YACHT RACING

SAILING

YACHT RACING

It was in 1961 when I first became acquainted with a sailing boat. And rolling around in a small Optimist dinghy during an afternoon was an effective lesson in handling a sailing boat. Later on I came to know quite thoroughly this dinghy type.

Hard times in a Finn dinghy

In 1968 I bought a Finn dingy. Quite soon I decided to take part in a real race. As I am of humble weight, around 62 kg only, I had prepared a thick coat of wool, which gave me 15 kg extra weight when wet. There was a fresh wind blowing, 5 BF, but I thought I could handle it. I had read in a dinghy-racing book that unless you are prepared to lose ground you have to steer right on when gybing. Read and done, I gybed like that and turned around immediately. Righting the boat after this first capsize was not very difficult, even if the narrow toe list of the Finn dinghy does not favor the act at all. The wet coat remained on and the race continued.

On the second round the gybe went exactly in the same way. I was steering right on and the capsize followed unavoidably. This time the righting of the boat was exhausting, and I let the wet coat slip away and disappear to the bottom of the bay.

After the fifth capsize the boat turned turtle, the mast was pointing downwards. I was shaking from exhaustion, but after interminable fight the boat was in the right position again. But I did not manage to get into it. Then I felt a steady grip in my neck and a strong hand lifted me into the boat. It was a fellow competitor who had passed by and given a helping hand. The race was over for that day and I sailed quietly back towards the homeport.

The Finn was sold to Yrjö, who is not any relative of mine in spite of the same name, but sort of a 'country cousin' as we state it. He was to be of inestimable help in the development of our data systems later on.

In 1970 we were runner up in the Finnish 505 championship and were therefore able to take part in the World championship regatta, which was held in Plymouth, England. The wind was too strong to our capabilities, and my crew Antti K. was not especially weighty either. However, speaking eagerly English and French during the after race parties we could persuade the dominating persons of the international 505 hierarchy that we would be capable to organize the 1972 championship races in Finland.

The destruction of the Hanko Casino

Our team of 505 sailors had great parties after all races, but is nothing compared to what the international teams were able to do when given free hands. The World championship 1972 in Hanko was a success as a regatta. But the finishing day saw the international crews starting drinking already before the evening party. The white Hanko Casino was the site for the great finishing gala and prize giving. Unfortunately the proprietor was not on the level of the situation and had strengthened the service team only with some inexperienced young waitresses. So the two hundred or more guests had to wait for hours for their food and drinks. The Finnish team was sitting kindly in their table without having a single drink not to speak of any food during the whole evening, even if every one had the beforehand paid supper tickets in their pockets.

But the Swedish and French lost their patience and having collected lots of alcohol in the veins they started making havoc. The old grey-headed officials and honorary members were carried on the shoulders around the restaurant. Then tables were cast off through windows. Little by little a great part of the furniture of the great parlor was destroyed. The proprietors panicked and called the police. But the police forces of the little city were too weak and the nearby army troops were alerted to help. At last the Casino was surrounded with tanks and so the peace returned to the badly damaged site of pride of the Hanko town.

End of dinghy racing

Next year in the European championship in Copenhagen we had a good first race, but in the second got a bad attack of back pain and could not move away from the boat. The friendly Swedes helped me and drew on a trolley to the showers. Hot water and back massaging helped at last and I could walk again. But it meant a finish to my dinghy racing career and a difficult return home lying in the back part of my farmer car.

Offshore racing

During the three-day race there were water sloshing inside the boat, and one man had to be 'in the pumps' almost permanently. This was the first time we represented our yacht club HSK (Helsingfors Segelklubb) and were seventh in our class, which is not much to boast about, but yet it was a beginning.

In August in the Gulf of Finland race the wind started blowing heavily about 9 BF and continued so during two days. Only three of the small boats ventured to the open sea, where the lighthouses on the Finnish and on the other side of the sea on the Estonian coast had to be rounded. The second day one of these two sank and second was towed in the shelter of the islands. The crew was rescued to Russian tugs. We did not know that, as the radiotelephone was not a part of our equipment. As our only small foresail was torn we had to limp to cover inside the Porvoo archipelago.

We spent the night in anchor. All clothes were wet, but I was lucky to have a spinnaker as a blanket. The third day was sunny and the wind had moderated. We sailed home the shortest way. Had we known that we were the only competitor left in our class, we could quite easily have rounded the last lighthouse to end the route and had thus received the winning trophy.

Tornado!

In the next summer's race the first day began peacefully. At the late afternoon when returning to the north from the Estonian coast, a thick dark veil arrived behind us. The wind hit like a hammer, and we rolled over so that the mast top was under water. When the squall was over it was time to lessen sail in a hurry.

The wind blew quite hardly afterwards. Later we saw a strange cloud formation appearing. It had its foot in the sea. 'Tornado!' shouted someone. When it hit we were all pressed to the deck as tightly as we ever could. Besides we were connected to the hull with safety belts. It did not last very long, but we felt it was an eternity. All battens flew away from the mainsail and all loose gear disappeared from the deck. But afterwards we found to be capable to continue racing. The incident had, however, shaken us considerably and as the night was beginning, we proceeded with too small sails. So the trophy we did not gain even this time.

Dinghy coach

The backache was almost ever-present trouble now, and I had to quit the offshore racing after just having started it. But it was possible to continue with the racing scene. Two of my sons, Petteri and Sami were daily sailing with their dinghies on a lake. The former had started at the age of 5 and the latter at 4. They had already taken part in some local races. It was a funny sight to see the optimist of Sami proceeding among the fleet, as nothing was to be seen ashore from the skipper. He was almost smaller than the side of the boat.

When building an Optimist you are allowed some tolerances in the measurement. We planned better hulls, and a boat builder called Manner was ready to fulfill our wishes. I had also a good idea to make a mast from the aluminum. It proved much stiffer than the wooden spars everybody else was using. With these assets we took part in the official races on the south coast. It was a surprise when Pete won a big race in Otaniemi, even if he was one of the youngest of all.

Football against Brazil

Not everybody can boast of playing football against Brazil. In St.Moritz we lived in the famous Palace hotel and had a football tournament in its glass wall playhouse. The team-leaders were allowed to be goalkeepers, so that was also my task. We won the most matches, Brazil among others, as the black-haired youngsters looked the mouth open when our center Nina dribbled on the field with her blond curls streaming in the air.

Bronze medal in Quiberon

In 1976 Pete won the qualification races with the E-dinghy for the IYRU Youth championship, which was held in Quiberon on the Atlantic coast of France. I had again the possibility to be along as the team leader. Pete sailed well and ended up to the third place. At the same time we got news from Yugoslavia, where Sami had gained the fifth place in the Optimist World championship.

And silver in La Baule

Two years later we were on the French Atlantic coast in La Baule. This time with Sami and the Finnish Optimist team in the annual World championship. Peter was our favorite, as he had been unbeatable in all our races that year. However, the first start seemed to end fatally for him. He arrived as second to the finishing line, but mistook the flags and sailed past the marks. He understood his error and came directly towards the rubber dinghy I was sitting in, with a disappointment on his face. As it was forbidden to team leaders to discuss with the competitors, I turned away and waved with hand. Peter understood and returned and sailed between the finishing marks, may be as the 10th boat.

In the evening in the meeting of the race committee I had great pains to assure the French officials, that Peter's way of sailing was a right one. I thanked myself for having learned the language of our hosts as Peter was at last granted the second position in that race. If a competitor crosses the finishing line extension outside the finishing gate and subsequently turns around and sails through the gate, the first crossing of the line is the true moment of arrival. Peter was finally second in the championship races with even points with the winner and Sami was sixth, if I remember correctly, good placements among 120 competitors.