www.Sail-Search.com: Stockholm, June 16 2008. The French experienced Formula 18-duo Eric Proust and Romain Motteau on Team Kalix are leading the Archipelago Raid since the first day. But it is not over yet and the followers are constantly nagging at their heals. On the fourth day of the Raid the boats are back in the Åland archipelago, sailing a tight race between the small islands in great conditions with winds around 10-15 knots. Tension is rising and the battle is on.

At the early 5 am start this morning, the Swedish Team Thule (Martin Strandberg/Johan Örtendahl), started paddling straight ahead while the other teams where tacking when leaving Nagu island in the Finnish archipelago. Their physically bold tactics paid off and they led the fleet through leg 7 and won the leg! Team Thule is currently second on the overall ranking and is fighting hard to catch up with the French leader.

America’s Cup sailor Martin Strandberg on Team Thule commented their successful morning: “We made a good choice when we started to paddle at the start instead of putting the jib up. Thanks to this we started off with a small lead, although it was very tight during the whole leg. We made a good tactical decision after the fourth checkpoint and won the leg. Other teams chose another option and had to turn around because of a cable blocking the masts. We're tired now but very motivated, we have to keep up with Proust & Co [Team Kalix]!”

Several teams have problems with their GPS, because of the humidity. They have to rely on traditional chart navigation, demanding a lot more of the tired sailors. The tension is rising in the fleet to make a good result and the second leg of the day started early afternoon full of action. Three boats capsized over the line! Team Blue Oceans, NCC, and First Hotels were too eager in the gusty winds and turned over. They were all quickly back on track but with a lot of energy consumed. The eighth leg will take the competitors to Rödhamn in Åland, where the Yacht Club of Åland will great them late tonight.

Yesterday was a long, physically tiring day with the consistently strong wind. Some of the sailors claimed it was the toughest day experienced in the Archipelago Raid, previous races included. Ryan Crawford, crew on Team Blue Oceans commented: “If we are this tired after the third day how will it be on the sixth day!”

The fast sailing caused a few damages; RSBC-Huysman, torn their main sail and had to skip a few checkpoints of leg 6 and head directly to the head quarter in Nagu. HH-Marin dismasted just after hitting rocks and had to be towed to Nagu. Both boats managed to repair and are back in the race. Unfortunately that was not the case for the Swedes Fredrik Ekman and Gustav Tempelman on Sundsvalls Bygg. They damaged their boat too severely to continue the race when hitting hard on a rock. The team had sailed an excellent race, placed second on the total ranking when they had to retire. The disappointment is huge.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, the boats will start the long journey “home”, back to the Stockholm archipelago, ending the day at Sandhamn. On Wednesday 18 June the race finishes in the city of Stockholm late afternoon.

Positions of the 12 first boats after Leg 7/Day 4

1. Team Kalix, Eric Proust & Romain Motteau - Fra
2. Team Thule, Martin Strandberg & Johan Örtendahl - Swe
3. X-Leisure, William Sunnucks & Simon Farren - UK
4. Team BLUE Oceans, Conrad Humphreys & Ryan Crawford - UK
5. RBSC Huysman, Patrick Demesmaeker & Michel Proot – Bel
6. Team Garmin, John Bäck & Gustav Morin - Swe
7. One Design Center, Martin Hållsten & Malcom Hanes - Swe
8. SWE 558, Ola Person & Tomas Westergren - Swe
9. BT, Ellen MacArthur & Greg Homann - UK/Aus
10. Dare 2, Vincent Andre & Alessandro Vercio - Belg/Ital
11. N-Group, Matti Nieminen & Mikko Nieminen – Fin
12. HH-Marin, Thomas Ekefalk & Carl Johan Söder – Swe

See updated results at www.archipelagoraid.com