F-18 Raid World Championship 2022 at Saltsjöbaden, Sweden - Day 1

F-18 Raid World Championship 2022 © KSSS

A day of sun, fair winds, warm waves and hard rocks. In the morning the waters outside KSSS harbour in Saltsjöbaden looked smooth and shiny like a polished hood of car, the sun trickled through a light mist and the warm and humid air felt like a Turkish bath. Then the 29 focused teams launched their catamarans and slipped out to the start of race 1.

However, the wind picked up and the first long upwind out in the archipelago started. The field stretched out with the predicted favorites steadily increasing their lead. The Belgian team with Patrick Demesmaeker and Olivier Gagliani took a reassuring lead all the way to the finish line. Despite the perfect conditions there were some teams who found under water rocks on their way and had to use the lunch brake for repairs. One team broke their sprit and had to resign, but they will be back tomorrow.

After lunch race Race 2 started with a long upwind out to the open sea and around one of the archipelagos larger islands, Utö. The breeze was steady and the tactical choices few, so this race proved to be something of a drag race. And it was a close all the way to the finish line. But first over was the Swedish team Jacob Lundqvist and Rasmus Rosengren.

Full results available here.

Live tracking available here.