Archipelago Raid Sweden - Proust Wins Sailing Kalix

Stockholm, Sweden - Eric Proust and Romain Motteau have won the six day Archipelago Raid sailing race on the catamaran Kalix. This race through the Åland and Finnish archipelago has tested not only the sailing expertise, but the endurance and orienteering skills of these extreme athletes.

From the very beginning of this race, Proust and Motteau were the team to beat. There were 47 checkpoints at the "Raid", and team Kalix was first at 16 of them, second at 14, and won four of the 11 sailing legs. This surprised no one however, as this is the fifth time Proust has competed in the Archipelago Raid; that experience and preparation clearly gave his team an advantage. ”We have been preparing a lot for the Archipelago Raid this year. Romain trained one month entirely for the raid!” said Proust about his team's win.

The Archipelago Raid is widely considered to be one of the toughest sailboat races in the world. Proust describes it as “difficult, superb, and unique”. Sailing small Formula 18 catamarans 14 to 16 hours a day, with only short camping stops to catch a couple of hours sleep between legs, this race can test even the most seasoned sailor's stamina, and this year's race was no exception. Couple the lack of quality sleep with the necessity of orienteering for over 550 miles between the thousands of islands and unmarked rocks in the archipelago, and you can see why this race attracted such highly competitive teams - teams that leave their competitors no room for error.

The ability to repair your boat on the fly is another under-appreciated skill necessary in the sport of extreme sailing, as Team Thule learned the hard way when they hit a rock in the last leg, causing damage to their daggerboard. The sailors had to saw out the daggerboard, which had broken in three places, and continue sailing with only one. This didn't stop the team from catching up to the leaders however, to finish the final leg in first.

This years Archipelago Raid also saw sailor Ellen MacArthur competing for the second time, finishing ninth with crew Greg Homann of Australia on BT. “It has been great, the race is amazing. We knew we couldn’t win as Greg and I have not trained much on the boat. We participated for the pleasure and we have learnt a lot. All the other competitors have been great. It has been a relaxed atmosphere but a very high level with a lot of experience among the fleet.”

-- Archipelago Raid Course --
Start and finish in Stockholm City, by Djurgården.
Course Stockholm, Åland and Finnish archipelagos:
• Lido, Stockholm archipelago, 13 June
• Lappo in the Åland archipelago, 14 June
• Nagu Muncipality in the Finnish archipelago, 15 June
• Rödhamn in the Åland archipelago, 16 June
• Sandhamn in the Stockholm archipelago, 17 June
• Finish in Stockholm City Centre, 18 June

-- Archipelago Raid Final Results --

• 1. Team Kalix, Eric Proust & Romain Motteau - Fra
• 2. Team Thule, Martin Strandberg & Johan Örtendahl - Swe
• 3. X-Leisure, William Sunnucks & Simon Farren - UK
• 4. Team BLUE Oceans, Conrad Humphreys & Ryan Crawford - UK
• 5. RBSC Huysman, Patrick Demesmaeker & Michel Proot – Bel
• 6. Team Garmin, John Bäck & Gustav Morin - Swe
• 7. One Design Center, Martin Hållsten & Malcom Hanes - Swe
• 8. SWE 558, Ola Person & Tomas Westergren - Swe
• 9. BT, Ellen MacArthur & Greg Homann - UK/Aus
• 10. Dare 2, Vincent Andre & Alessandro Vercio - Belg/Ital
• 11. N-Group, Matti Nieminen & Mikko Nieminen – Fin
• 12. GB Glace, Karin Almquist & Karin Berg - Swe
• 13. Cottonfield, Jouni Romppanen & Jari Pekka Kiiski - Fin
• 14. HH-Marin, Thomas Ekefalk & Carl Johan Söder – Swe
• 15. Team GUL Sweden, Noel Barkelius & Henrik Gattberg - Swe
• 16. ÅBIT, Ronny Haals & Jonathan Barck - Ål
• 17. Stelacon, Lars Linder & Karl Petersson - Swe
• 18. First Hotels, Rune Aasberg & Kristian Ask - Nor
• 19. Berotec, Paul Rosenquist & Charlotte Willemse - Ned
• 20. Team NCC, Olof Berensson & Magnus Wadstein - Swe
• Retired:Klinger (14/6), Thommy Sundström & Markus Lagerqvist - Swe
• Retired:Sundvalls Bygg (16/6), Fredrik Ekman & Gustav Tempelman - Swe

Team Kalix Crew: Romain Motteau of France

Photos of the Archipelago Raid by Th. Martinez

READ MORE ABOUT THE ARCHIPELAGO RAID.

- KH