Archipelago Raid - bigger than ever

25 teams to compete in this year's four day non-stop ride through the Swedish and Finnish islands

On 9 August, 25 teams and 11 nations will start from Stockholm for the fourth edition of the Archipelago Raid. During four days and four nights of intense navigation on Formula 18 catamarans, among the largest archipelago of Europe (100 000 islands), the competitors will sail nearly 500 nautical miles in search of 30 check-points.

This year’s edition of the Archipelago Raid will be the toughest ever. More experienced teams, longer course and darker nights, as the event will take place in August instead of July, will increase the level of the competition and its difficulties.

Every year the concept of the Archipelago Raid is attracting more sailors. “The first year, when we started with a pilot edition to test the new concept of the event, only five Formula 18 boats existed in Sweden. Now they are more than 40… In three years, the success of the Formula 18 class in Sweden is very relevant to the success of the Archipelago Raid” said organiser Christine Salén, at Atlant Ocean Racing.

More than one month before the start, 25 teams, representing 11 nationalities, are already registered. Competitors from England, Finland, Poland, France, Switzerland, USA, Chile, New Caledonia, and New Zealand will try to dethrone the Swedish team, Anders Lewander/Calle Hennix ( Tidermans), winners of last year’s race.

Competitors include American David Scully, watch-captain on the maxi-catamaran Playstation, who will compete with the English female sailor Claire Bailey.

Swiss trimaran sailor and skipper of Banque Covefi, Steve Ravussin, will be back in the Baltic archipelagos. He won the first edition of the Archipelago Raid with Groupama skipper Franck Cammas, but will this year compete with the New-Caledonian Olympic medallist, Franck David.

The French team Eric Proust/Yann Andrillon is one of the most experienced teams in the Formula 18 class and specialist of offshore events like the Archipelago Raid. Like Yvan Bourgnon /Gerard Navarin and Thibaut Vauchel/Jeremie Lagarrigue, they will discover the difficulties of the navigation through 100 000 islands, and all three teams will surely be among the favourites of the 2004 edition.

The winners of the three previous editions: Steve Ravussin (2001), Magnus Woxen (2002) and Anders Lewander/Calle Hennix (2003) will all be back to try and better their performance.

The ambition of Atlant Ocean Racing is to create a top level sailing competition in extreme conditions, while discovering the exceptional maritime arena of the Baltic archipelagos.


The race

Sailed among the exception Åland and Finnish archipelagos between them comprising 100 000 islands, Atlant Ocean Racing has created the largest and most extreme orienteering sailing competition in the world.

The international teams have to sail intensively for four days and four nights searching for 30 check points located on beaches or pontoons dotted around the archipelagos. The course will vary between 400 and 500 nautical miles depending on weather conditions.

All the competitors (two persons per team) have the same type of boat: small (5,5 metres), but very fast catamarans called the Formula 18. Paddling is allowed, so the competitors have no time to rest, even in very light wind conditions.

The event aims at being one of extreme endurance and performance in sailing, respecting nature in an adventurous spirit.

The start is in the heart of Stockholm Djurgården (Junibacken) on 9 August and the arrival is on 13 August in Gustavsberg (outside Stockholm).

Official partner: SONY

Official suppliers: Sail Racing, Silva, Inntech, Sjöassistans, Nordic Sea Hotels, AllvärdersKort, Redners

Official Headquarters: Nynäshavsbad, Sandhamn Hotell & Konferens, Fejan Krog in the Swedish archipelago, Mariehamn ÅSS in Åland.

Event Organiser: Atlant Ocean Racing, in cooperation with yacht clubs LSS, Lidingö Seglarsällskap and ÅSS, Åländska Segelsällskapet. Atlant Ocean Racing is based in Stockholm, specialised in managing international sailing projects and events ( Team EF, Assa Abloy in the Volvo Ocean Race, Nokia Oops Cup, SAP Match Cup, trimaran Goretex…).

The teams

Team Tidermans – Anders Lewander (SWE) and Calle Hennix (SWE)

They won last year’s edition of the Archipelago Raid, but that is not enough! So they are back and ready to show that they can do it again! This year they will sail on a new Formula 18, a Cirrus 18. You don’t change a winning team so they will be sailing together for the third time in the Archipelago Raid with the same loyal partner, Tidermans.

Anders is used to sail on all types of crazy machines, from the Australian Skiffs to the 49er. He is the 'King of Instability'. He is also a sailmaker and responsible for North Sails in Sweden. After sailing the Whitbread on The Card (25m), Swedish America’s Cup Tre Kronor (25m), Nordic races on Big T (21 m), Admiral’s Cup (3 times) and the Oops Cup on Sony (18m trimaran), Calle Hennix is thrilled to continue his racing in this very small boat (5.5 m).


Team Sogeti – Magnus Woxén (SWE) and Rodney Ardern (NZ)

Last year they were very close to get to the highest step of the podium. Magnus Woxén and Rodney showed outstanding performance in the fierce competition last year. With their vast ocean racing experience both from the Whitbread and the Volvo Ocean Race, the ability to keep going in the cold and wet conditions without sleep, and on top of it all Magnus’ extensive knowledge of the Swedish archipelago, they are back and not for the second place... but for Victory.

They sailed together around the world (Whitbread and Volvo Race) onboard Swedish Match and Team SEB.

Magnus won the 2002 edition of the Archipelago Raid with Klabbe Nylöf and is sailing intensively on HIQ, in the Oops Cup (Open 60 multihulls competition, also organised by Atlant Ocean Racing).

Rodney has a large America’s Cup experience after 4 very successful campaigns (NZC ’92, Tag Heuer ’95, Nippon ’00, Alinghi ’03). Watch out! They are back.


Team Jobman Workwear - Björn Hansen (Åland) and Tore Lewander (SWE)

Björn Hansen has been on the international scene of Match Racing for many years now.
Ranked fifth in the world in 2003, he is a Match Racing specialist but also an adventurer
and a fighter. As the only person in the fleet who has already participated three times in
the Archipelago Raid, he knows what to expect and is ready to come back. This time he is sailing together with Tore Lewander, the brother of Anders. Tore is a sailmaker, top class match racing sailor as well as a confident 49:er sailor.

No doubt that Tore would like to demonstrate that it is Anders Lewander who is the brother of Tore and not vice versa…


Team Macfreeze - Anders Tengbom (SWE) and Fred Wikström (SWE)

They were the first team to register and they are back with the same partner. Anders and Fred are avid sailors since childhood and have both sailed Gotland Runt a number of times on different boats. Apart from that they have competed in various inshore races around the Stockholm Archipelago on Star-boats, Dragons and 6-metres. They participated in this year’s Lidingö Runt and Roslagen Searace and trained a lot during the spring. With Fred’s experience from the military service as boat captain they have a good knowledge of the tricky navigation in the archipelago. Anders is a very experienced windsurfer.

About their second participation in the Archipelago Raid they say “We came 6th in 2003, which we were very pleased with. We understand that the competition this year will be fiercer than ever before. However, we have a brand new boat and more training and experience. Therefore we aim to finish among the top three”

Last year they aimed to finish better than the previous year and they did, so watch out!!!


Proust sailing – Eric Proust (FR) and Yann Andrillon (FR)

Eric has been sailing all his life on Formula 18 and Hobie 16. He is one of the best in the world and is representing Hobie Cat in the main championships. His track record is filling pages and pages of podium results. He is as confident around 3 buoys as on long distance raids.

He has been sailing with Yann Andrillon for a few years and if they succeed to handle the navigation difficulties of the event, they will for sure be on the top list for the podium.


FIN 1383 – Janne Riihelä (FIN) and Kalle Bask (FIN)

Kalle is 21 and the youngest competitor of the 2004 edition.

Janne and Kalle have already been competing in several World Championships and sailing on all kind of boats, from 49er to H-Boat and IMS. They bought a Formula 18 last year and started sailing on 2 hulls. They are young, talented and very motivated for their first experience in the Archipelago Raid.


Banque Covefi – Pierre Yves Moreau (FR) and Peter Desmedt (FR)

Starting his sailing carrier on Mini 6,50m boat with a 2nd position in the Mini Transat 1999, Pierre Yves was quickly part of the sailing team on the Open 60 trimaran Banque Covefi and on the Open 60 monohulls ( Fila, Armor Lux). With his complete knowledge of boat building and project managing, he has now the responsibility as boat captain on the trimaran Banque Covefi, under skipper Steve Ravussin.

With Peter Desmedt, they will compete for the first time in the Archipelago Raid.


Candino-Swiss Watch - Steve Ravussin (SWITZ) and Franck David (NEW-CAL)

Swiss sailor, Steve Ravussin, returns to the Baltic archipelagos. He is the skipper of the Open 60 trimaran Banque Covefi and is well-known for pushing the trimarans to their limit, especially solo. He has crossed the Atlantic solo several times. He won the first edition of the Archipelago Raid with Franck Cammas. This year, he will compete with the talented windsurfer, the New Caledonian Olympic medallist Franck David. Franck is also the project manager of Steve Ravussin for his 60ft trimaran Banque Covefi.


Team Addicom– Fredrik Adilstam (SWE) and Pontus Johansson (SWE)

In two participations Fredrik Adilstam finished twice on the podium: 2nd in 2002 and 3rd in 2003. Now he is eager for victory. This year he will sail with Pontus Johansson competed in the Archipelago Raid for the first time last year.

They have been training hard to try to reach the top podium place this year. Together they competed in the Round Texel 2004, in the Netherlands, and finished 2nd in the Hobie Tiger class.


Team AB Gustavsberg - Eskil Degsell (SWE) and Peter Mickos (SWE)

Eskil is one of the rare Swedish solo sailors. He knows the importance of endurance in a long distance sailing competition like the Archipelago Raid. He finished in second position of the first edition of the Archipelago Raid in 2001. This year, Eskil will be associated to a very experienced catamaran sailor, Peter Mickos. Peter, professional fireman, was sailing intensively on Tornado last year, making a trial with Hans Wallén for the Olympics Games in Athens. He was co-skipper with Björn Hansen during the first edition of the Archipelago Raid.

They will fight to be the first boat passing the finish line at Gustavsberg, the 13th of August.


Team X-Scape and X-Leisure – William Sunnucks (GB) and Mark Self (GB)

They are known as 'Britain’s leading long distance catamaran sailors', they were UK long distance champions in 2002 and 2003 and have a good chance to the title again in 2004. They also won the Hurricane National Championships 2002 (52 boats) and the Tornado National Championships in 2003 (22 boats) and were the first Brits to complete the Worrell 1000.

“Since 2000 I have been sailing with Mark Self, and we seem to have carved for ourselves a niche in sailing long distance catamaran races. Unlike the other British crew, David Scully and Claire Bailey, we have little experience of offshore sailing. We think we can sail the boat well, but will we be able to navigate, and keep ourselves warm and safe? We don’t know. This will be our first opportunity to test ourselves against serious offshore racers.” affirms William who also did two Olympic campaigns coming 2nd in the UK Olympic trials in 1992, and 3rd in 1996 and beat the Texel Round race record in 1997 that still stands after the 2004 race.

Mark is a sailmaker and William, the finance director of a large quoted property company. X-Scape is the brand for their indoor skiing and leisure business. X-Leisure is the brand for a string of 17 urban entertainment complexes.


Swe 1052 - Bengt Jacobson (SWE) and Jan Schiratzki (SWE)

Two Swedes who onboard X99’s and J80’s, have done their off-shore training during several Gotland Runt races. These are also the classes in which they have competed extensively and with good results for many years. Jan has also been part of the racing crew on the old maxi racer Very Bright 1995-96. Since last year they have focused on the Hobie Tiger and have trained intensively. Last year they finished 7th in the Archipelago Raid and were 3rd in the Hobie Tiger Swedish ranking.


Team Saserq Marinepool – Thibaut Vauchel (FR) and Jeremie Lagarrigue (FR)

The youngest team of the Archipelago Raid 2004 is from France. Thibaut is 26 and Jeremie 22. In 2002, they finished 3rd at the Hobie Cat 16 Worlds and in 2003 they were 3rd at the Eurocorsica (Raid around Corsica), 1st at the Costarmoricaine and 1st at the Raid Mont St Michel.

They are young and have the ambition to be among the best Formula 18 sailors in the world in the coming years. They will compete for the first time in the Archipelago Raid and will represent the Italian brand Mattia Formula 18


Team Slam - Stefan Engstrand (SWE) and Max Larsvall (SWE)

New sponsor, new boat, new co-skipper, Stefan just wants revenge from last year. Before crossing Ålandshav, his boat broke down and the team had to retire from the last part of the Archipelago Raid 2003. They will be more aggressive than ever.


Twinwire - David Scully (USA) and Claire Bailey (GB)

David Scully is one of the fastest sailors in the world. He has 13 world speed sailing records in his pocket. Watch captain on Playstation and co-skipper on most of the sailing adventures of American billionaire Steve Fossett. He also has a strong solo sailing experience after competing in the Figaro Race in France and the Around Alone (solo around the world). He will sail for the first time in the Baltic archipelagos and his co-skipper is the English female sailor Claire Bailey. They will sail on a Nacra F 18.


Team Bourgnon/Navarin – Yvan Bourgnon (SWITZ) and Gerard Navarin (FR)

Yvan Bourgnon is one of the most experienced French solo 60ft trimaran sailors. He finished 1st and 3rd in the Transat Jacques Vabre 1997 and 99. In 1995, he won the Mini-Transat (solo across Atlantic on 6,5m monohull) . He has the speed record on 60ft trimaran covering 625 nautical miles sailed in 24 hours. In 2003, he won the French championship of Raids on Formula 18. Gérard Navarin is also one of the most experienced sailors on Formula 18. He got a world record crossing the Atlantic on his Hobie Cat Tiger. He won the Hobie Tiger World championship in 1997. He also got a world speed sailing record: 42,12 knots in 1997 onboard the speed boat Techniques Avancées. They will sail on a Cirrus F18 and watch out – they will be dangerous!


New Rules - Cristobal Urenda (CHI) / George Nieto (CHI)

They both come from Chile and will sail under the colours of a Chilean Yacht Club.


Team Monfrino/Qvarnström - Ulf Qvarnström (SWE) and Fredrik Monfrino (SWE)

Ulf and Fredrik will compete for the first time in the Archipelago Raid. They are used to sail in the classical Swedish competitions Gotland Runt, Lidingö Runt, Augustimånen
They won the Swedish championships in Carrera, X79 in 2001. And are usually sailing on Express and Safir


IBX - Lars Linder (SWE) and Gustav Hasselskog (SWE)

Lars and Gustav have been sailing together for eight years from offshore sailing to Åland, Finland and Estonia, to match racing on J80 boats. They were both boat chiefs in Sweden’s amphibian troops. They were spending 10 months, training in high-speed navigation on-board a 40 knots Combat boat in the Stockholm Archipelago and along the Swedish coast. It will be their first participation in the Archipelago Raid


Novo Nordisk Sailing Team - Arne Sjöberg (SWE) and Per Isacson (SWE)

Arne won all the Championships (World, European, and Swedish) in the 11 Metre One Design class and needed a new Challenge, something completely different and new. He decided to put together a two years campaign for the Archipelago Raid.

Arne has diabetes (type 1) which makes this campaign a double challenge and attracted his sponsor, Novo Nordisk, the largest insulin producer world wide. Besides his sailing skills, Per has experience as a speed boat driver/navigator and his knowledge about the tricky Stockholm archipelago will be useful.

“We are probably one of the oldest teams with 48 and 49 years on our neck but we will try hard to match the younger teams” says Arne after his first victory in the Lidingö Runt, onboard his bright new Cirrus F18.

They will compete for the first time in the Archipelago Raid.


Team PAF - Patrick Blom (FIN) and Kasimir Johansson (FIN)

They are young. Patrick is 25 and Kasimir 27 and they already have an impressive track record, with a strong 49er experience and several 1st and 2nd places in Match Racing and Europe class in Finnish Championships.

Patrick is also a Kitewing Pro Rider and Kasimir a Sailing Coach for youth national squad.

It will be their first participation in the Archipelago Raid. They will try their best to win at least the Åland leg to have time to visit their partner PAF, a casino in Mariehamn.


Team Petter/Peter - Petter Lindblad (SWE) and Peter Lund (SWE)

After crossing the Atlantic and competing in the Gotland Round Race, these two young Swedes wanted a new challenge. They have been sailing for 3 years on their Hobie Tiger and feel ready for their first experience in the Archipelago Raid.


Team Addicom - Joakim Ögren, (SWE) and Henrik Gattberg (SWE)


TBC - Tomas Marimon (SWE) and Magnus Nordström (SWE)

Magnus is a specialist of Hobie 16. In 2000 he competed in the HEY2K, a catamaran raid organised by Hobie Cat Sweden, Malmö-Sandhamn (350 nm) non-stop.
All together, they have been competing in 6 World Championships, 2 European Championships on Hobie Cat 16, 2 European Championships on Hobie Tiger and this year Magnus will compete in the F18 World Championships.

It will be their third participation in the Archipelago Raid. They were co-skippers of Joakim Kempf and Fredrik Adilstam last year on the two Nokia teams and have decided to put their own team together.


Team Westergren/Lövden - Per Westergren, (SWE) and Magnus Lövdén (SWE)

Per was sailing on big boats Europolitan (ex- Rothmans) and Avant (ex Intrum) and on the 60ft trimaran First Hotels, with the Finnish 49er gold medalist Tomas Johansson. He is now working for Hobiecat Sweden and leading the Swedish Hobie-Tiger Cup. Magnus is one of the Swedish specialists of two hulled sailing. He was two times representing Sweden in Tornado Class for the Olympic Games Atlanta 1996 and Sidney 2000. In 2002, he had to withdraw from the Archipelago Raid after a few hours. He is back for revenge.


Team Stockholm Vatten – Patrik Forsgren (SWE) and Niklas Nordblom (SWE)

First race, first victory. They finished first at the Nacka Yacht Race at the beginning of this season. They won the World Championships in 2,4 mR and the Swedish championship in Express Class. Silver and bronze in Starboat, 606, 2.4mR, 470, Flying Dutchman, 6 mR in the Swedish Championships. They are competing for the first time in the Archipelago Raid and will try to get “'gold position' again.


Team TBC – Filip Engelbert (SWE) and Joachim Ekdahl (SWE)

They will sail on the winning boat from 2003 (ex Tidermans). They don’t have so much experience in multihulls sailing but this year is to learn about all the difficulties of the Archipelago Raid. No doubt they will learn quickly and will come back with more experience in 2005. They have been sailing on 40F, 50F, R6, 11 meter and J80 series and Joachim has also been sailing on the Maxiboat Nicorette.

TBC - Neal McDonald (GB) and Lisa McDonald (USA)

The most famous sailing couple in the world are back for the Archipelago Raid, a third time in a row! During the Volvo Ocean Race 2001/02, Lisa was the skipper of Amer Sport 2 (the female team) and Neal was the skipper of Assa Abloy - two as demanding challenges, to be skipper of a 12 crew member team around the World. They are now intensively working on putting their own project together for the next edition of the Volvo Race. They would be the first couple to handle such a project around the world. Neal has also sailed non-stop around the world on multihulls, for a while claiming the Jules Verne record around the world. Since then Neal has done another half loop around the world on Kingfisher II - a 110 foot catamaran, with Ellen MacArthur as skipper.

Apart from big boat sailing, Neal has also a career as a skiff sailor behind him, a skill most valuable on the Hobie Tiger. Lisa is also used to dinghy sailing since the start of her sailing career and this strong married couple managed to perform well and threaten the winners two year ago, finally finishing on third place. Even though Lisa stated that “all sailors, female or male must be mad going through this!” they must have enjoyed the challenge since they are back for another Archipelago Raid.


Hobiecat.nu - Pia L’Obry (SWE) and Jens Österlund (SWE)

Hobie Cat specialist and Hobie Cat dealer in Sweden, Pia L’Obry was also the first Swede to compete in the Transat 6,50 (solo sailing across the Atlantic on a 6,5 m boat). Pia took part in the Archipelago Raid already in 2002 together with Liz Wardley as the only female team and gave all the top guys a really good match, finally finishing in 5th place. This year she will be associated with Jens Österlund. Jens has been racing International Canoe (IC) at top level since mid-80's and is also Pia’s partner in life. The rumour says “if your couple survives the Archipelago Raid, your relationship will survive for life…” Is that a test???


TBC - Fredrik Hansen (SWE) and Christopher “Bamse” Ringhagen (USA/SWE)

Fredrik and Christopher, or “Bamse” as he is most often referred to, had to withdraw from the previous edition of the Archipelago Raid. With many years of dinghy sailing in the archipelago behind him, most of them in faster, more unstable dinghies, Fredrik is used to this type of sailing. He enjoys it even more when food, drink and sea charts are a mere luxury. Bamse is a marine officer who has been in the big boat scene for quite a while sailing Open 60 Multihulls for few years. He was part of the trimaran Goretex (ex Spirit of Apricot) team this year, beside Magnus Olsson for the Oops Cup.


TBC – Frederique Pfeiffer (FR) and Diana Bogaards (NED)

They are usually competing against each other in World Championships, European Championships, Texel Round etc…

They are extremely motivated and are trying to put a last minute team together for being the only female team in the Archipelago Raid 2004. They have a lot of experience in the Formula 18 class and Frederique already competed in the Archipelago Raid in 2002. Very frustrated to have to withdraw after few hours, she wants to come back and fight all the way to the finish line. Frederique was world champion in Hobie Cat 16 in 1997 and 2000 and also knows a lot about long distance sailing on Formula 18.

Beside her strong experience in sailing Formula 18, Diana is also an active sailing journalist. She will take the opportunity of competing in the Archipelago Raid with Frederique to write an article about this extreme experience seen from the inside.