The boat, which has been in the Kavén family since 1985, crossed the finish line on Tuesday.
From Espoo Salla Kavén and his crew sailed to victory in the international Roschier Baltic Sea Race on Tuesday.
Kavén’s Silver Moon II boat crossed the finish line in Helsinki on Tuesday afternoon. The competitors set off on Thursday from Suomenlinna, went around Gotland and returned to Helsinki from the Estonian side, passing Saaremaa and Hiidenmaa.
In addition to Kavén, the victorious crew included his spouse Kari Itkonenhis brother Jorma Kavén and Jouni Kavén as well as another brother’s spouse Heidi Ekholm.
“I was basically born to sail and have been sailing with my parents since the first summer of my life,” says Salla Kavén.
His active racing career began at the beginning of the millennium, i.e. more than 20 years ago. The same family crew has been together for several years.
“We have been to the Helsinki–Tallinn Race for some years, and in 2020 we were sailing in the Latvian open sea championships. Then more active races together”, says the skipper and adds that he considers the win to be the absolute best of his career.
At 635 nautical miles long, the competition was the longest open sea sailing competition in the Baltic Sea. Converted into kilometers, the distance is almost 1,200 kilometers.
The competition the main organizer was the British Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC). The traditional and respected club is known for classic open sea sailing competitions.
The Roschier Baltic Sea Race win was calculated based on the handicap numbers that take the boat’s characteristics into account. 27 boat crews from 11 different countries participated in the race, and there were both professional sailors and big racing boats.
The Pole was the first to reach the finish line already on Sunday Grzegorz Baranowskin skippered by I Love Poland, which is a Volvo Open 70 class sailboat. The class in question was developed for the Volvo Ocean Race round-the-world sailing competition.
Kavén’s Silver Moon II is a 32-foot Finnish-designed H-boat of the H323 type. The skipper describes his tool as a boat with a traditional design, which, at less than 10 meters and a relatively narrow boat, is small for modern facilities.
“But really seaworthy and seaworthy. Such an extremely enjoyable boat to sail,” he adds.
Kavén says that he was born to sail, because he has accompanied his parents on boat trips since the first summer of his life. The racing boat has also been known for decades.
“This has been in my family all my life. My parents acquired the boat in 1985, and in 2012 this boat came into my ownership. Then I’ve used it for camping and competitions,” he says.
The Espoo resident representing the Kivenlahti Boat Club says that the victorious open sea sailing did not offer insurmountable challenges thanks to good preparation.
“There were a few spots of really light wind, but we kind of knew them, and when those light spots came, we got out of that calm patch very well.”
“There were no other challenges because we had prepared and planned everything really carefully and for a long time and carefully. Everything was enjoyable,” he adds.