Henri-Lloyd’s new Chairman Hans Eckerström wanted to put the new 2020 Henri-Lloyd range to the test. The Swedish investor and sailor decided to enter two J/70 teams in the J/70 Frostbite Challenge at Marstrand and have Henri-Lloyd as title sponsor of the event. The eight races held over a weekend have the marks in the harbour and close to the many rocks and headlands. The brand’s Chief Technical Advisor is the United Kingdom’s Sir Ben Ainslie, so he was one of the helms, sailing together with Peter Gustafsson and Henrik Ottosson. Hans helmed the other boat with Ben Cornish, Ross Partridge and Christian Düring. Saturday morning dawned with light winds and not a cloud in the sky, but was a cool -2 degrees Celsius. While both teams were mid-fleet in the results, Hans was a point ahead of Ben going into the final race of the day. But Ben showed his fighting spirit in the final race of the day. Fast off the line, second around the windward mark, and then a quick pair of gybes saw him take the lead, never to be relinquished. Still mid-fleet in the event, but ahead of Hans in the ranking going into Saturday evening. Hans and Ben then gave a talk to the sailors and their families at the Villa Maritime in Marstrand. Sunday morning dawned with a few clouds in the sky, a freshening breeze and another layer of ice on the pontoons and decks. The Race Committee, led by Annika Bjurmalm, mixed things up for the final two races of the event, deciding on starboard roundings. The two Henri-Lloyd teams saw both the front and back of the fleet at various points throughout race seven, with Ben eventually taking fourth and Hans sixth. It was all down to the final race. Magne Klang was tied with Tomas Skålen on 19 points, with Thomas Vigenberg a point behind them, and Ben Ainslie was in fourth on 21. Ben and his team shot out of the blocks and led around the course, working well as a team to spot the lanes and opportunities. The question was whether the race win was going to be enough? A third place for Tomas Skålen left them tied on points with Ben, but the three race victories gave Ben and his team the Frostbite Challenge title on countback. For more J/70 Frostbite Challenge Regatta information, visit https://www.henrilloyd.com/Frostbite.

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