Grimstad Team wins epic J/70 Norwegian Sailing League Finale

Grimstad Team wins epic J/70 Norwegian Sailing League Finale © Henrik Eriksen

The stage was set for the 2022 Norwegian Sailing League finale in Grimstad, Norway. Would it be the first-ever league win for a student team or a home win for the southerners in Grimstad?

After the first three rounds in the series, the battle for victory was most likely going to be between the BI Sailing Team (Business Institute of Norway) and the Grimstad Sailing Association from southern Norway. Only one point separated the two teams before the final and decisive round, which would take place on Groosefjorden outside Grimstad. It was the southerners' home ground.

"When so many good sailors come, it is difficult to say how much it helps us that we know the fjord well. But, hopefully, we have some tricks that can give us an advantage. Groosefjorden is one of Norway's best sailing race tracks. So, I think many will enjoy it here," said skipper for the Grimstad team, August Austefjord.

Grimstad Sailing Association selected its six best sailors who hoped to sail for victory in the elite series. And they were well-prepared.

"In the preparations for the final, we talked and visualized a lot. In both situations, what we are good at and what we have tried to develop in the areas where we have some room for improvement. Now, in this last week we have also brought down some boats that we train with and test out what we have reflected on since we sailed in Stavanger," said Austefjord.

August continued, "being in the position we are in now is incredibly fun and means a lot. We have been involved almost since the start of the sailing league, and we have built our expertise stone by stone. We have put in a lot of effort, both on the water and in the pre- and post-work in each regatta. The goal in recent seasons has been to qualify for the Sailing Champions League. We were very close to doing it last year and we felt we were actually good enough to qualify. This year we have weeded out several small errors and increased our competitive level.

"As there are quite a few of us sailors who have had a go at sailing in recent years, there are quite a few sailors in the association who have a relationship with the sailing league. We feel that the good results that have started to come are a result of how good we have been at spreading the expertise further in the association. That's why qualifying for the Sailing Champions League will be a team victory for the entire association!"

However, the Grimstad team would have a fight on their doorstep, because there were many teams and many good sailors who can easily make it difficult to assert themselves in each flight. And the team that wants to have an extra look at the home team are the students from BI Business School. After all, they go into the last round with a narrow lead.

"I think the most important thing for us is to be able to keep our close position, to keep a cool head, and avoid unnecessary mistakes. The level in the sailing league has become so high that small mistakes are often severely punished, and it is difficult to catch up again. Naturally, the focus will be to beat the Grimstad team. But, even if Grimstad fields an incredibly strong team, as usual, we should not forget that there are also six or seven other teams who can all win the last series round. So, we just have to do our best," said Jon Alexander Hvam, skipper of the BI students' team.

BI Athletics has fielded the same team in all three previous series rounds. The team has also been through a qualification round in the Sailing Champions League and then the final itself earlier this year.

"Our greatest strength probably lies in the routines that we have built up through regular training and matching against other teams both here in Norway and abroad. In recent years, we've had a collaboration with the Oslo Sailing Association, which has given us the opportunity to use their two J/70s for both training and regattas. Here we have been able to test different techniques, and we feel we now have the technique and cooperation required to perform in the elite series."

Perfect for a student's budget

The team's efforts in the sailing league have been noticed among fellow students, and Jon Alexander says that interest in regatta sailing is now growing after a few slow years.

"The beauty of the sailing league is that we get a unique opportunity to compete against the country's best sailing club teams at a price that fits a student's budget. That, in combination with fun social activities, makes the sailing league a perfect concept for students!! We love it!!"

City of Grimstad Goes Big on J/70 Sailing League

It should not go unnoticed in the city of Grimstad that the Norwegian Sailing League's last event of the year will take place there. And, it helps the enthusiasm that the city's own team can win the elite series overall.

In the last week before the sailing league finals will take place in Grimstad, a fully-rigged J/70 will be showcased in the center of the city! In addition, the city's local press will be invited to go for test sails, so that they can get a feel for what sailing the J/70 is all about. Grimstad Sailing Association is mobilizing for the whole town to welcome the league sailors with open arms and not least to cheer on the home team, who they hope will run away with the victory in the elite series!

The Grimstad Sailing Association six sailors are August Austefjord, Girgios Nikotsis, Lars Nicolay Løvdal, Andre Jørgen Ugland, Thomas Gjesteland and Vidar Ljungstrøm. They will fight against BI Athletics' highly successful team: Jon Alexander Hvam, Anette Heldal, Even Eide Onstad, and Vegard Sandnes Larsen.

That was the preamble and the setting for this epic battle between experienced veterans and "the kids".

Riveting, Anxious Finale!

What happened next was surprising for almost everyone that was involved in the season-long series.

In short, the challenging weather conditions prevented the RC/PRO team from running the full slate of races. Just ten races were run for each team between the three flights. Winning the Grimstad event was the Asgardstrand Seilforening with 15 pts. Then, the protagonists- Grimstad Seilforening- ended up in a tie at 18 pts each with the Oslofjorden Seilklubb. Winning that countback was the Grimstad team, along with winning the 2022 J/70 Norwegian Sailing League Championship!

The BI Athletics Sailing team sailed a solid series, but a slow start prevented them from being contenders at the end, finishing fourth in Grimstad and settling for second in the overall series.

In the end, Grimstad's record was Oslo 1st, Bergen 6th, Stavanger 1st, and Grimstad 2nd for 10 pts total. The BI Athletics "kids" record was the most consistent with Oslo 2nd, Bergen 2nd, Stavanger 3rd, and Grimstad 4th for 11 pts. Rounding out the series podium was Stavanger Seilforening with Oslo 3rd, Bergen 4th, Stavanger 6th, and Grimstad 5th for 18 pts.

See the SAP results leaderboard. For more J/70 Norwegian Sailing League information see seilsportsligaen.no