as runner up had an impressive suite (4 wins of 9 races...).

Although a major mistake was made by the KSSS organizers this morning - we had to wait more than an hour for our start because they had placed a different race track in the middle of ours... - I have to say that the race all in all was a great success from an organizational perspective. I was very impressed by the positive attitude and service minded approach all parts of the KSSS organization showed. Very professional and still extremely friendly. Being far from a "Sandhamn fan" myself I have to say that this really improved my view of KSSS. I look forward to the next "east coast SM" in 2013.

Express-SM Race Report Day 2

A really good day of sailing today although the weather was so so. Strong (and luckily enough even) winds and certainly not sunny like yesterday. We had a good day on Express 978 and where actually in second position right before the windward mark in race three but dropped down to 17th. On average 20th position today (36 boats in total) and overall standing for us 25th. The trend is in other words positive and maneuver-wise we actually had a pretty flawless race which was somewhat surprising given the limited time for training that we've had - and the strong winds. It's also interesting to observe the more "vocal" mark roundings further up the field where competition is more fierce and the crews use every possibility to use an opening (and holler profanities to competiting boats when it gets too tight).

Having "Josefin" as tender boat is very luxorious compared to SM 2009 where we slept in tents. Good spirit onboard and now time for a nap. Tomorrow is the final day with only one race.

Strong winds outside Sandhamn during today's race.

36 boats on the starting line today. Only one false start (entire field called back) and just one DSQ these two days.

Express-SM Race Report Day 1

Sometimes people say "perfect" when it's really just "ok" and maybe not quite "perfect". But today I'm not exaggerating when I say that the race conditions in Sandhamn where PERFECT. The Swedish Championships in the Express class, ORC International, Farr 30 class championship and IRC Endorsed. Fairly strong and even winds, sunshine and "Mediterranean" temperatures. We had a rough start with some start-up problems during the first race but after that we were able to stay "midfield" for the most part. Best result today 22/37 and in total 28/37, possibly better in total (pending protests, where we were luckily not involved). One t-bone between two competing boats with that uncomfortable crash sound. We made mast-2-mast contact with a competitor who because of their port side leg were forced to take an immediate penalty. This event has up until now been flawless in terms of organization. KSSS has really gone the extra mile to make this fair game. Looking forward to tomorrow. Now it's time for some dinner in Sandhamn.

Lökholmen as alwasy much more calm than Sandhamn.

Jimmy Hellberg's "Airbender" was spotted in Sandhamn. A bit dwarfed next to that other beast...

The result of a t-bone. Luckily enough we were not involved in the incident.

Express upon Express upon Express.


The beautiful Dragon class.

Express-SM

Tomorrow is the first day of "Express-SM 2011", i.e. the Swedish national championships of the Express class. "Josefin" will serve as tender boat during the event in Sandhamn and I will sail on Express 978. With such a competitive starting field we cannot expect all that much in terms of overall result but we will - as always - do everything we can to enjoy each race (sometimes that's enough to get the results in as well...). So let's hope for the best. Right after the nationals it's time for my second "Gotland Runt" so it'll be sailing for the whole lot here the coming week. Race reports to follow.

Gadget of the week

This so called Aquascope certainly qualifies as "gadget of the week". A Norwegian product (also Norwegian invention?) where you simply lower the thing into the water for a better view of the ocean floor, your boat or why not the local school of fish? At first I though it was a joke but having tried it I realized it's a much easier way to check things out than getting into the water yourself with cyclops. These Norwegians...

Midsummer's Eve

A classic event for any Swede is obviously Midsummer. Herring, fresh potatoes, beer and snaps - a simple recipe that has worked for many years. Typical Midsummer weather offers sunshine AND rain (often at the same time) but out in the archipelago the weather is normally better than inland and Möja was no exception this year. Basically good times...

"Josefin" docked at Södermöja.

Almost everyone with "something that floats" would try to get out to the archipelago during Midsummer. This year was no exception.

An old windsurfing mast plus a wooden knob serves as flag pole.

Sandhamn Open - BAN June 11th-12th

Some pictures from Sandhamn Open - BAN as well. Very well organized and phenomenal weather...

I participated on Express 978 and the result was... well, let's just forget about that one;0)