It was a blast racing through Finland's southwest archipelago under oar power and sail with twenty-one boats all under 22 feet long with crews hailing from all over the world. The boats themselves were as varied as their crews but all were classics of one design or another. The German and Dutch sailors seemed to favor beautiful wooden Norwegian Fearings while the Hawaiians sailed a Shetland Islands Yole, one of two in the Raid. There were two Whitehall Spirits. The " Victoria" a 14' sailing model, sailed by the French team, Bertrand and Anne Chazarene was also the smallest boat in the fleet. The other was our Canadian team entry, a Whitehall Spirit 17 Expedition model.

Five of us made up the Canadian Whitehall crew including myself, Marie Hutchinson, Chris Nohr on still and digital video camera, plus Wim Kotze from Row Scandinavia traveling with his eight year old son Hampus. Wim supplied and operated our 20-foot RIB camera boat and also functioned as relief rower. We made new friends, had amazing experiences, shot hundreds of pictures and several hours of footage, which has been made into a documentary film. click to watch and order the DVD now. We shipped the Whitehall Spirit 17 Expedition model over expressly for the Raid. It handled the conditions well with no major gear problems and as this was our first Raid we learned a lot about how to do it. We rowed and or sailed every day starting usually at 10 after a huge breakfast with 72 other hungry "Raiders". A chef and two able helpers traveled with the fleet setting up a mobile kitchen and meeting us for lunch, dinner and breakfast. The food was spectacular with many ingredients coming from Chef Jan's own organic gardens on his farm near Helsinki.

As there is a tidal water level change of only a few inches in the Baltic boats can simply be pulled up on the beach and parked. Daily, after breakfast, a Skippers meeting conducted by Mike Hanyi, Raid Finland's founder and main organizer, laid out the next leg of the Raid and pointed out features of the route plus any hazards to avoid. Then it was into the boats and out to the starting line.

With the amazing variety of boats and rigs the starts were a sight to behold. Three powerboats each piloted by competent volunteers traveled with the fleet as escorts and gear transporters plus our own camera boat. There were dismastings and rudder breakages but all boats and crews finished each leg and the Raid intact. Somehow, each time, as the starting horn sounded, this milling mass of boats some under oars and sail would cross the start line and head for the next stop The Raid started off from Dalsbruk a tiny port about two hours south of Turku. It was a warm up leg of just a few miles. We pulled ashore at the Island of Biskopso, greeted by a drummer pounding on a set of kettledrums and cymbals. Very Viking. The mad drummer turned out to be retired artist/musician and our host Johnny Gustafson. After dinner at the Biskopso Hall we were treated to a concert featuring Johnny and friends on vocals and guitar as we sat around in the grass under the trees talking and starting to get to know each other. One could listen to at least three different languages being spoken at all times. The next day was about a fourteen mile run south to the island of Rosala with a lunch stop on the north side of the island around four miles from the finish. We badly needed a few missing supplies so Marie and Wim headed back to Dalsbruk in the RIB and Chris, his third time in a rowing boat, crewed with me in the Whitehall. Winds were very light. After an exciting start we rowed along at our standard five knots using our sliding seat units and sculls. We handily left the fleet behind. A half hour out we led by a good half mile and were getting pretty cocky and started to row casually along when we noticed the German team of Manfred Jacob and his son Merek on "Woge" closing on us. The wind, from ahead, was picking up smartly. By halfway "Woge" was ahead and Yves Patrernot and Thierry de Preux on "Ellinor" of Switzerland also tacked past us and we found ourselves rowing into a gunnel high chop.

Whitehalls were designed to handle these conditions but the rowing is strenuous if you want to make time so we pulled and pulled with spray flying. Another of the hotter sailboats sailed past us as we joked about how much fun Raids were, blisters forming up on our aching hands. Finally after about three hours from the start Marie, Wim and Hampus arrived back in the RIB and were surprised that we were placed so high in the fleet. Finally we crossed the finish line and pulled up on the beach, exhausted but in fourth place. The afternoon leg was headed further down Rosala and was only a few miles As the wind had dropped to light we again elected to row. Marie took over rowing from Chris enabling him to get back behind the cameras.

The start was clean but as we surged across the line I thought I heard someone yell "Your over the line" and I instinctively braked with the oars which produced an ominous crack from the footpad. Mea yelled "no, no, go, go!" and we carried on. Several boats were rowing at this point but we were leading by at least a hundred feet when my foot pad came off its pivot. This was serious as I couldn't complete a return stroke on the sliding seat without being able to pull myself aft with my legs. Removing the footpad I grabbed a tieup line and tied it around the end of the sliding seat's base and across the pivot pipe. Tucking my feet under the line it held just fine and I could resume rowing along with Mea who had kept on rowing through it all. This had taken a bit of time so by now we had slipped to second place and a hundred yards behind "Vihtanen" the Finnish entry crewed by Pekka Erkola and his son Jesse. Thos guys were really moving and keeping their boat at hull speed with fixed seats and traditional oars. Over the next two miles stroke by stroke we closed the distance between us. Finally we spotted the Viking Longship marking the finish line and we heaved towards it. A hundred feet out our bow crossed the Finns transom. Five or six strokes later when we crossed the line they held us by less than three feet and we finished second but it was worth it to see the look of joy and relief of this father and son team's faces. Rosala was once a Viking settlement located on the ancient trading route through the thousands of islands in the archepelago. Now, it's populated by only a few families and summer visitors. We stayed in the Chieftain's hall one of several buildings at the Rosala Viking Center. The staff prepared a delicious traditional Viking feast for us all, spread out on long tables in the center of Chieftain's hall. Later we attended an interesting but brief lecture and a short film about Viking mythology and then strolled about checking out the many and varied exhibits while enjoying the lingering dusk at sixty-two degrees north. The next leg was out into the open Baltic with a run to the Island of Vano. The wind was forecast at 6 to 8 meters per second or approximately 12 to 15 knots southwest meaning a downwind sail. Finally a chance to see how the two Whitehalls would perform compared to a varied fleet of boats. As the start was in light air we ran under full main and down wind jib. We had a rather poor start towards the back of the fleet. Patchy gusts spread the fleet apart as it filed out through the islands.

Sailing off the wind in light conditions with a large number of vastly different boats is interesting as lighter boats are not being slowed by opposing wave action like they are when beating upwind. We were doing great slowly passing a few boats but having a couple of longer boats with a good spread of sail slowly past us. The little Whitehall Spirit 14 "Victoria" the smallest boat in the fleet, with its small sail area, just flew along staying ahead of Marie and I. We finally caught them close to the end. I was really impressed as our 17foot Whitehall had a longer waterline and proportionally more sail. The "Victoria" seemed to fit between the waves just right and kept up with some of the largest boats in the fleet. We sailed into the boat harbour at Vano and pulled up on a nice grassy spot next to a boathouse with Bernard and Anne on "Victoria" on one side and Yves and Terri on "Ellinor" on the other. Christoph Geyer off the "Prinsessan" has since sent us a copy of a wonderful watercolor painting of the boats pulled out at this beautiful landing spot. Vano really had the feel of the "skerries" as these islands are called. Rocky and wind-blown with grass and low bushes. Houses often sat on bare rock with a smooth rock front yard. Trees grew in all the hollows and sheltered spots filling them in with pleasant greenery.

Chris, Marie and myself were hosted for the night in a cute little cottage located high above the harbour. Our cottage was just large enough for three beds, one above, mine, and two below. Their's were athwartship shorter models. Cozy and with a beautiful view of the Skerries stretching out as far as the eye could see. Marie got aquainted with our host Petra who with her husband owned the little guesthouse and was invited to a women's sauna later that evening. We had arrived in the early afternoon. At 62 degrees North it stays daylight until 11 o'clock so we had time to look the place over and meet some of the fifteen people who are full time residents. Our shepherd Petra who had a flock of a hundred sheep went off to build fences and Chris got to ride around with pipe smoking Magnus and tune into some of the local gossip. I settled for cold beers down at the dock with some locals and the ships crews. There's a daily ferry to most of these islands and I'd recommend a holiday here to anyone wanting to enjoy a wonderful change of pace and gorgeous scenery. Magnus invited all the men for a late evening sauna at his place so of course many went. It was unique to experience being crowded into the hot sauna with a bunch of jovial naked men while we jabbered away in at least five languages. Everybody spoke English but most spoke at least two other languages fluently as well. Laughter was definitely the real common denominator with the sea only a few feet away to plunge into and cool off.

Next morning, with a forecast of westerly winds of 10 to 12 meters per second we were again off across the open Baltic to Hogsara, luckily to the east of Vano. This leg was definitely the hottest sailing but unfortunately our worst start. A miscommunication at the Skippers meeting had many of the fleet, including us, start almost ten minutes late. Oh well, "It's not all about winning" we said and headed off. Yves, with local knowledge had advised both Bertrand and Anne and ourselves to follow his lead and carry a reefed main as it gets very lumpy towards the Hogsara side. After less than an hour we shook the reef out although this took a while due to a misplaced line hanging things up. The ride was smooth and steady enough to stand and clear the halyards easily with Marie steering. Finally we were squared away with the red light furling jib boomed out on a sculling oar and the full main as flat as possible. At this point Marie said "Harold, you better take the helm" and we swapped positions.

We were about halfway across the open stretch, and, as an ex-windsurfer, I began to appreciate the ride. With the centerboard up our Whitehall just cooked along sometimes breaking into a long surfing run and occasionally onto a short plane. This was excellent downwind sailing and the boat tracked straight and stayed under full control just running off in the gusts without any tendency to gybe or round up. It was indeed a little lumpy toward the channel on the far side and Chris took some photos that he calls the "Flying Dutchman shots". We were pleased to experience such a thrilling sail and managed to even catch up to and pass a few of the boats that started out on time.

Bernard and Anne on "Victoria" stayed reefed down but also made pretty good time without shipping aboard any water and remained in full control. That 14' Whitehall Spirit with great handling by her crew again really put on an impressive show in these higher winds and lumpy wave conditions. The entire fleet came through relatively unscathed except for "LuLu" losing her rudder just outside the channel below Hogsara. They repaired it and carried on. There was still plenty of wind in the calmer channel behind Hogsara and we made great time for a couple of miles until the final beat into to the finish line where I attempted to row straight upwind to the finish but lost a couple of places due to the wind being stronger than I'd reckoned on. We pulled up onto the beach tired but just in time for lunch.

Later that afternoon Captain Jussi Salovaara, owner of the 120' Baltic Trader "Svanhild", pulled his ship into the nearby jetty and became our host and movable accommodations for the next two days. Jussi has owned "Svanhild" for over thirty years and rebuilt her from a lumber carrying freight boat into a commodious sailing charter yacht. Mike Hanyi not only managed to get him to agree to hosting part of the fleet for two nights but both of the Shetland yoles in the raid; the "Osla" crewed by the Belgian team of Wouter Van Roost, Petri Petola and Jean-Pierre Paris, and the "Millie" crewed by the American team of Halona and Bonnie Tanner and Norman Wolfe and belonged to Jussi as well. He brought both of the yoles back as deck cargo on voyage to the Shetland Islands. The next morning we sailed north heading first to Olmos Viken for a lunch stop then to Sorpo for the night. A southwest wind made for a broad reach as we cleared Norsto then behind Hamnholmen with the large island of Langsidan forming a lee shore. Ten to fifteen knots of wind kept most of the fleet sailing at an even pace and we enjoyed a neck and neck run with the Russian family team of Oleg Khoudiakov, Kate Shergold, Ksenja (age 10) Darja (age 5), and Alexander, Tatiania and Nikita a (age 10). Seven in all aboard the "Hilda" a buff and beamy gaffer that carried a massive spread of sail. They surged along and really got moving at the finish line. We crossed together with "Hilda" in the lead.

Lunch was aboard the "Svanhild" with all the boats rafted up next to her. A couple of hours later we headed off again only this time it turned into a nasty beat to weather in a 15 to 20 knot northerly wind. It was sloppy and wet and we floated our floorboards twice over the next couple of hours necessitating use of the pump. I mentally redesigned our jib to higher upwind standards as we slogged along soaked but at least not cold as the Baltic water was really quite warm. Amazing when you consider that for several months a year it's frozen solid. Finally, at close to the end of the fleet just ahead of the "Victoria" we made it in to Sorpo and the solid comfort of the "Svanhild's" decks. The next morning with a forcast of little to no wind we stowed the rig and broke out the oars. Wim joined the Whitehall 17 crew and Marie took over running the RIB. The horn blew and we crossed the line leading the fleet northeast up the channel. One of the problems of being out in front is your navigation skills are put sharply to the test. A minor course error had us over to the wrong side of the channel before a swing to the east and added a fair bit to our distance traveled. We were still well in front and didn't let that concern us. As the miles passed we maintained a quarter mile lead over the second boat, the yole "Osla" moving quickly along under oar and sail. Those yoles carried a huge sail area and are very fast off the wind. Osla was about a quarter mile ahead of the main fleet as the wind slowly freshened from behind. We were on the north side of the channel and the "Osla" toward the other side as we converged toward the finish line, Wim and I both rowing at a maxed out pace. Finally we heard the horn blow but it was for the "Osla" who beat us over the line by just a few boat lengths. Still second is good done purely under oar power.

We had landed on the lee side of an uninhabited island and by climbing to the top of a rocky knoll had a great view of the boats crossing the finish line. It was over an hour before the last boat pulled in for the lunch stop.

The wind was south ten to fifteen but we decided to row the next leg as well as it was about eight miles with a shortcut through a narrow channel at the end. It was a great chance to see how our hull speed would compare with the fleet as we would all be starting off together at speed.

The horn sounded and we were immediately caught in a tangle of boats right on the line. We got clear and headed off. Remarkably, by keeping a steady pace on the oars we were able to match the speed of the fleet. "Moka" a beautiful black hulled 22' Rudi Grimm/Christoph Lucks design with Rudi Grimm, Annette Lommel, Lasse (age12) and Lillan (age 10) from Germany was abeam of us. The Whitehall pulled easily in the small following seas and GPS readings on adjacent boats had us all pegged at 5.4 knots. We were in good company with boats all around, "Ofelia" from Sweden, "Frja" from Denmark, "Fridolen" a USA entry with Mike's father Csaba Hanyi aboard, Peter Lord on "Meander" an Australian entry. Wim and I just stroking along with sweat running in our eyes and everyone else kicked back letting the wind do the work. I was impressed to see what our Whitehall Spirit 17 fitted out with a pair of slide seats could do speedwise compared to this variety of hull forms. An hour and a half from the start we had totally given up on winning this second from last leg. Thinking that we would improve our position when we could cut through the channel up ahead where sailing would be difficult, we were relieved when, at least to us, a minor miracle happened. Suddenly the wind dropped to non-existant and a couple of minutes later completely reversed direction! Crews frantically dropped or reduced sail and those that could switched to oars. We left them behind passing many boats that were ahead just minutes before. The channel was now less than a quarter mile ahead and we could see "Vihtanen","Osla" and "Millie" dropping their rigs switching to oars. Entering the channel we poured it on and passed "Woge" still under sail then "Osla", "Millie" "Ellinor" and finally "Vihtanen" only a hundred yards from the finish line which Christer Bystrom had only just deployed. Finally, but only with the winds approval, we were first to finish.

The fleet tied up med style to the seawall that stretched across the waterfront home of Fredrik Koivusalo who also participated in the race on the aluminum escort boat "Monster". Tents were erected by many of the boat crews across the spacious lawns fronting the property. Speakers and a sound system were set up and began cranking out tunes. The kids all went swimming off a small dock as crews relaxed and enjoyed the last night of the Raid. Several people went out in various boats to try them out including our Whitehall Spirit 17.

The last race of the raid was specifically for boats using oars and the ‘sail only' boats of which there were about six, were not officially qualified. Wim again rowed with me and Marie ran the RIB. We were primed for this one and as it was only six miles to the finish we could keep the heat on so to speak. Now we knew for sure we were fastest under oars and wanted to really see what we could do. When the horn blew we quickly led the fleet and didn't relinquish it. By halfway we were over a half a mile ahead. Passing under the bridge marking the finish line we won and were ten minutes ahead of "Vihtanen" who was followed by the British team of John and Lainey Widdaker on "Gannet". Wim and I were pretty much exhausted and accepted Marie's offer of a tow to the final stop and haulout at the Pargass Marine Technical School docks. All of us enjoyed one last great meal together on the grounds of the school dormitory. Many bottles of Lapin Kulta and other liquid refreshments were consumed. After dinner Mike Hanyi conducted the Awards ceremony. The overall winner for both sailing and rowing, on corrected time, was the German team of Hans Heyer and Karen Landbauer on "Kleiner-Kerl". For sailing only, Manfred and Merik Jacob on "Woge". And the rowing award was won by ourselves. The real prize however was having such a wonderful experience with such a great group of boating people and seeing a side of Finland that you simply could not experience any other way.