However, it wasn’t necessary for two boats, who secured the victory of the championship with the first today’s inshore races sailed and the second discard coming into play.
𝙊𝙡𝙮𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙘 (X-41 mod) EST463 with Tiit Vihul at the helm © Janis Spurdzins
We are talking about the team 𝙊𝙡𝙮𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙘 (X-41 mod) EST463 with Tiit Vihul at the helm in Class A and 𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙋𝙧𝙤4𝙐 (First 36,7 Mod) SWE88 steered by Patrik Forsgren in Class B.
Scoring second and first in today’s races, team 𝙊𝙡𝙮𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙘 was using their possibility to secure the title with a race to spare and not to sail the last race, while 𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙋𝙧𝙤4𝙐 was using a chance to race in that final race, to learn, practice and sail against the strongest ORC fleet in the Northern Europe, and to have their victory moment when crossing the finish line for the last time at the Baltic Offshore Week 2022.
“We are very happy to win Baltic Offshore Week for the third time,” said the helmsman of Olympic, Tiit Vihul, “but this time it was different because we have got to know our boat and its trim better with this race, and after ten years of sailing we are really finally figured out how to achieve great speed. If last year we were more or less equal to our competitors’ X-41 yachts, this time a little faster. So it is very good to move on from that base! The team did a very good job and made no tactical or technical mistakes, and it seems to me that we learned more this weekend than in the previous ten years. Strong winds are very suitable for us and contributed well to the speed of the boat. Today’s competition was of the highest level competition after last year’s World Championships, because most of the boats competing in our group were in the top ten at the World Championships. “
Video interview with Tiit Vihul
Both teams had a superior victory since 𝙊𝙡𝙮𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙘 kept in their final scoreline 4 bullets and two second places, while 𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙋𝙧𝙤4𝙐 discarded two seconds and their final score consisted from 6 bullets only. Excellent performance from both teams!!
“It was a very good and useful regatta for us with a lot of race practice in a lot of wind, especially today when we raced in around 25 knots gives a lot of new learnings and experiences,” said Peter Thorwid, Tactician of Pro4U.
Team member Emil Forsgren added that sailing here against so many strong Estonian boats is especially important for them. “It is good for us to compare how our home rides and settings this season have developed, competing here in the fierce competition. We have a couple of new team members, and for them it was a great training and an opportunity to learn from unusual conditions.” Main trimmer Sven Eriksson added that the waves here are different from what they are used to in Sweden, but it is especially good for training and attention to detail.
“We want to thank the Estonian hosts for an excellent regatta and everything around the races such as courses, results, information has been excellent. We hope that we will be able to come back to BOW another year,” said Team Pro4U.
Interview with Emil Forsgren and Sven Eriksson
𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙋𝙧𝙤4𝙐 (First 36,7 Mod) of Patrik Forsgren – © Janis Spurdzins
At the same time the battle for the second and third final podium places was fierce in both classes.
In Class A, the winner of yesterday’s offshore race, Juss Ojala’s 𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙖 4 (J-112E) scored 1-2-1 today – the best score of Class A – and jumped from the yesterday’s fourth to the second. The battle was fierce for completing the podium. 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙪𝙢 (X-41 mod) of Tanel Tamm, who was the second before the final day, scored 6-3-4, while 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙚 (X-41) with Jaak Jõgi at the helm, being third in the morning, scored 3-5-2 today and outperformed 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙪𝙢 by 0.4 points in the final score to complete the A class podium.
A class podium of the Baltic Offshore Week 2022 © Janis Spurdzins
In class B Aivar Tuulberg’s 𝙆𝙖𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙞𝙣𝙖 𝙄𝙄 (Arcona 340) kept his second place on the podium scoring 8-3-2 today, despite of having some technical problems in today’s races. 𝘼𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫 𝙏𝙤𝙮𝙤𝙩𝙖 𝙎𝙏 (First 36.7 Mod) of Margus Zuravljov had a great day today scoring 2-1-4 and while their main competitor for the third place was 𝘿𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙤 (Italia 9.98) with Erki Melts at the helm, who scored 4-6-2 today, 𝘼𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫 𝙏𝙤𝙮𝙤𝙩𝙖 𝙎𝙏 managed to jump to the final step of the podium instead of 𝘿𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙤.
B class podium of the Baltic Offshore Week 2022 © Janis Spurdzins
With that being said, the following teams and crews were on the podium at the BALTIC OFFSHORE WEEK 2022 winning 2022 ORC Estonian and Finnish Championship titles, silver and bronze medals in Tallinn.
