The Archipelago Raid is notorious for the range of conditions it throws at the sailors, the magnificent landscape that the competitors must navigate and the obstacles that stand in their way. And this year was no different - there were two dismastings, a near sinking and numerous collisions with rocks causing significant daggerboard issues for the teams as well as broken gennaker poles and ripped sails. The victory for the French was even more significant as they have never competed in the event before so also win the rookies prize.

But the event is an extreme race through one of the world’s most fascinating wonders and provided some world-class sailing. Olympic medallists lined up next to Americas Cup sailors and Raid rookies were pushing the old timers to the limit. At every stage of the event there were personal battles being fought as sailors were trying to maintain their speed, navigate and make the right tactical decisions. The German Nissan team sailed a great race till the fourth day when they suffered irreparable daggerboard damage and were forced to retire.

However this event is not just about the sailing, with teams from 10 countries coming from around the world including a team from New Zealand, it is also about the unique area that the teams sail in and the islands they visit. Due to lack of wind on the first day the fleet spent an extra night on the pristine beach at Bjorno before moving on to the small island of Fejan where the crews were able to shower for the first time. From Fejan the fleet headed north via a number of checkpoints to the small island of Lappo in the Aland archipelago. From there, the teams head back south to the town of Mariehamn before crossing back across the Baltic Sea to the finish in Sandhamn.

29 boats started the race with 5 retiring due to a number of things ranging from dismasting to broken daggerboards. But in the spirit of the Raid for those that could, they made every attempt to finish this unique endurance event. One team, White Knuckles Express managed to purchase another boat after a near sinking and continued the race. Another, Voltaren, managed to hold a sail up when their mast came down and ‘sail’ to the beach to fix their mast and carry on.

The double Olympic medallist Martin Strandberg and Mathias Almstedt on Team Thule (SWE) were first in Sandhamn and finished third overall. Strandberg commented the race. ”It is so fast, really full on all the time and you hardly have time to experience what is going on. It is long - you have time to be happy, enthusiastic, angry, frustrated and tired. It was especially hard when we made a mistake in our navigation, hit a rock and started to take in water in the hull. After each leg we had to empty the water.”

Winner Christophe Mourniac (FRA) said at the finish line “It is a fantastic race. It has been really difficult physically and the navigation is very tough. We are tired now and happy it is over.”

Mischa Heemskerk, Team Yamaha Red (NED), second place overall commented : “ It is really nice to finish this race. There is a lot of paddling but it is very satisfying to have done it. It is Bas’s (crew) first year and we have either won or come second in all the events we have entered so we are really happy. We had a few days of great sailing, the event is fun to do – to get up at 4am and to sail till 8 is pretty fun. It is also a unique place to sail, the obstacles you have to pass and the navigation you have to do – overall it is good to have got round and finished.”

Conrad Humphreys, skipper of Team Blue commented : “ This event is very hard but it is one of the most fun events I have done. The camaraderie is pretty unique from the race organisers right through to the competitors – there is a really nice spirit. I think that is the thing that would force me to come back to do it again. There is no doubt that Wednesday was one of the best days sailing I have ever had…. There are a lot of similarities with sailing round the world – when you are sailing ‘blind’ down rock alley it is much like being in the South sailing through the icebergs, you just have to accept if something has your name on it there is nothing you can do about it. The lack of sleep is also comparable – in fact I would even say that this is harder, you can’t get into any rhythm like you can on an Open 60. It really is a tough event and I wont miss the mosquito’s but it has been fantastic.”

Andrew Macpherson, Team Musto Australia commented : “ That is a really unbelievable race, really unbelievable. This last day that has been really tough we keep saying to each other that if we even mention doing it again we will remind ourselves about how we feel now but then we are also talking about what we would do differently next year…. I still think that you need to have blue or yellow colour in your flag to be able to paddle Paddle #standuppaddle #paddleboard well – really the Swedish do a good job with it… ! Ask me in a few days if I would do it again….”