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X-Yachting 2013
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x-yachting 2013 99 x
racing
t he x-41 world championships were held in the beautiful city of helsinki, also known as âvenice of the balticsâ. of the 12 teams registered for
racing
there were two
boats
from norway, including one all-female crew. this fantastic norwegian team were 180kg lighter than allowed by the crew weight but it certainly did not hamper them on the race track. there were also three
boats
from estonia, three from finland and one from latvia. the oldest yachting club in finland at 151 years young, nyländska jaktklubben njk was responsible for all
racing
activities while ashore competitors enjoyed being in right in the heart of helsinki at valkosaari where all the yachts were moored and evening dinners were held. all in all 10
races
were sailed in a variety of conditions. during the first day only two
races
could be held due to very light winds but during the following daysâ competition there were three each day allowing all 10
races
to be completed as planned. the one-design competition lived up to expectations with all yachts very closely matched in speed and winning advantages gained by trimming, manoeuvres and tactics. at the first downwind mark in one race, after three miles of
racing
, all
boats
were within 15-20 seconds at the buoy. you can imagine the shouting, but there were no accidents and no protests with all skippers fully observant of the rules. the winning team on normet , owned by aaro cantell with op lumijärvi at the helm, were owerwhelmingly in a class of their own, winning six out of 10
races
. the second boat nicole iv , with owner riku nissilä and kenneth thelen at the helm, won the other four first places giving the finns a clean sweep of all 10
races
. in third came premium with mati sepp at the helm, after tying on equal points with nicole iv . in the evenings competitors enjoyed delicious food served in the memorable setting of lauttasaari island, and daily prizegivings with the winner of each race receiving a prize. thomas nilsson, skipper of wolfpack from norway commented after
racing
: âi would like to thank all the other teams participating for great and close
racing
. itâs
racing
like this that really shows the power of pure one-design sailing. sadly only nine
boats
were able to come to helsinki, but i guess this is worse for those that didnât come, than for us who were able to enjoy
racing
in the worlds this year!â the x-41 fleet is now looking forward to
racing
in capri in september 2013. the international teams included an all-female entry from norway. above: the winning team on normet keep their crew weight nicely together. results: 1st normet (fin 19) aaro cantell 21pts, 2nd nicole (fin 45) riku nissilä 23pts, 3rd premium (est49) optigroup team 23pts.
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