FINDING FLOW
Yachting World|October 2021
A 350-MILE OFFSHORE ISN’T EVERYONE’S IDEA OF RELAXATION, BUT SWEDEN’S GOTLAND RUNT PROVED THE PERFECT TONIC FOR NIKKI HENDERSON
NIKKI HENDERSON
FINDING FLOW

3:45 am. I don hat, base layers, foulies, boots, head torch and neck gaiter before stepping up on deck. There I am greeted by a fiery sunrise rising above the fierce vertical cliffs of western Gotland, and a very sleepy Scotsman still wearing a pair of shorts (turns out that, no matter how many years you’ve been sailing, you can still get your gear choice wrong sometimes!).

The boat leaned to the lee as we sailed dead downwind through glasslike waters in a new breeze. We were on the rhumb line to the mark off Visby, threading a gap between Karlsöarna and Lilla Karlsö. The previous watch had overtaken three yachts; our suspicions had been proven correct that the surprisingly enormous spinnaker was Spica’s secret weapon. Freshly brewed coffee in hand, I beamed from ear to ear. This was the sailing I was addicted to.

In 2019 Andy Schell and Mia Karlsson of 59° North bought Spica, a Norlin 34, as a family boat for their now 16-month-old son Axel to grow up sailing in.

This 1970s balsa-cored design was originally built with the Gotland Runt race specifically in mind. Despite plans for sleepy cruising around the Swedish archipelago, it was inevitable that this iconic race would soon lure in the ocean sailing couple.

MIDSUMMER FESTIVAL

The Gotland Runt is the largest annual offshore race in northern Europe. It takes place each year on the first week of July, just after the much-celebrated midsummer festival in Sweden. The sun sets at 2200 and rises at 0400, hence the early hours get dark enough to put the instruments on night mode and to grab a head torch, but the haunting effect of pure darkness never fully sets in.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 2021 من Yachting World.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 2021 من Yachting World.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من YACHTING WORLD مشاهدة الكل
wallywind 110 launches
Yachting World

wallywind 110 launches

The first example of Wally Yacht's new wallywind performance cruising range launched this summer, during the iconic Italian brand's 30th anniversary year - and in time for its debut at the Monaco Yacht Show in September.

time-read
1 min  |
November 2024
Irish skipper wins Figaro
Yachting World

Irish skipper wins Figaro

Irish solo skipper Tom Dolan took a historic victory in this year's La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec, winning the solo multistage offshore race overall only the third non-French competitor ever to do so.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2024
Youth AC puts on a show
Yachting World

Youth AC puts on a show

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli's team won the UniCredit Youth America's Cup after a highly absorbing series comprising 12 international teams racing the one-design AC40s off Barcelona.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2024
ATLANTIC BEYOND
Yachting World

ATLANTIC BEYOND

SAILING THE SECOND EXPLORATION 60 ON A WEST-TO-EAST ATLANTIC CROSSING WAS IDEAL FOR A RIGOROUS TEST OF GARCIA'S NEW NOWHERE YOU CAN'T GO FLAGSHIP

time-read
9 mins  |
November 2024
UNCONTROLLED
Yachting World

UNCONTROLLED

HELPLESSLY APPROACHING AN UNINHABITED ISLAND IN THE GALAPAGOS WITHOUT ENGINE OR ELECTRONICS, JON VAN TAMELEN FEARED BEING IMMINENTLY SHIPWRECKED

time-read
8 mins  |
November 2024
SECRET ISLAND
Yachting World

SECRET ISLAND

BEYOND THE FORBIDDING ENTRY RULES OF TAIWAN IS A CULTURE RICH IN SEAFARING HISTORY AND STUNNING LANDSCAPES, FINDS CAMERON DUECK

time-read
10 mins  |
November 2024
LAND OF THE BIRDS
Yachting World

LAND OF THE BIRDS

SKIP NOVAK DESCRIBES THE PERILS, CHALLENGES AND JOYS OF A CRITICAL EXPEDITION VOAYGE TO SURVEY SOUTH GEORGIA'S ENDANGERED WANDERING ALBATROSS

time-read
9 mins  |
November 2024
FIRST STEPS TO BLUEWATER
Yachting World

FIRST STEPS TO BLUEWATER

YOU CAN GET INTO WORLD CRUISING FROM A STANDING START AND EXPERIENCE THINGS NO OTHER TRAVELLERS DO. CATHERINE LAWSON AND DAVID BRISTOW TALK TO FOUR COUPLES WHO PROVE IT

time-read
8 mins  |
November 2024
HARD CHOICES
Yachting World

HARD CHOICES

IN AN EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT FROM HER NEW BOOK, PIP HARE REVEALS WHAT DROVE HER ON WHILE RACING THROUGH THE SOUTHERN OCEAN IN THE 2020 VENDÉE GLOBE.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2024
INTO BATTLE
Yachting World

INTO BATTLE

COULD THIS BE THE MOST COMPETITIVE VENDÉE GLOBE EVER? HELEN FRETTER FINDS OUT WHAT THE SKIPPERS WILL BE FACING.

time-read
10 mins  |
November 2024