Theft thriller: Happy ending for Finnish national sailing team - 200,000 euros saved

Gernot Apfelstedt

· 01.06.2023

Caught on surveillance camera: a van with a Dutch licence plate has just left the Nieuwpoort marina on the Belgian coast with the newly stolen trailer of the Finnish national sailing team on the hook. On the trailer are three boats and equipment worth a total of 200,000 euros

Evil intentions on board: This video clip was taken about an hour and a half before the one in the first picture. Still without a trailer, the transporter sets course for the marina in Nieuwpoort

Finland's national sailing team set up a training camp in the Nieuwpoort marina in Belgium at the beginning of the second week of May. The aim is to prepare for the 2023 Sailing World Championships in The Hague and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Their sailing competitions will take place in Marseille

The fully loaded trailer of the Finnish national sailing team: above two 49er FX dinghies from Ovington and MacKay, three masts and several sails, below a VSR 5.8R rib used as a coaching boat with a 70 hp Yamaha outboard motor and several boxes with high-quality sailing equipment

This is what winners look like: Just two days after the theft in Nieuwpoort, the Finnish sailing team was able to collect its recovered trailer from the police in the Netherlands. Happy end to a theft thriller

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Photo: Scheepvaartpolitie Oostende

Shock at the training camp: Finland's national sailing team's fully loaded trailer is stolen from the Nieuwpoort marina in Belgium - three boats and equipment worth a total of 200,000 euros! Thanks to the outstanding investigative work of the Belgian police and their Dutch colleagues, the Finns get everything back just as they lost it.

Sporting successes and those of professional investigators have a lot in common. Both are based on a high level of commitment, determination and endurance, and expertise and equipment are no less important. Speed of reaction, strategic and tactical decisions play an equally important role for athletes and investigators. And last but not least, the motivation to be faster or better than the competition. A real-life Belgian-Dutch-Finnish theft thriller should bring both groups together in May.

Training camp for the World Sailing Championships and the Olympics

First "filming location": the Nieuwpoort marina on the Belgian coast. This is where the Finnish national sailing team will be preparing for the World Cup from 10 to 20 August 2023 in The Hague and prepare for the longer term 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Including an up-and-coming duo who were honoured as "Young Helsinki Athletes of the Year" in 2022: Veera Hokka (24) and Ronja Grönblom (23). Despite their ambition - their main goal is to win a medal at the Marseille carried out Olympic sailing competitions from 28 July to 8 August 2024 - the exuberant joy in their sport is characteristic of both of them. But this briefly gave way to horror.

Shock the morning after arrival

Arriving in Nieuwpoort in the late afternoon of 9 May after a journey of around 2,500 kilometres, the Finnish sailing team parked the fully packed trailer in the marina, went to eat and went to bed. The next morning, the shock: the trailer has disappeared! And with it two 49er FX dinghies from Ovington and MacKay, three masts, several sails, a rib brand used as a coaching boat VSR 5.8R with a 70 hp Yamaha outboard motor and several boxes with high-quality sailing equipment worth a total of around 200,000 euros. A brutal blow for the Finnish crew. They file a complaint with the Scheepvaartpolitie in Nieuwpoort and thus give the starting signal for a different kind of regatta.

Race against time

While the Finns try to make the best of the situation with borrowed equipment, the Belgian shipping police quickly check the marina's camera system and make a find: The surveillance cameras show a van entering the marina late in the evening and leaving about an hour and a half later with its trailer and cargo. But where is the journey going? The clock is ticking. One of the artificial eyes has captured the licence plate of the fleeing van - a Dutch one! So, after the Belgian shipping and federal police, Dutch police units and Lava Team NL, which specialises in boat crime, join the investigation team. Working together, they pull off the coup.

Found in the Netherlands

However, the trailer is discovered near the owner's house - with an unchanged load! As it is undoubtedly the one hijacked from Nieuwpoort, the Finnish sailing team is allowed to pick up all of its training equipment on the evening of 11 May.

The police are still keeping the location of the discovery secret due to the ongoing investigation. According to reports, there is still no trace of the suspected perpetrator or possible accomplices. But the victory in this match race already goes to the well-connected investigators.

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