Welcome to the 12th Classic Yacht Symposium and Dinner 29th March 2025 Featuring Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Marie Tabarly, Leo Goolden, Steve Tsuchiya, Claes Hultling, Barry Pickthall and a dozen other speakers!

Opening Words of the 12th edition: Mikael Stelander (FIN) – Commodore of Helsingfors Segelsällskap

Mikael Stelander, the Commodore of HSS, is an avid classic yachtsman and the owner of the 8mR Ilderim (II) and the 22sqm Skerrycruiser Fragancia. In 2022, Mikael handed Ilderim over to his two daughters and their friends. Ilderim and its crew represent the generational shift in Finnish classic yachting, with scores of young sailors increasingly moving into the Metre, Hai-boat, and Skerry Cruiser classes.

Symposium Co-Chair: John Lammerts van Bueren (NL) – Yacht Historian, Sailor, Sawmiller — Our Co-Chair

John has been a regular speaker at the Symposium since 2011 and, following the passing of its founder, Esko Kilpi, has served as co-chair since 2020.

He is a former president of the International 8-Metre Association, a multiple world champion, an afterguard member on the schooners Eleonora and Atlantic, and a race crew member on the 23mR Cambria. John is deeply involved in all aspects of international classic yachting. He is also a leading sawmiller, specializing in top-grade Sitka spruce for spars in the classic yachting world.

Symposium Co-Chair: Samppa Vilkuna (FIN) – From Stars to Offshore — Our Co-Chair

Samppa Vilkuna has been the Co-chair together with John since 2020. For years he used to crew the former Symposum chair’s Esko Kilpi’s Star.

Today Samppa is an avid Offshore sailor and skipper of the Lygaia (L-95), Sparkman & Stephens design #1780.4, the legendary Finnish 42 ft one-off offshore racer, was built for Pekka Herlin in 1967 by legendary Finnish boat builder Eino Antinoja. Samppa was heavily involved in Tapio Lehtinens’s Ocean Globe Race -project 2023-2024, working with the support crew.

Speaker: Robin Knox-Johnston (UK) – A world of my own

Sir Robin was the first person to sail single handed and non-stop around the world between 14 June 1968 and 22 April 1969. More than 40 years have gone by since Sir Robin Knox-Johnston made history by becoming the first man to sail solo and non-stop around the globe in 1968-69. One of nine sailors to compete in the Times Golden Globe Race, Sir Robin set off from Falmouth, with no sponsorship, on 14 June 1968.

Speaker: Marie Tabarly (FR) – Classics – a state of mind

Marie is a French professional yacht sailor and daughter of legendary sailor Eric Tabarly. She has a long history of sailing many different yachts from a young age, such as Geronimo, the French trimaran which has broken many records. She primarily sails Pen Duick VI, a 73 ft ketch built for Eric Tabarly’s 1973–1974 Whitbread Round the World Race 1973–1974. She will skippered Pen Duick VI in the Ocean Globe Race 2023-2024, winning the line honours. Prior to the OGR, she raced alongside Louis Duc in the Transat Jacques Vabre.

Speaker: Leo Goolden (UK) – Restoring with the help of 500 000 fans

Leo bought the remains of a famous 1910 cutter named Tally Ho seven years ago. While restoring her, he documented the journey on YouTube and developed a strong following, enticing new viewers into the world of classic yacht restoration. Today his community is the largest yachting related community in the world with over 500,000 subscribers and tens of millions of views. Through the extraordinary quality of the craftsmanship of his team, his philosophy on preservation, his drive for authenticity and the way the work is documented, he set a new standard in the world of classic yachts. The support he gathered on YouTube and beyond made a success of a seemingly impossible restoration. 

Claes Hultling – From Olympics to classics

Back in 1984 Claes dove off a jeSy, struck a rock and broke his neck. Instantly he was paralyzed from the waist down. He realized he would be wheelchair bound for the rest of his life, he quickly figured what to do, 3 days later he married, already a medical doctor, he specialized in spinal injuries and became a world leading specialist professor.

He never gave up sailing his Folkboat strapping his wheelchair to the cockpit coaming. He was instrumental in bringing the 2.4m Class to the Paralympics and competed himself in Sydney. Three years ago, he flew to Tasmania to buy a 1924 Int. 8-Metre and today he sails her in the Swedish archipelago with patients and fellow wheelchair bound friends from all over the world. He’s known as the Stephen Hawking of sailing
and his story is truly inspirational.

He transformed personal tragedy into pioneering medical innovation as he co-founded the Spinalis Foundation and Clinic in Stockholm, revolutionising spinal cord injury rehabilitation.

Speaker: Steve Tsuchiya (US) – Racing with majestic urgency: The story of the 1934 America’s Cup and its aftermath

R. Steven Tsuchiya, is a yachting historian, and chair of the America’s Cup Hall of Fame Selection Committee. He is a member of the New York Yacht Club, serving on the Club’s Library, Fine Arts, Communications, and America’s Cup Committees. Steve has contributed to preserving yachting history through exhibits at the Herreshoff Marine Museum and The Sailing Museum. His latest book is the America’s Cup Deed of Gift and Related Documents (Herreshoff Marine Museum, 2024). He is also a member of the Cowan Lake Sailing Association in Wilmington, Ohio, where he races Flying Scot dinghies.

Panel (FIN): Half a century of circumnavigation

The Sailing and Boating Association of Finland will showcase the rich history of Finnish circumnavigation. Sailors from the past to the present will take the stage. Stand by for more info.

Pecha Kucha: Barry Pickthall (UK) – My favourite photos

Barry Pickthall is an award winning yachting journalist, photographer and author. A former boatbuilder and naval architect, has been covering international stage for the past 5 decades from the Olympics to America’s Cup and Round the World Races. He has written 18 books about sailing. He has been covering America’s Cup icons Dennis Conner, Ted Turner, and Russell Coutts, Sir Ben Ainslie, round the world sailors, Sir Francis Chichester, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Sir Chay Blyth and Dame Ellen McCarthur, and Olympic medalists Paul Elvstrom, Rodney Pattisson and Shirley Robertson.

Pecha Kucha: Mirjam Kalland (FIN) – What’s So Special with an A?

Mirjam will speak about her and her family’s love story with the A-boat
Filou (FIN-20). Filou is a 1946 Birger Slotte design built at Kråkö Båtvarv.
The A-class is a Finnish cruiser-racer design class with about 30 boats
built 1936-1952. Mirjam is a professor of early childhood education at
the University of Helsinki.

Pecha Kucha: Aaro Immonen (FIN) – Ocean Racing: Why Should the Next Generation Care?

Aaro will present his next project for an all U30 crew. He was named Finnish Offshore Sailor of the Year in 2024. As second mate, he participated in the Ocean Globe Race 2023-2024 onboard Spirit of Helsinki, a 1984 German Frers-designed Swan 651.
He also skippers Lillevi (GER-68), a 1938 Zake Westin designed 6mR.

Pecha Kucha: Christina Stenberg (SWE) – The fabulous Ohlson brothers

Christina is the daughter of the late Einar Ohlson who, together with his
brother Carl-Eric, formed the most prolific designer duo in Sweden during the 1900s. With fity-seven 5.5-metre designs, they are the only constructors in the class to also win an Olympic medal at each Olympics. Christina heads the Ohlson Project (TOP), which revives the legacy of these
two key figures in Nordic naval design history.