Archipelago Raid
Strandberg & Örtendahl claim home raid
"You can’t finish better than this. It is just an ultimate sailing race"
Saturday 22 August 2009 –
All the versions of this article: [English] [français]
Strandberg and Örtendahl scored 258 points, 5 more than their French rivals, and won 5 legs out of 10, missing out on the podium places on only two occasions.
Thule was really determined to catch up with Citus today. The French team was 3 points ahead in the overall standings this morning, and could have been the first crew to win two Raids in a row. But Thule wanted the trophy back for a Swedish team, and they won both legs of the day as they did yesterday, only being second in the first Checkpoint.
“It was fantastic, a really tough race. Eric (Proust, Citus) was sailing so well so we had to put 200 per cent to beat him.”, and ecstatic Strandberg comented at the finish at the At Sea complex in Lidingö island. “For me the toughest moment mentally was when we crossed to Aland. We made such a big mistake and we went to the Checkpoint that was cancelled and we lost a lot of positions. I thought it was over, because Eric was sailing so well so losing 8 points there was tough, really tough.” But then they had two perfect days. “You can’t finish better than this. I think is just an ultimate sailing race. You’ve got everything: nature, sailing, navigation, tactics… everything.”, the Swedish skipper concluded.
Team Thule wasn´t the only happy team today. Among the teams who enjoyed the event most were Team Cobalt, made up of Britons Luke Yeats and Matthew Humphreys, who finished the best as the best rookies and eighth overall. “This has been probably the best organized event I’ve ever sailed at. We had all the organization boats with us all the time and getting all the tents and food arranged in the middle of nowhere and having almost thirty boats through a very complicated course…it was really worth the tough moments.” They, and the Archipelago Raid, will return next year.
Press info www.archipelagoraid.com
View online : Photo ThMartinez/Sea&Co / www.thmartinez.com
Final score
THULE (Martin Strandberg/Johan Örtendahl) 258
Citus (Eric Proust/Romain Motteau) 252
Audio Network ( William Sunnucks/Simon Farren) 235.5
McDonalds - Huysman (Demesmaeker/ Pr 219
Team Garmin (John Bäck/Gustav Morin) 210.5
Hållsten-Torlen(Martin Hållsten/Kalle Torlen) 195
Bourgnon-Gauthier (Yvan Bourgnon/Pierre Gauthier) 192
Team Cobalt (Luke Yeates/Matt Humphreys) 178
Team Blue (Conrad Humphreys/Ryan Crawford) 165
Audi (Anders Lewander/Hanse Thorslund) 161
RockStaRR (Richardson/McHugh) 148
GB Glace (Karin Almquist/Fredrik Aurell) 143
Rogue Sailors (Berensson/Blomberg) 136
BOHICA (Thomas Johansson/ Brad Marsh) 134
EffetFenouil (Samuel Vionnet/Andreas Schuler) 134
Ursuit (Matti Nieminen/ Mikko Nieminen) 97
Tacktick SUUNTO (David Scully/Claire Bailey) 96
Team w4 (Michael Walther/Marcus Mattis) 95
SWE 49 (Fredrik Karlsson/Ricard Miedel) 86
Team Piano (Agne Nilsson/Jason Field) 69
FGporsche (Francis Proot/Simon Van Ack 68
Team Premiere Global Services (Grünert/Gravdal) 68
Black or White (Maurizio Vettorato/Andrea Gancia) 64
SWE 558 (Ola Persson/Michael Persson) 49
WIPAK (Janne Riihelä/Nora Eskola) 40
SWE 042 (Micael Edler/Martin Åkerlund) 39
Also in this section
iShares Cup 2009 : Oman Sail Masirah clinch Cowes event
New York/Lorient : Frenchies Lequin and Moreau back across the Atlantic
iShares Cup 2009 : Pete Cumming wins Hyères event
iShare’s Cup : Guichard wins first event in Venice