Wippies supporting Archipelago Raid 2007 - World Class Competitors, World Class

Wippies is supporting Archipelago Raid 2007 with sponsoring own Wippies boat.

World Class Competitors, World Class Destination

The Archipelago Raid 2007 starts on Monday 30th July from Björnö, Sweden in the unique and spectacular Scandinavian Archipelago. More than 58 world-class competitors (29 teams) are preparing for this extraordinary quest through beauty on F18 open catamarans. The event will be preceded with a prologue race from Stockholm city centre to Björnö on Sunday July 29th 2007.

The Raid pushes teams to the edge both mentally and physically as they navigate round the 100,000 islands that make up the Swedish, Aland and Finnish Archipelagos. The teams battle through uncharted rocks and changing weather conditions for 5 days stopping only for a brief ‘overnight’ rest when the sun goes down in a region which sees very little night time in the high summer.

The latest entry to join the highly competitive fleet comes from British sailor Conrad Humphreys, with crew Ryan Crawford. They will represent Team BLUE™ alongside the other all-British boat that are also racing under the Team BLUE banner raising awareness of climate change and mans impact on the environment. Humphreys believes participating in this adventurous race through one of nature’s best-kept secrets, the Scandinavian Islands fits well with what they are trying to achieve with the BLUE project.

This year’s event has attracted sailors from 10 countries including teams from as far a field as Australia and New Zealand alongside local crews from Sweden and Finland. There are 17 teams returning to the event from previous editions but this year there will also be 12 teams, a record number, competing in this unique event for the first time. They have yet to experience the extreme challenges of racing for 5 days covering anywhere from 300 – 500 nautical miles across some of the most challenging and beautiful landscapes in the world.

All three podium finishers of the recently held F-18 European Championships in Dervio will compete in this year’s edition of the Raid. With new F18 European Champion Micha Heemskerk and Bastiann Tentji ready to take on the competition. Dutchman Heemskerk will be back to win the race having been forced to retire in his first two attempts at the event.

Another very strong entry comes from Thibault Vauchel (FRA) who teams up with Calle Hennix from Sweden. These two experienced competitors have both won the event before and on paper look like the team to beat. ‘Ironman’ Calle Henix won the event in 2003 and Thibault in 2005.

Archipelago Raid Race Director Christine Salen is thrilled with the race line up. “It again proves that this event is becoming an important race on the agenda of the best sailors and adventurers worldwide. We are very proud to have 30 high quality teams from 12 countries and we believe it has the makings to be the best Raid ever. We are greatly looking forward to welcoming all the teams to the Archipelago and seeing how this unique area tests each of them to the absolute maximum.”

The official start is at Björnö a pristine island not far from downtown Stockholm. It is one of Stockholm’s finest beaches in the Archipelago and makes Björnö one of the Archipelago Foundation’s most visited areas.