ORC DH WC: Klabbe Nylöf on board Club Swan 36, Mini Ravenger

A boat that will definitely draw some attention during the ORC double-handed WC is the Club Swan 36 Mini Ravenger, sailed by Roger Samuelsson and Klabbe Nylöf. Mini Ravenger has sailed in the Mediterranean in the races where, for example, the KSSS team Regina 2.0 has been racing in recent years. Normally, the Club Swan 36 is sailed with a crew of seven, now the crew will be reduced to two, and prepared for offshore racing.

Currently, Roger and Klabbe are training daily in Saltsjöbaden. Klabbe emphasizes that there are a lot of things that must be adjusted to be able to sail an offshore race like Gotland Runt (category 3). Guardrail, kitchen, electronics and reefable mainsail are some of the updates that have been made. They practice what it is like to sail the boat on two, the use of the autopilot and understand their and the boat's limitations when they are used to sailing the boat with full crew.

We know Klabbe as one of the more experienced and all-round professional sailors we have in Sweden. In addition to heading Swan in Sweden, he has been involved in a number of cool projects, such as trimaran campaigns, Volvo Ocean Race projects, M32 and several Med circuit racing campaigns.

Roger Samuelsson is a Swedish entrepreneur who is based in Asia, where he runs the company SHL Group. Roger has more than one string to his bow, he is a great motorsport enthusiast where he has raced in STCC. Roger has had several boats in the Mediterranean, the Club Swan 50 Ravenger was followed by the Club Swan 36 Mini Ravenger.

Mini Ravenger is equipped with a mainsail, a reefable jib and a heavy jib. On downwind, she has a number of asymmetrical spinnakers and a furling code 0. Klabbe thinks that an important word is seamanship. You have to be smart in your trade-offs, anticipate what is to come and not be too aggressive.

We can be sure that we will see some amazing sailing from the Mini Ravenger. A Club Swan 36 can easily reach speeds up to 25 knots on downwinds. Klabbe is a little unsure how they will rate in comparison to others, it obviously depends on the conditions. If they come out of the archipelago in a somewhat good way, he thinks they can have a good chance of a prominent position.

As I normally do, I ask Klabbe if he has any fun Gotland Runt memory to share.

- I have so many fun memories, so it is difficult to choose one, but I remember the race from 2008 when I also sailed double-handed, then on the trimaran HiQ. After sailing two laps around Gotland, we met the German 86-footer Morning Glory at Salvorev. Now it became exciting to see who would take line honors in Sandhamn. We were going to Gustaf Dahlén, while they could sail straight back. We did not think we could make it, but when the boats met for the rounding of Almagrundet we saw to our shock that Morning Glory had lost the mast. We won, but unfortunately for the wrong reason.

I personally (Iohn) think it will be very exciting to follow the Mini Ravenger around Gotland, a type of boat that would be fun to try sailing offshore racing with full crew.
KSSS wish Roger and Klabbe good luck on your adventure round Gotland.

Iohn Ryott