New 30ft multihull record

Crazy German-Swedish team sail SeaCart tri around Gotland in the depths of winter

The four challengers onboard the SeaCart 30 trimaran Playing for Success (formerly belonging to Pete Goss) were in good spirits after a well sailed first 150nm at an average speed of nearly 13 knots. It took them less than 12 hours to reach the most southern checkpoint in the 311nm long Round Gotland Midwinter Challenge. This opened up speculation amongst the crew: Could the dreamtime of getting the record for sailing round Gotland in a 30ft multihull in less than 24 hours be up for grabs?

They didn’t realize that things were to change dramatically!

This was the third challenge ever to break the round Gotland course record for this class. The two before took place in the middle in December, a time of year when daylight is just a few hours each day in this part of the world. This time the challengers deliberately started at a time enabling them to sail the final stretch in daylight. This proved a smart move as it would be when the crew are most tired and freezing cold. Staying awake and keeping your body moving in the cold is a much more pleasant choice than catching up on sleep when you are confident you will freeze to death or lose your teeth in the process! But it’s tough to keep going at high speeds in sub-zero conditions - an important factor in the planning of such a challenge.

After a splendid first high speed session to the turning point at Hoburgen Reef the wind shifted from the northwest to the southwest and softened. This was not good for anything other than the crew getting a chance to study the famous 'rauk' stones when gybing in and out of the east coastt of Gotland. This 82nm section of the course got the crew wondering if they would ever get to break the record.

After the final gybe outside Fårö (on the north tip of Gotland) Playing For Success was lining up for a fast home straight, speeding along at around 16 knots. At this stage the crew felt that the record was again in reach when mother nature played another new card on the cold, tired crew.

The distance between Gotland and Gotska Sandön (island) is about 25nm, then another 56nm to the finish line at the fuel dock in Sandhamn. Closing in on Gotska Sandön, the wind strength was up and down thus requiring constant sail changes. But things became even worse for the stressed crew: A complete calm in the middle of the Baltic Sea was an unreal experience for the crew now starting to lose any hope for a successful conclusion to this record attempt. Minutes and hours where lost with Playing for Success making only six knots towards the Swedish coastline. With 23nm to go the atmopshere on board reached a new low but as the saying goes 'It’s not over until the fat lady sings.'



After what seemed a lifetime's wait a cold, fresh 12 knot WSWerly filled in, the last chance to bag the record! So with the pedal to the metal the crew pushed harder then ever to make it home in time.

Success! They made it inside the record time by a margin of just 32 minutes and 3 seconds. Thus the new record for the 30ft multihull class is: 27 hours 26 minutes and 39 seconds.



At the vital debriefing at the pub in at Seglarhotellet in Sandhamn the crew felt confident that the 24 hour time for a 30 ft multihull on this course is possible in better conditions. So the plan is on for another attempt next winter. The record is a great challenge and a hard test on boat and crew.

The crew who sailed Playing For Success were:

Skipper: Thomas Reinke, GER (1964), one of the owners of the Sportmohr Company. Apart from dealing Hobie Cats and Corsair Multihulls, he is also the winner of many national catamaran races.

Crew: Michael Walther, GER (1981) has sailed for 15 years with his older brother Thomas aboard different catamarans in national and international races. The last three years he competed in the Archipelago Raid in different Formula 18 catamarans. In 2007 he and his brother won the German Hobie Tiger Championships and the national ranking as well.

Crew: Calle Hennix, SWE (1963) ex. Round the World and America's Cup racer, founder of the SeaCart 30 One Design trimarans Class.

Crew: Mikael Lundh, SWE (1972) ex. Whitbread with Swedish Match and V.O.R.
with djuice, Admirals' Cup, Fastnet Race to name a few races he has participated in.

More photos on page 2....