Classic Yacht Symposium 2026

SPEAKERS

The timeless appeal of the Star Class

As the reigning World Champion of the International Star Class, Paul will fly from San Francisco to reveal why these boats have attracted the world’s best sailors for well over 100 years. Paul’s career spans 7 America’s Cups, the Whitbread, Volvo Ocean Race victory, two Olympics, 8 World championships and more. Despite racing the most advanced boats worldwide and competing for the America’s Cup, the Star—a small keelboat designed in 1911—kept pulling him back.


In Helsinki, Paul will share why the Star has challenged top sailors for over a century, discuss the revival of classic and vintage Stars, and explain how this class created a blueprint for organisation that remains the world’s envy.

John will co-chair the event

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.

August Plym – The Master Boatbuilder

All Classics have a history and Bobby knows them all. At least in the Nordics. A boatbuilder and enthusiastic chairman of the Classic Yacht Committee of the Swedish Sailing Federation, Bobby has been involved with many major restorations in Sweden ranging from a vide array of Skerry Cruisers to the 12mR Princess Svanevit.

Bobby was instrumental for repatriating the Princess to Sweden after a decade of negotiations with the previous owner. A sailor since he was 3 weeks old, Bobby has subsequently been the skipper of several renown classics such as the SK 150 Beatrice Aurore and presently the fin keeler “Ester” from 1901.

The story of the Sydney to Hobart Race – the famous race with famous yachts, famous yachtsmen and designers.

Do you want to learn more about the Sydney to Hobart Race, that notoriously tough ocean race? Then please join us and listen to Peter Shipway! He completed 31 Hobart races, won line honors 5 times, including 3 with the famous 100ft super maxi Wild Oats and won twice overall with the now classic S&S “Love & War”. He competed in eight Admiral’s Cups, one America’s Cup and so much more! In the past years he has given ocean racing fans the official commentary of the Hobart Race, which earned him the reputation of being “The voice of the Sydney Hobart race”. 

Peter is a founding member of the “Annual Sydney to Hobart Classic Yacht Race regatta” and he will fly all the way from Australia to take us through the 80-year history of The Race. He will also take us Nordics on board reliving the famous yachts and their designers that have raced over the 80 years dealing with everything mother nature has in store including crossing Bass Strait.  

He will also explore the tradition of the legendary 18‑footer skiffs, which have continued to thrill spectators on Sydney Harbour for 100 years or so.

How to jump onboard an eight metre on short notice just before the Worlds and beat most of the fleet

The worlds’s first all-female 8mR team from Finland participated successfully in the Worlds 2025. The team of young, under 30 year old, female sailors took command of the famous 8mR If. The captain of the team is Selma Valjus, who has collected experience, success, and medals in dinghies, ORC, and classic yachts. She is leading the project together with Martta Soini, who shares a similar sailing background. At the helm, they’ve secured Viivi Moisio, known from 6mR boats and seasoned in global sailing. The rest of the team includes: Kaisla Jacoby, also known from 6mRs and the OGR (Ocean Globe Race), Niki Blässar, with experience from Olympic campaigns and major championship medals, Emma Seppä, a multi-time medalist in Finnish 6mR Championships, and Anna Aulanko, a highly experienced classic boat crew member.

Hosting the Viaporin Tuoppi


Johanna Bruun is the commodore of the Suomenlinna Yacht Club hosting the Viaporin Tuoppi, the largest classic regatta in the Nordics. This regatta has been sailed annually since 1985. Johanna is the proud owner of Meri-Mari, a 37′ Sparkman & Stephens design from 1968. In 2023-2024, she participated in the round-the-world Ocean Globe Race aboard the Spirit of Helsinki, a Swan 651 yacht built in 1984. In her Pecha Kucha,
Johanna will take us to the Viaporin Tuoppi, the story of humble beginnings to the why and how the event grew to the undisputed largest regatta in the Nordics.

Samppa will be the co-chair of the event

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.

The Nastic Sports Academy – Connecting the Mediterranean to the Baltic Sea

Maria will present the Nastic Sailing Academy and with that she aims to connect the Nordic sailors with their peers in the Mediterranean. The NSA international sailing program is supported by Spanish Impulse, with a track record that includes several Olympic medals. This unique project offers the possibility of combining a high-performance sailing career in Olympic and pre-Olympic classes with elite academic training.

Maria was a member of the Spanish Olympic squad, she was the first woman to manage a SailGP team, the first female on the water manager for the Youth and Women’s America’s Cup, she races the classic 1896 ketch “Cariad” and so much more.

Maria’s professional career has evolved through Investment Banking (Citi – M&A), Strategy Consulting (McKinsey) and Executive Education (IESE Business School).

Main Projects:
– Red Bull Youth America’s Cup (Bermuda, 2017)
– Extreme Sailing Series (Barcelona, 2018-2019)
– M32 (Valencia, 2019)
– Spain SailGP Team (Worldwide, 2020-2023)
– Nàstic Sports Academy – Sailing Section (Tarragona, 2023-2024)
– Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup (Barcelona, 2024)

Maxis – the First Generation – 1884-1914

Dr William Collier – Managing Director of G. L. Watson & Co., historian, rescuer of classic yachts and archives, founder of Scottish Yachting Archives.

“If we fail to create a culture that values yachts as art or rare cars are prized, their future is uncertain”, says William Collier. William is the only person in the world with a PhD in Classic Yachting.

Sail – Love – Preserve

Founded in 1994, the Freundeskreis Klassische Yachten (FKY) has grown from strength to strength. From the humble start – a few friends gathering over their passion for sailing classics – to what has become a community for classic boats and yachts of more than 1,600 owners, professionals and enthusiasts in Germany and central Europe.

Christoph is a Vintage Star and Dinghy sailor and a longtime member of FKY, Europe’s and probably the world’s largest association for classic boats. He will take us through the origins and how they developed an unrivalled structure of regattas, gatherings and information sharing, forming a network and “Circle of Friends” dedicated to the active continuation of maritime culture and heritage.

Esteemed speakers from previous years include: Halsey Herreshoff, David Pedrick, Alex Thomson, Juan Kouyoumdjian, Oliver Berking, Heinz Ramm- Schmidt, Antti Herlin, Jussi Gullichsen, Fred Meyer, Henrik Andersin, John Lammerts van Bueren, Violetta Alvarez, Pelle Petterson, Lars Ström, Per-Göran Johansson, Donald Tofias, Sinem Kurtbay, Bobby Cyrus, Philipp Skafte-Holm, Donn Costanzo, James Patrick Howaldt, Juliane Hempel, William Collier, Evelyn Ansel, Tapio Lehtinen, Dr. Rüdiger Stihl, Charlotte Hellman, Jarkko Jämsen, Hasse Karlsson, Jukka Kaukonen, Pekka Barck, Allan Savolainen, Arto Linnervuo, Dawn Riley, Hamish Ross, Paul Spooner, Rudy Jurg, James Robinson Taylor, Adele Kotsalo, George Goulding, Robin Knox-Johnston, Marie Tabarly, Steve Tsuchiya, Dr. Claes Hultling, Barry Pickthall, Leo Goolden, Miriam Kalland, Christina Stenberg, Aaro Immonen, and dozens of other sailors, designers, builders and enthusiasts.

Bobby Cyrus

Bobby Cyrus

All Classics have a history and Bobby knows them all. At least in the Nordics. A boatbuilder and enthusiastic chairman of the Classic Yacht Committee of the Swedish Sailing Federation, Bobby has been involved with many major restorations in Sweden ranging from a vide array of Skerry Cruisers to the 12mR Princess Svanevit. Bobby was instrumental for repatriating the Princess to Sweden after a decade of negotiations with the previous owner. Bobby has aslo been the skipper of several renown classics such as the SK 150 Beatrice Aurore and presently the fin keeler “Ester” from 1901.

Peter Shipway

Peter Shipway

“The year 1998 highlighted the Sydney Hobart race for all the wrong reasons,” says Peter Shipway, reflecting on the tragic event. A life member of Sydney’s Cruising Yacht Club and veteran of 31 Sydney to Hobart races, Peter returned to the race in 1999 after a 16-year break. He grew up in Watsons Bay on the shores of Sydney Harbour, where his passion for sailing began. As a boy, he raced skiffs and collected sailing magazines along with old Sydney to Hobart programs. At just 18, he competed in his first Sydney to Hobart, marking the start of a lifelong connection to the race. Peter will share the history of the event from its beginnings in 1945 to the present day. He will also explore the tradition of the legendary 18‑footer dinghies, which continue to thrill spectators on Sydney Harbour.

sailingl8adies

sailingl8dies

The worlds’s first all-female 8mR team from Finland participated successfully in the Worlds 2025. The team of young, under 30 year old, female sailors took command of the famous 8mR If. The captain of the team is Selma Valjus, who has collected experience, success, and medals in dinghies, ORC, and classic yachts. She is leading the project together with Martta Soini, who shares a similar sailing background. At the helm, they’ve secured Viivi Moisio, known from 6mR boats and seasoned in global sailing. The rest of the team includes: Kaisla Jacoby, also known from 6mRs and the OGR (Ocean Globe Race), Niki Blässar, with experience from Olympic campaigns and major championship medals, Emma Seppä, a multi-time medalist in Finnish 6mR Championships, and Anna Aulanko, a highly experienced classic boat crew member.

Johanna Bruun

Johanna Bruun – Viaporin Tuoppi – the Biggest Classic Yacht Regatta in the Nordics

Johanna Bruun, has sailed her entire life, and is the commodore of the Suomenlinna Yacht Club and the producer of Viaporin Tuoppi, the largest classic regatta in the Nordics, sailed annually since 1985. She is the proud owner of Meri-Mari, a 37′ Sparkman & Stephens design from 1968. In 2023-2024, she participated in the round-the-world Ocean Globe Race aboard the Spirit of Helsinki, a Swan 651 yacht built in 1984. Professionally, Johanna is a designer and owns two companies: Studio 2B Oy and Designstudio 2B Oy. These firms specialize in interior design, brand design, art and design curation, and graphic design.


Bengt Wanselius

Bengt Wanselius

Bengt Wanselius, began photographing at age ten. From 1967 to 1985, he freelanced for major Scandinavian magazines, covering global conflict zones and nature. He later developed a passion for dance and theater photography, collaborating with directors like Bille August and Liv Ullman. In 1976, he co-founded Bildhuset, a leading Scandinavian photo agency. Bengt chaired both Swedish and Nordic Photographer’s Associations and taught at Konstfack and the University of Gothenburg. From 1980, he served as House Photographer at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, working closely with Ingmar Bergman on over 20 productions. His exhibitions include dance photography and books on Drottningholm Theatre and Cullberg Ballet. Since 1997, he’s focused on digital media and filmmaking, including collaborations with choreographer Mats Ek. His visual journey spans analog to digital, driven by endless curiosity and a love for storytelling through images.

William Collier

William Collier

Owner and CEO of G.L. Watson & Co.Ltd

“If we fail to create a culture that values yachts as art or rare cars are prized, their future is uncertain”, says William Collier, MD of G. L. Watson & Co. and owner of the Fife and Watson archives. William is the only person in the world with a PhD in Classic Yachting.