To Norwegian in Silverrudder
All the 450 places in Denmark’s popular solo regatta were torn away.
Ole-Petter Laksholm and Petter Hegle have sailed the long way down to Svendborg, far south on Funen. Laksholm sails a Sun Fast 3300 and competes in the “Medium” class and has to compete against strong JPK boats in a class with 139 boats.
Hegle sails the Farr 395 in the «Large» class with 97 boats. These are boats from 35 to 40 feet.
– It has reached 250 boats in place in Svenborg, and more will come, but it is doubtful whether all the 450 registered boats will be found on the starting line, Laksholm believes.
He says that other Norwegian sailors participate. Runar Åsly lives in Malmö and sailed with the Swedish flag last year, but Norwegian this year. He sails an LM 30 Striker, and is in the same class as Laksholm. Nikolai Waltham is also Norwegian, but lives in Denmark and has a Danish flag. He sails a J33.
Without certificate of measurement
Silverrudder makes regatta sailing simple, and has succeeded very well at it. The boats are divided into classes according to length, and that’s it. 450 sailors from 14 countries show that the concept works. Well, there are also boats from France and England.
– Norwegian regatta organizers have a little to teach her: red carpet and bar at the regatta office…
And they have to do the right thing here: the limited places (due to space in the harbor) are sold out in minutes, sponsors and volunteers are queuing up to join, writes Laksholm on Facebook.
Around Funen
The regatta is around Funen. The weather forecasts determine which way the island will be rounded. It is 134 nautical miles. The fastest monohull has sailed around in less than 17 hours, while the fastest multihull has spent just over 14 hours. This year, with little wind, some boats have spent more than 24 hours.
– The mood is rising here, everyone is as usual preoccupied with the weather. Quite fresh conditions are reported on Friday morning and forenoon, but somewhat milder in the evening and night, says Laksholm. 30 knots have been reported in the casts from the northwest. This finding will lie after a few hours and turn west. Laksholm believes that the field must sail towards the sun. This makes it easier to arrange with current conditions in mind.
Exciting new boats
Phil Sharp from England will sail the new First 36. It will also enter the Aeolos P30 in the championship. The one with creator Hans Genthe at the helm. He has created this boat precisely to win Silverrudder. The Aeolos P30 will sail against six Dehler 30 OD, a boat that is also made for the championship. There are also six JPK boats, of which four are the new 1030.
There are 80 X-Yachts participating, 20 of which are X-99. The largest in the field is also an X-Yachts. It is a brand new X4.9 with an electric motor.
The smallest boats participating are Seascape 18 (First 18). There are 14 pictures of boats.
Top 20
– The goal is to do better than last year, when I finished 19th, but also cautiously. It is a strength felt. The silver winner from the shorthanded WC this summer sails my class with a JPK 1030, Laksholm tells SEILmagasinet.
Silverrudder starts at 08:00 on Friday morning and the start is broadcast live on Youtube.
Also read
Silverrudder sold out for hours
Some regattas succeed better than others. The Danish solo regatta around Funen is open to 450 boats, but that is too few.