Return of the King

Fram IMS winner to be dusted off and brought out on to the race course again this season reports Jon Amtrup

King Harald of Norway is set to take his Farr-designed IMS racer from 2001 out of the shed this season. Since last year the Fram team has been too busy sailing their new TP 52 Fram XVI in the Mediterranean to have time to sail their IMS racer which they won the IMS European in Sandhamn, Sweden back in 2005.

But this year it is back to IMS business. In August they will be back in the class. The IMS World Championships is to be sailed over 11-18 August at Hankø, south in the Oslofjord, Norway, this year.

Right now there are 20 entries, but the number is increasing every day. Among the entries are two Grand Soleil 42Rs, Finn Jani Lehti in Alfa Romeo and Sverre Valeur in Team Bergen. The highly successful Swedish IMS sailor Ralf Aspholm is also coming with his Sinergia 40 Data Communication.

"There will at least be 10- 15 more Norwegian boats entering by the end of July. I have also been in contact with 5-10 more foreign boats that have said they will come," says Thomas Nilsson, chairman in the Norwegian Offshore Racing Club.