Final Preparations Underway for the Team Racing World Championship

Boat work, boat work, and more boat work. To say that it's been busy days at Beckholmen would be an understatement. Every detail of the club's J/80 fleet is being fine-tuned ahead of the Team Racing World Championship, taking place on 12–16 August.

It has been said before, but it deserves repeating: the boat team, led by Hans Lundberg, are the true heroes of GSYS.

With the championship fast approaching, the pace has only intensified. Over the past week, all winches have been replaced, new kicking straps and tackle systems installed, the decks repainted, new mainsheets fitted, the rigs tuned, and the interior painting completed on the final two boats.

One of the more extensive modifications has been relocating the mainsheet attachment point to improve the boats' handling and ensure identical race preparation across the fleet.

On Tuesday, the sixth boat was launched after the keel had been filled, sanded and repainted the previous day. GSYS's tireless transport expert, Catja Everhall-Blom, then towed the boat to Hundudden, where it was stepped and launched before being towed back to Beckholmen.

All six of the club's J/80s are now afloat and ready. They are joined by a seventh boat, owned by Andreas Rosenlew, which will serve as one of two reserve boats during the championship.

On Tuesday evening, all boats were officially weighed at the Swedish Maritime Administration quay next to Beckholmen, with the help of seven club volunteers.

In total, around fifteen GSYS members have worked tirelessly alongside the boat team to prepare the fleet for the World Championship.

The work, however, is not quite finished.

"There's still a little left to do, but we can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel," says Hans Lundberg. "We're replacing ratchet blocks and pulleys on the final boat, and there's still some work to be done on the second reserve boat."

This weekend, all boats will be transported to the championship venue on Riddarfjärden by Team Kroken, the team representing both GSYS and Sweden at the World Championship.

In addition, six J/80s from Finland, kindly provided by NJK (Nyländska Jaktklubben) in Helsinki, will be used during the event. These boats are scheduled to arrive this weekend and will be in place on Riddarfjärden by Monday.

The countdown to the first race has truly begun.