CLUB ACTIVITIES Dear Members,
and the classic Sandhamns Regattan, to the Nordic region’s largest dinghy regatta Olympic Class Regatta and a closing Club Championship. The ÅF Offshore Race once again became an extremely successful event, on land as well as at sea. However, it became a challenging race with an unusually large number of boats that had to retire. We gratefully noted the number of personal injuries were limited and we saw numerous good examples of good seamanship. At the same time, we were delighted with the many worthy winners in the different classes, with the VO65 HiQ IV becoming both total winner, class winner, secured line honors and setting a new speed record. On our “home turf” Baggensfjärden, we have started testing the sprint format in J/70; this is the format used by Allsvenskan Sailing, the Mästarnas Mästare and internationally at the Sailing Champions League, sailing many, short races during a concentrated race day. This has been greatly appreciated by the participants and something we intend to develop further in the future. A concept that is right in time and where our time share plan around our J/70 also matches well. As a member, you should also be delighted with the success of our members on various national and international regattas. A particularly great topic as a club was that we again, for the third year in a row (and the fourth time in the last five years), managed to secure the victory in Allsvenskan Sailing among 18 national club teams. In addition, KSSS has participated in the Nord Stream Race, the GSYS International Team Race, the Sailing Champions League as well as the NYYC Invitational Cup as a club and with better results than any previous year. The year ended nicely with our members Iain Percy and Anders Ekström winning the Star Sailors League Final in the Bahamas. At the elite level, our stars have been out in the world tes-
Thank you for the year that has passed and at the same time I cordially welcome to you to our upcoming anniversary year and the 2020 Olympics Thank you to everyone who made the 2019 season particularly memorable, successful and rewarding. In the reference to ”everyone”, I am constantly impressed by the many, wonderful people that make our hugely broad and successful endeavor possible. In full season, at all functions, we are close to 500 people working for KSSS. I want all of you who have contributed to our business to truly receive this genuine thank you. During the summer season of 2019, there was full activity on all levels. Like last year, we again had well-attended camps on both Långholmen and Lökholmen. Some special news was that we could offer our Lökholmen participants 13 brand new school boats, ”RS Quest”, which the club managed to get fully funded through generous donations in the spring. The experience of these new school boats was above our expectations in both sailing experience and quality. We also succeeded in successfully delivering the Club’s largest squadron “ever”. In collaboration with our friends at North American Station (NAS) and their partner Cruising Club of America (CCA), this more than two weeks long squadron was carried out with great success. Some 40 sailboats and nearly 250 people participated and although the weather could be perceived as somewhat challenging, this did not change the participants’ praise about KSSS efforts and their experience of our beautiful archipelago. As usual we have delivered large and small regattas. From regattas in the spring, to ÅF Offshore Race around Gotland
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