Limfjorden Rundt Regattas - Limfjorden Rundt aboard Kvartsita
by Edgar Wróblewski 12 Aug 2023 11:53 PDT
As a sailor you become a part of a machine. You know what to do, you know where is your place, you know the sequence of tasks. You know the orders, that, any moment now, will be given by the captain. You wait. The race is about to start.
Then, the signal! Command! You hoist, you pull, you pump, you coil, you trim, you help others, you are sharp, you are focused, powered by excitement and adrenaline.
And when you finally have a moment to look up, you see that all the crews have done the same - filled their sails with wind, hurrying for the finish line.
Crews of at least sixty-five traditionally rigged ships compete each year in a six-days regattas, that take them between five harbours of Denmark's Limfjorden. What in 1988 started as a competition between six ships has now grown to be one of the biggest sailing festival in northern Europe.
'The Limfjorden Rundt was not planned as a huge event, but with the great interest in sailing from the ships, participating crews and sponsors, it took off', says Niels Sohn, chairman of the Limfjorden Rundt committee, 'I have learnt from other sailing festivals what it should not be. Now we are proud to be able to muster seventy-five ships to compete on Denmark's most beautiful waters. It is sailors' answer to the Roskilde music festival, as stated by the participants'.
'I think competition is mostly within different classes of vessels. And then for some it's personal across the classes', says Anders Udengaard Bischoff, skipper of Caroline, a Danish pilot cutter, 'You also have to remember, that some of these folks and captains have been racing against each other for 20-30 years. That should breed some personal competition'.
I am aboard Kvartsita, a Swedish topsail schooner. Among ships like Fulton or Bonavista, Kvartsita is relatively young at the start line. She was built as a galeas in 1945 at the Holms shipyard in Råå, south of Helsingborg, for Höganäsbolaget to transport raw materials for company's own needs. Her dimensions were dictated by the sizes of the water locks in Köpmannebro at the entrance to the Dalslands channel, from where she transported quartz (kvarts in Swedish), via lake Vänern and the Göta river down the Kattegat to Höganäs. After a few years it became uneconomic to transport raw minerals aboard a sail ship. In 1953 she was sold to a new owner in Farsund, Norway, her name was changed to Bono, her masts taken down, and as a motor coaster, she sailed mostly with salt and wood along Norway's southern coast. In 1986 the ship returned to Sweden. She was bought by the current owner Föreningen För Fulla Segel (Under full sails Association), which re-rigged her as a schooner, restored her original name and has been sailing as a training ship with youth and handicapped crews ever since.
Leaving Fiskebäckskil, Kvartsita's home port, a few days earlier, and sailing across the Kattegat to Denmark, I didn't know what to expect. I've sailed in Limfjord before, years ago, in a fleet of 7- metres-long wooden gaff-rigged boats with no motor, but it wasn't racing a 88 ton schooner against other tall ships. Some aboard Kvartsita, who had sailed here last year were eager to compete. Our captain, Wiggo Lander, looks at taking part in Limfjorden Rundt differently, though.
'Participating was a way to develop Kvartsita as a topsail schooner and compare her to other sailing ships', says Wiggo, 'I think, we have to get to know her and her new rig better and keep making some smaller changes along the way based on our experiences'. It's been only one season since Kvartsita got two extra yards on her fore top mast making her Sweden's only topsail schooner.
For Wiggo and many other crews that cultural heritage aspect of the festival is very important. 'We participate in Limfjorden Rundt (and Fyn Rundt) because it is an excellent place to showcase the ship and to promote danish cultural heritage', explains Sebastian Sisbo, the mate aboard Bonavista, a schooner belonging to the National Museum of Denmark. 'These races are very popular viewing destinations for a wide variety of people, both maritime-interested and people with no background in the maritime world. This means that we get to appeal to a broad audience. In addition to this, Limfjorden Rundt is in my opinion a big part of our entire purpose - we are not just maritime cultural heritage, we are SAILING cultural heritage. And this means we have to keep the ships sailing, keep them active to give people the best possible idea of the history. And there is no better place to promote sailing cultural heritage than in these highly attended races'.
The forests of masts, that fill the harbours of host towns remind of the days when this was a common picture in not only Danish, but also other coastal towns across Europe. For Wiggo, who grew up in Grundsund, a little coastal town on the West Coast of Sweden, and who spent his life at sea Kvartsita represents continuity in Bohuslän's maritime traditions, a living cultural heritage. 'It is not about racing, it is more about preservation of good seamanship and work under sails. How did sailors handled a sail ship using only sails? And how can we pass on these skills to younger generation? This is also why we decided to change Kvartsita's rigging to a top sail schooner, which was very common in Sweden in mid 1800's', says Wiggo, 'And Limfjorden has still a lot to teach us', he adds.
Indeed, there is a saying that 'Smooth sea doesn't make a good sailor', yet Limfjorden may prove the saying wrong. This was the first day of the race, leg one: Løgstør to Thisted. The morning was windy, cloudy and rather grey. Before we untied the lines the race committee had informed skippers that decision regarding the start of today's race would be transfered via VHF depending on the weather. As we motor a narrow channel from the harbour the radio remains silent and the wind picks up. At 9:30 the crew is at their stations - the race is supposed to start at 10 o'clock, still no signal from the organisers. The sea is smooth - smoothened and flattened by 20+ m/s winds. We set the main, fore sail, stay sail, inner and outer jib, all ready. I'm at the fore mast station. Tacking in these conditions is challenging and proves a hard work to take in the sheets. Sometimes we need the engine to help us coming through the wind, but with every tack we become better, more coordinated. That windy smooth sea certainly makes a person mature as a sailor. The race was eventually cancelled. And again two days later, on the leg from Struer to Nykøbing Mors, when Kvartsita's weather instruments showed 36m/s. These were moments that will become Wiggo's best memories, 'The teamwork, the ways we overcame challenges and that giving it all we have', as he recalls and adds 'and the evenings with relaxation after a good day of sailing too'.
Many sailors share Wiggo's impression of the race, 'I think Limfjorden Rundt is incredibly special because of the amazing sailing conditions in Limfjoren', says Sebastian Sisbo, 'The combination of powerful wind and the relatively calm water in the fjord is perfect for great racing. This gives every sailor, every crew a great opportunity to test their ship and their own ability. You are guaranteed to be tired when you get to the finish line, but then the day is far from over. You get to the port and everywhere you look, you see a friendly face with a common interest. When evening comes around and all the crews meet in the tent for dinner, you get an incredible feeling of community and friendly competition between the ships. And this is not even to mention the night; when the local pubs are suddenly filled to the brim with sailors laughing, drinking and dancing. Limfjorden is just great in every way to be honest'.
Limfjorden Rundt may well be one of the biggest sailing festivals in northern Europe, yet it remains somewhat intimate. It is not as commercial event as some of other festivals. 'Big festivals, like Tall Ship Races are too much of everything. The actual sailing part is not great. And the parade of sails, puhhha.... Being crew onboard a tall ship during that is just stressful, not very enjoyable for me. But I'm sure some sailors like it?', explains Anders Udengaard Bischoff, 'The best Limfjorden Rundt I have tried was actually in the Corona time. No arrangements in harbour whatsoever. No shenanigans and shows. Just the sailors and their boats. I think that was the essence of Limfjorden Rundt - what it used to be, before it became a festival', he adds.
My ten day voyage aboard Kvartsita passed quickly. In this time Kvartsita was rarely silent. You wouldn't say she's noisy - It's more the constant sound of her presence. Similarly to a symphony orchestra divided into woodwinds, strings, brass, and percussion Kvartsita plays her melodies using different sections. She's got kilometers of strings: shrouds, stays, halyards, sheets, etc. - these mostly whistle, but under tension they squeak. They can also imitate human voices in high winds, what's been noticed by generations of sailors aboard different ships. Strings are accompanied by blocks - especially the older ones squeal. Blocks play often with percussions, but that section is dominated by the faithful Detroit V8 (the 242 horse power of rhythm), the bilge pumps, the terror pump, and a few other more shy players. Water comes in with its own melodies. Washing off or crashing into the hull, sending a wave across the foredeck, or tapping on deck as rain. Kvartsita's bell plays in brass section. And we should never forget the choir. This particular one is somewhat peculiar. It comes on stage at night (every night) singing duets, trios and sometimes half of the starboard watch can snore together the tunes of earlier practiced shanties. Sometimes there is a guest soloist. On the voyage he belonged among the port watch. His bass and baritone arias made the bulkheads vibrate and ceiling planks shiver.
Kvartsita is rarely silent - she communicates with a sailor. After a few days one begins to react to squeaks and whistles knowing what's right, what could be better, and what is going to break in a few minutes.
In those ten days we sailed south first, down the Swedish coast. Pater Noster on the port - Kvartsita changed the course jumping and hopping, rolling happily across Kattegat. The log was ticking. 10 days later, through vertical rains, horizontal rains, two storms and the local Limfjord doldrums, normal winds and not normal ones too, Kvartsita moored at her home berth in Fiskebäckskil. The log stopped ticking, showing 640M. Now I can ask captain Wiggo: will we be heading for Limfjorden in 2023? 'I think it is important to be visible at Limfjorden Rundt. That is the intension. No special goal other then to make a good time and a good and safe sailings. It is of course nice to win, and I think all of us want that, but safety first. Kvartsita is not ready for, for example Tall Ship Races. First, we need to make some more repairs on her hull. Maybe then we sail in the North Sea. Tall Ships will sail form Fredriksstad to Lerwick this year. In my opinion this is too rough for Kvartsita in her present condition and for our crew. The North Sea is quite a different challenge', says captain Wiggo.
Other ships too announced their presence at the festival. Fulton, Bonavista, Lilla Dan and many more veterans of the race will be there. 'We only really have two annual races in Denmark, so off course we participate' says captain Anders, 'I could be on any boat/ship available, but this year I'm hoping to bring my new schooner! Hopefully we will be ready for that!'. Ready for the 35th edition of the race.