Sweden is preparing to shrug off the effects of a severe
European winter to make a powerful bid for honours in next week’s Dubai JuniorRegatta which brings a rich crop of sailing talent from around the world to the UAE.
For the past three months the Swedes have been unable to sail because of frozen conditions at home, but they are now warming to the challenge ahead in Dubai where the world’s biggest junior sailing event, sponsored by Emirates Airline, is adding an exciting new competitive element.
With more than 130 young hopefuls from 18 countries contesting the Optimist and Laser 4.7 categories at Dubai International Marine Club next week, the introduction of the Dubai Match Race has created an extra wave of international interest.
Having carried off the Optimist crown in Dubai last year, the Swedes have now set their sights on the overall 2006 team title and are also determined to make a major impact on the new match racing spectacle.
Coached by Björn Hansen, currently 12th in the ISAF world match race rankings, the five-man Swedish crew of John Bäck, Mikael Lindahl, Erik Lindblad, Michaela O´Knor, and Jacob Versteegh are looking forward to a stern international test.
“This is our first match racing regatta abroad and our first chance to see how we perform compared to the rest of the world’s elite outside Scandinavia,” said Bäck. “This regatta is very professionally organised and we’re thrilled to be a part of it.
“Because of the ice we had to take our boats up on to the shore in November and since then we have only been able to practice theory, but we’ll do our best.”
Looking forward to a different climate in Dubai Bäck added: “The last competition we sailed was the Ice Cup in Stockholm last month. Every morning we had to use a broom to get all the snow of the deck and pour salt on the ice to make it melt.” An open international match racing series for challengers of all ages, the Dubai Match Race will be contested by teams sailing the newly-designed V1/Lutra-30 Sport Boat, and Sweden face competition from India, New Zealand, Germany, Italy, Kuwait, Qatar and the host nation.
Built in Dubai especially for the event and for April’s ISAF Nations Cup qualifier
in the Emirate, the high performance racing boat is being tested on the water for the first time this week.
While Swedish match racing prospects are difficult to assess, the country is sending its strongest ever Laser and Optimist line-up to Dubai in an attempt to capture the team title.
Karin Alkstedt, individual Optimist winner last year as the Swedes claimed four of the top-five places, has now moved on. But 2005 runner-up Carl Strombeck returns as reigning Swedish champion alongside Nordic champion Carl Fredrik Fock, European female champion Emma Oljelund and highly-rated brothers Jakob and Oscar Lundquist.
Oscar Taurell and Cecilia Strombeck, both well-known dingy sailors in Europe, will be contesting the Laser class, and team leader Jan Strombeck says: “With two good Laser 4.7 sailors our hope this year is to be the overall team winner.
“This is the largest number of participants ever we have brought to Dubai and we’re very optimistic. We’ve brought in a professional coach, Filip Hansen, this year to put all the pieces together.”
Strombeck added: “The professional team behind the event, the fine weather and the stable winds makes this a world-class regatta. The kids get the chance to meet new friends, and they go home talking about the fantastic arrangements and the quality of competitors. That’s why they want to return to Dubai ever year.”
Taking place from 22-29 January under the patronage of H.H.Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman of Emirates, the Dubai Junior Regatta is organised by Dubai International Marine Club in conjunction with the UAE Marine Sports Federation and the ISAF, the world governing body of sailing.
The event is co-sponsored by Le Meridien Mina Seyahi Beach Resort and Marina, the official hotel, Marine Pool and V1 Advanced Composite Technologies. Other official suppliers are Trek, Al Boom Marine, Dubai’s Victory Team Duboats, El Mundo, Nordest and Olimpic Sails.
