Big conditions for Round Denmark Race

Bols supermaxi lines up against the 60ft trimarans in her first race outing

The Swedish 60 feet trimaran HiQ, with skipper Klas “Klabbe” Nylöf and navigator Roger Nilson on board have set a new speed record in Denmark’s largest offshore race, the Sjælland Rundt (round Denmark race). With winds gusting up to 48 knots and very rough conditions, HiQ crossed the finish line on Saturday afternoon. By this stage 235 of the 275 starters had already pulled out of the race.

The new record set by HiQ of 20 hours and 30 minutes beat the old record from last years Round Sealand Race by eight and a half hours. It has been a very tough race for the crew. The focus was to sail conservatively and safely in order to try and slow down the boat. Despite trying this they still reached boat speeds of over 35 knots.

Their Danish competitor Nokia had to pull out of the race six hours after the start when suffering severe damage to their mainsail. At the time Nokia was 10 minutes ahead of HiQ.

The Sjælland Rundt was also the first race outing for the new Bols. The 93ft supermaxi finished the event as she had begun it, crossing the finish line at over 25knots. Due to the nature of the waters around Denmark and the bridges there are two course records for the event, a short course of 280nm and a long one of 330nm. Due to the height of her mast and depth of her keel Bols was required to sail the longer course but the objective of her crew and skipper Gordon Kay was to break the short course record.

The strong westerly flow ensuring a fast reach for the start, then forcing Bols to harden up, closer to the wind until she would be forced to beat upwind for 60nm before reaching the western side of Sjaelland and once again sailing in a freeing breeze before setting the gennaker for the last 55nm.

The wind was forecast to lighten a little during the night but by the time Bols reached the southernmost point of Sjaelland the wind was solidly in the 30knot range as the crew changed gear from full main and code3 to two reefs and a code4. As they began the beat with 2-3 metre short steep seas the wind was gusting to 40knots and Bols was charging upwind at 12 knots launching from wave to wave in a wild, wet and unpleasant ride. The motion was incredibly violent and boat and crew were having a real workout.

Towards the end of the of the beat and the half way stage they were just half a mile behind the 60ft trimaran HiQ. The crew were energised, with the boat on course for the record safely through the potential boat breaking conditions.

As Bols headed north with the wind further aft the speed climbed to 14, 16, then a solid 18-20 knots on the reach before they were able to bear away and set the spinnaker for the final run home.

During the hoist the pole end was snapped and so the crew were forced to sail with the A6 spinnaker (masthead 724sqm) tacked onto the bow rather than flying on the pole...hardly ideal but still the giant monohull charged on sailing at 22-27 knots in 25 knots of wind, changing to a smaller A9 spinnaker for the final run to the line.

After 22hrs Bols crossed the finish line, flying past the town of Helsingnor and setting a new record that will be hard to break.

The next main race for both Bols and the Oops Cup trimarans is the Gotland Rundt starting next Sunday (from which The Daily Sail will be reporting from on board Bols).

In the interim, there is the Sandhamn City Race for the trimarans starting on Friday.