"It was a really tough race"
The Archipelago Raid 2009 finished today with Swedish team Thule as winners. Martin Strandberg and Johan Örtendahl made an extraordinary final effort to claim first prize. They won every leg in the last two days of the Raid and caught up with their toughest rivals – Citus, the French pair of Eric Proust and Romain Motteau, who won the event last year. Third was Audio Network, the British duo of William Sunnucks and Simon Farren, whose chance of victory slipped away yesterday after striking rocks.
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 Åland. 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 eight 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.

Date: 2009-08-22 16:00:00

"It was a really tough race"

Team Thule Winners of the Archipelago Raid 2009

A nerve wrecking final ahead

End of part 1

The sea waves at the fleet

High spirits make the Raid big

A big mission

Qué será será...?

It's a daggerboard story

Swedes lead the fleet

Nice Friday morning start

Just another day in Paradise

Today's images uploaded

Three teams fight for first

30 000 opportunities

Audio Network in the lead

Crossing back to Stockholm archipelago

Strong winds stop sailing to Finland

Great fun!

No way North

Team Thule back in top 3

This is the raid!

One leg is enough for day 2…

First boats have crossed the Ålands Sea

The crossing of Ålands Sea has started!

Early finish

Four minutes separate the top four boats

Swedish Team Thule leading the fleet

Archipelago Raid 2009 has started

Different goals for a happy fleet

Skippers meeting

Teams arrive at Lidingö, Sweden

Archipelago Raid 2009 in August

The competitors talk about the Archipelago Raid

French Team Kalix Wins Archipelago Raid 08

Flat Calm Over the Baltic Sea

The Pressure is On for the Frontrunners

Long Day for the Fleet

Full Speed to the Finnish Archipelago

Start of Leg 5 postponed 2h

Cold Day for the Race

Report Day 2

Klinger Retires after Restart this Morning

Great Conditions for the First Day

A Tight Start

The Teams are Ready to Rock

10 Nationalities to Archipelago Raid, 13-18 June

Dame Ellen MacArthur to Archipelago Raid 2008

Finnish Sportnetwork

DATES FOR ARCHIPELAGO RAID 2008