Rock hopping

Young French team continue to pull ahead in the closing stages of the Archipelago Raid

The competitors in the Archipelago Raid were compensated today for yesterday’s hours and hours of paddling. Sun, blue skies and perfect wind conditions gave the sailors new energy and tightened up the fleet. The checkpoint after Nagu was Kökar, challenging for the sailor's navigation, as the charts contain little information on what’s under the surface.

Friday’s last checkpoint is Mariehamn in Åland, where the sailors can get a few hours rest before they start again tomorrow morning at four, toward the Archipelago Raids final destination in Sandhamn. The first boat to finish in Mariehamn today was the regular sight: Outils Océan, who once again are continuing to extend their lead. Two minutes after came Yamaha Yamarin, with Tidermans third.

Everything went fast today, the field tightened up and not many minutes separated the teams, particularly between the top teams.

"This was a new experience in life, one of the best, says Tidermans' Anders Lewander, when he and Hanse Thorslund came in as third boat at checkpoint Kökar in the Finnish archipelago. "Of course it’s the racing experience of being first, second, third, first, third and so on with Proust and Vauchel, but the beauty of nature in Kökar is totally incredible!"

"All the red beaches, the rocks and the contrasts, and the underwater rocks! We sailed 12 knots with unmarked charts!" adds Hanse Thorslund.

Thibaut Vauchel, the skipper of the leading boat Outils Océan, described this area as a 'mine field'. "The navigation is really important here because you have to pass through areas with an incredible amount of rocks, and everyone tries to guard themselves by looking at what the others are doing."

In the event hardly any team has escaped from damaging rudders and daggerboards, or badly hitting the ground. And in 12 knots that is a risky business.

Latest results:

Pos	Boat	Helm	Crew	Tot
1	Outils Oceans	Thibaut Vauchel (FRA)	Jeremie Lagarrigue (FRA)	130
2	Yamaha Yamarin	Eric Proust (FRA)	Yann Andrillon (FRA)	116.5
3	ICOM	Patrick Blom (FIN)	Kasimir Johansson (FIN)	113.5
4	Tidermans	Anders Lewander (SWE)	Hanse Thorslund (SWE)	109
5	Brossard	Yvan Bourgnon (FRA)	Olivier Gagliani (BEL)	95
6	Yamaha Finnmaster	Björn Hansen (ÅLD)	Tore Lewander (ÅLD)	92
7	Ledstiernan	Johan Gnosspelius (SWE)	Roger Bodén (SWE)	81
8	Team Sport Mohr	Thomas Walther (GER)	Michael Walther (GER)	79
9	GB Glace	Bengt Nissar (SWE)	Jan Schiratzki (SWE)	75.5
10	Team PWA	Bo Ehrhardt (DEN)	Mads Ehrhardt (DEN)	72
11	Tieto Enator	Thomas Hacklin (FIN)	Joonas Björkman (FIN)	67
12	Hobiecat.se	Jens Österlund (SWE)	Greg Holmann	59
13	Metro Hus&Hem/Novo Nordisk	Thomas Ekefalk (SWE)	Per Isacsson (SWE)	57
14	Stelacon	Lars Linder (SWE)	Ronny Haals (ÅLD)	56
15	Aktivitetsteamet	Petter Åström (SWE)	Robert Albinsson (SWE)	54
16	Yamaha Buster	Michael Schibbye (SWE)	Fredrik Brusewitz (SWE)	48
17	Sitescanner	Olle Bodelius (SWE	Johan Magnusson (SWE)	47
18	Team Powerbar	David Scully (USA)	Claire Bailey (GBR)	37
19	Team 40+	Fredrik Karlsson (SWE)	Gustaf Nyblaeus (SWE)	37
20	The Little Gym	Karl Brodin (SWE)	Mårten Bäckman (SWE)	35
21	HH Marin	Carl-Johan Söder (SWE)	Petter Elmstedt (SWE)	30
22	Yamaha Waverunner	Charles-Etienne Devanneaux (FRA)	Peter Desmedt (BEL)	28
23	Netigate	Fredrik Hansen (SWE)	Jonas Engstedt (SWE)	16