The 2019 ÅF Offshore Race, one of the largest annual offshore races, started on Sunday in the centre of Stockholm with 232 participants in 14 classification groups. The course is unique with a challenging 40 nautical mile course through one of the world's most spectacular archipelagos.
Once they have passed the famous Sandhamn, a 300 nautical mile offshore race around Gotland with a finish off Sandhamn lies ahead of the crews. This year the weather was tough with winds of up to 30 knots and waves of four metres. A total of 94 boats gave up.
The strong winds favoured the "HiQ 4" to beat the record set by the "CQS" in 2017. The average speed was 13.01 knots and the time to complete the 352.1 NM course was 27 hours, 4 minutes and 9 seconds. The skipper was Volvo Ocean Race veteran Bouwe Bekking.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
