RS500 World Championships at SS Kaparen, Sweden - Overall

Day five was amazing! By far the most amazing racing day in the history of the RS500 class! However, with the Swedish girls already sure about the title, there was a lot to win or lose for the top 5.

A big battle between GBR's Peter Barton/Heather Chipperfield, SWE's Johan Rook/Malin B., HKG's Louis/Campbell and former World Champions Tim & Heather.

The building force 4-5 westerly wind gave amazing scenes with capsizes and blow-outs all over the fleet. The races were very competitive. The changes in positions during the races were amazing.

It was very close, the Hong Kong guys started more to the right and middle during the races to stay safe. But safe is not good enough and the teams that really took risk and choose for the entire left end of the course were gaining. The Swedes, Johand and Malin, famous for their power and speed in heavy winds, started off very well and had a good first race with a 2nd place. In race 2 and 3 of the day they struggled with the heavier competition at the front and were not able to get top 3 results. Tim and Heather were just enjoying the heavy winds and seemed to just make a fun day of it. At the end they just held stable top 5 position.

Peter Barton and Heather Chipperfield were very eager to win the races on the final day to cement second on the podium. Directly after the start they went to the far left hand side of the course and this paid off well. They stuck with this and repeated the strategy for the whole day. They ended up with a 1-1-4 for the day and took second place overall.

Tim and Heather ended up 3rd which completed the podium of an amazing event. The top 7 need to be mentioned because the level of sailing was very good and were prize worthy:

Johan and Malin (4) showed themselves to be very good all-rounders and supported the new World Champions providing the tuning guide they needed.

The 'Hong Kong' guys (5) were amazingly fast downwind and overtook lots of boats when they were not in front at the first mark.

Peter and James (6), the heroes of the heavy winds, showed themselves to be stable in the lighter conditions.

Michiel and Hilde(7) surprised themselves being fast in stronger winds and stable top 10 overall in the event. They could not meet up with the top 6, but were happy in front of all the others.

The event was filled with many different conditions; light wind to heavy winds and choppy waves, flat water and long swells from the easterly sea. This is what makes the sisters Soderstrom the real World Champions! In every condition they showed the fleet what consistency means! Fast and smart! They truly deserved the title.

The event was amazing! The organization was just perfect. The race officer did a very professional and good job. Every race course was perfect and a decision to stop the race when not fair racing was possible was the right decision to make. A lot of thanks to the race committee for that. Especially thanks to all the volunteers helping us out!

And off course the socials! Brilliant food, great Swedish games, stunning orange hats at the Dutch party day! And what a welcoming bunch of people in the Swedish fleet!

The Swedish fleet, led by the entire Johansson family, were a pleasure to enjoy this week with. Special thanks to them!

Overall Results: