X-99 Black Pearl

24/09/2026

Kalasoppa Race 3rd 🥉🏁

Start: absolutely dialled in.
Boat speed: pretty decent.
Manoeuvres: not talking about those, everything worked, so no need to jinx it.😎
Tactics: under control at first, until we got a little too excited about match racing. 😂

On the final spinnaker leg, we decided the polars were more of a guideline than a rule and went with our own philosophy. ⛵️💨

And because that still wasn’t enough, we finished with some classic Gulf of Finland wind roulette:
1st → 3rd → “Right, let’s at least keep the boat moving.” 🎰😂

🥉 3rd overall

Could’ve been first.
But where’s the fun in that? 🏴‍☠️

At the finish, we were greeted with a proper bowl of fish soup and the prize-giving ceremony. After that, we headed over to the sailing club’s nearby island for an evening of grilling and sauna.

On Sunday, we headed back home as part of VVK’s autumn sailing. ⛵️🍂

X99Sailing

08/09/2026

Harken Race 30.8.⛵🏁

A tight race on a short 18.6 nm course, with strong competition all the way.

With Mikko, Maija, Björn, Jatta and Miika onboard, we sailed a solid race and finished 7/10. We didn’t make any major mistakes, but the boats at the front were quick to take advantage of every little opening🤏🏼

The encounter with Eckerö’s Finlandia was probably the biggest turning point for us. We lost a couple of places and several minutes in the situation, and at the same time Catchup, the other X-99, managed to catch us. This led to some extra racing with Catchup that we probably could have avoided if we had been able to get past Finlandia more efficiently🛳️

Looking back at the race, there were several small moments where we could have been quicker, reacting to shifts a little earlier, getting more out of the boat and being sharper in the manoeuvres and tactical decisions. Added together, those small differences would have made a big impact on such a short course.

Good sailing, tough competitors and plenty to improve for the next one🤩🙏🏼

25/08/2026

Helsinki–Tallinn Race 2026⛵ FR2 7/24

HTR for the fifth time for us on Pearl and once again, a difficult one. Year after year success seems to avoid us in this race, and the weather keeps doing its own thing🤯

The race went from one glassy patch to another, with thunderstorms, heavy rain and shifts that were at times almost 180° away from what PredictWind had promised. Our weather routing went completely wrong and it felt like we missed every single shift.

We hit the first big hole shortly after Husunkivi and watched the fleet sail away while we sat in the glass. Later, we hoisted the spinnaker in heavy rain as thunderstorms nearby shifted the wind. Thirty minutes later, another shift had the soaking-wet spinnaker backing up in the rig, so down it came.⛈️

Our B&G network went down around the same time as the thunderstorm. We sailed roughly two thirds of the race with a Windex and plenty of guesswork🙈

Still, we kept pushing. From Tallinn Madal onwards we put the hammer down and managed to finish 7th out of 24 boats. A pretty decent result considering how the race had gone 💪

20/08/2026

A great 20-nautical-mile race at Rapuseiluu! After a tight and exciting battle on the water, we crossed the finish line in 3rd place 🥉

The final results show just how close the racing was four boats separated by only seconds after 20 nautical miles! ⏱️

Big thanks to the whole team for a great race, and to Merenkävijät ry for organizing the race! 😊

10/08/2026

Baltic Sea Race 2026 - RET for Black Pearl ⚓️❤️

After much excitement and preparation, the race did not go according to our dreams and hopes. Retiring is a dissapointment for the crew but this time it was the right decision.

The first 24h was a tiring headwind battle, slamming hard against big waves. Forecast showed another 24h of similar conditions and possibly harder weather down the line. The decision to retire was made as risks for the crew and boat would increase too much with the fatigue.

Safety first and on to next adventures!

05/08/2026

03/08/2026

Baltic Sea Race here we come! 🤩⛵ Final preparations are underway before we set sail on Saturday🌊

25/07/2026

Black Pearl's first double-handed race ended with a 1st place finish out of 10 boats in the Helsinki–Kotka Race, organized by Merenkävijät and Kotkan Pursiseura🏆

The 80 NM course from Helsinki to Kotka was sailed in light and variable winds, with constant sail trim and several spinnaker changes throughout the 17h 18min race.
Mikko and Maija onboard⛵

02/07/2026

Gotlant Runt 2026 ☀️🌊🦭

After 2 days 22 hours and 21 minutes of sailing, Black Pearl reached the finish line with a final standing of 14/26 in class C and 93/167 in total. Winds were mild on the 350NM course, apart from some action at the southern side of Gotland, Hoburg. Mood was high throughout the race with Mikko, Maija, Meri, Teea, Marko and Rebecca onboard. Now on to Hangon Regatta ⚓️

04/06/2026

Emäsalon lenkki 23.-24.5.2026

Vene saatiin vesille sopivasti päivää ennen ekoja kisoja ja ensimmäinen purjeidennosto kesälle vain kolme minuuttia ennen starttia ⛵

Illan aikana yltyneen tuulen myötä muistui mieleen, että reivit puuttuivat. Ei tarvinnut pienentää siis isopurjeen pinta-alaa vaan ajettiin vähän löysillä purjeilla. Navakan kelin takia spinnun nosto koettiin liian isoksi riskiksi, joten ei kisan aikana saatu sitä ylös.

Maaliin saavuttiin yöllä 1h 17 min purjehtuksen jälkeen. Varsin nopea 60-mailinen kisa tällä kertaa.

Ei pystytty puolustamaan 3. kertaa putkeen nopeimman veneen titteliä tänä vuonna. Pronssisijaan ollaan tyytyväisiä, oli toki tuurikauppaa rakkaan kilpakumppanin Eveliinan kanssa että voitettiin heidät 13 sekunnilla.