F18 Archipelago Raid 2023 for Lundqvist & Nordblom

One of the annual must do F18 regattas. This year close to the Worlds and F18Raid Worlds held at Costarmoricaine. The Archipelago Raid offers an unique racing venue & adventure, just look at the usual great shots above, and plenty of competition as the Swede F18 keeps delivering new talents along the long time riders and event winner like Niklas Nordblom who won this year sailing with another top performer like Jakob Lundqvist on board a Scorpion / 1D Sails.

Report below by Jacob Lundqvist , photos Archipelago Raid, more pics and videos here.

The annual event Stockholm Archipelago Raid

The 2023 was sailed for four days last week. The format is simple, Raid sailing between checkpoints with 2-3 legs per day in the archipelago of Stockholm with its 30 000 islands. In total, there are 98 different checkpoints distributed over the archipelago. The daily checkpoints are often communicated to the sailors on the nights before, which allows time to think and to make a thorough routing. Plotters/iPads are allowed to facilitate the navigation. In this edition two different base camps were used and both the start and finish was located in Saltsjöbaden, the main venue of the Royal Swedish Yacht Club.

The sailing includes a transition from the inner archipelago with higher islands and a lot of trees to the outer archipelago with its penurious surrounding and at times an unbroken horizon. The breathtaking scenery also includes a wildlife with a lot of birds and seals. During this year most of the sailing was made in light winds. Although this allows for some physical relief, it requires if anything an even higher degree of concentration from the crew.

The race was won by Lundqvist/Nordblom this year, a new constellation made up just before the event. Niklas Nordblom is a race veteran with five victories in total. The key to success this time were very few mistakes and good starts. In second place came the duo Linder/Brunnberg. Lars Linder is also a race veteran, having participated every year since 2004, and also as the man behind the race since many years. On third place come the former Raid Worlds Champion Leff Dahl and Roger Boden that are back as a team.

The Stockholm Archipelago Raid will be organized in 2024 towards the end of August. Interested crews are advised to keep an eye at the official website. stockholmarchipelagoraid.com/

The top 10 results can be seen below.