RS100 and RS200 Swedish Open Championships

Sweden has in the last two years developed very healthy and growing fleets in the RS100 and RS200 classes, and their Open Swedish Championships were held at the excellent SS Kaparen in Gottskar in early August, running alongside the RS500 World Championships. Gottskar is a small, beautiful town south of Gothenburg on the West coast of Sweden, with a great variety of sailing conditions from the sheltered bay off the club to the open fjord with big rolling waves.

The RS200s sailed the first two days, which started the theme of wildly different conditions each day, and sometimes each race. Swedish super-Star sailor Mats Johansson crewed his 11-year old son Oskar to a win and Oskar is now RS200 Swedish open champion. We all warmed to his reported comment : "Dad, will you straighten your legs - you're hiking like a meatball". Local RS legend and dealer Christer Baath lost count of the laps at a critical point, and then capsized, just losing out on second to Emanuel Gillerberg. It should be added that Christer has added his own slant of custom vinyl hull colouring and matching huge sail numbers to the Swedish fleets, and they really do look great - even if Christer's own reflective gold medal coloured hull turned out to be a bit optimistic.

The RS100s sailed the last two days, and being Vikings in this area all the boats took to the larger 10.2m sail. In the light winds and sheeting rain of the first day visiting lightweight Giles Chipperfield took advantage and beat Per-Erik Johansson into second place after some tight racing. Day 2 was a wilder affair with 12-20kt of ferociously gusting wind, which was a bit tricky after the fleet has shared in the RS500 Dutch party the evening before. Ex-OK sailor Paul Hedren nailed the first start by port tacking the fleet and made full use of his leverage upwind, but Christer Baath, in a bright orange boat this time, played the gusts and the shifts better to have a handsome lead at the first mark. However, Chipperfield's experience in the boat paid off downwind, and keeping the big rig above the water proved to be a winning strategy for the rest of the races. Giles Chipperfield ended as RS100 Swedish Open Champion after a fantastic day's sailing in testing winds and glorious sunshine.

The SS Kaparen turned out pretty much every single one of their members either racing, helping on the water or in the galley, and proved to be the most generous and charming of hosts. Competitors could camp in front of the club, or accommodation in town ranged from hostel to very pleasant hotel. The local fish specialities were quite superb in both the main restaurants, and of course meatballs could be had as well. Race management was spot on: we visited all four race areas around the fjord and never experienced the same wind direction twice. This is a great venue, with marvellous hosts, and an RS event which non-Swedes should definitely start adding to their calendars.

Giles Chipperfield