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Royal endHarald V of Norway cancels his sails

Morten Strauch

 · 02.01.2023

Crown Prince Harald happily on board. In oilskin with KNS cap, year unknown.
Photo: Eivind Kleiven, De kongelige samlinger
At the age of 85, the Norwegian King Harald has given up his sailing career. For many decades, the monarch successfully took part in international regattas into old age

Now it's over. After King Harald sailed to tenth place at the 8-man World Championships on Lake Geneva in July 2022, he has now announced his retirement from active racing during an annual review documentary on Norwegian television. The sailing enthusiast King competed for his country three times at the Olympic Games: he sailed in the 5.5 at the 1964 Games in Japan and in Mexico in 1968. He then changed class and switched to the Soling, in which he ambitiously trained for the 1972 Olympics in Germany with the help of his famous coach, the Danish sailing legend and multiple Olympic champion Paul Elvstrøm, whose sailing competitions were held off Kiel. Starting with great ambitions, however, the king only managed a disappointing tenth place, which weighed so heavily on his mind for some time that it spoilt his enjoyment of sailing.

In 1983, the King celebrated a strong comeback at the half-tonne world championship on Hankø, where he took fourth place overall with the "Fram VIII". The fire was lit again!

The King's sailing career reached its peak at the 1987 One-Ton World Championship off Kiel. With his "Fram X" designed by Bruce Farr, he prevailed in a strong field of competitors and became world champion for the first time. This was followed by further medals at world and European championships in various classes.

With the "Sira", built in 1938, the Monarch won the Sira Cup in the 8-man World Championship in 2008 ahead of Hankø. In 2018, he sailed to third place at the World Championships on Lake Constance.

The then prince was infected with the sport of sailing by his father, King Olav, when he was just ten years old. 75 years later, King Harald has now ended his sporting ambitions for health reasons.

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Morten Strauch

Morten Strauch

Editor News & Panorama

Morten Strauch was born in Schleswig in 1977, but grew up mainly in Lüneburg. He joined the Boy Scouts so that he could take part in a youth sailing camp in the Stockholm archipelago. After an internship at BOOTE magazine, he dropped out of his communications design studies, followed by 13 years as a freelance photographer and author for BOOTE, BOOTE Exclusiv and YACHT. In 2019, he was hired by Hanseyachts to serve as press spokesman and marketing manager. Consequently, the long-awaited first boat becomes a Hanse 291. Three and a half years later, he returns to Delius Klasing, this time as an editor for YACHT in the Panorama department. When not (also) privately on the water, Morten can be found scuba diving or collecting fossils on the coast.

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