Racing in the Norwegian J/70 Sailing League rarely gets tighter than it did off Arendal, where the fleet's third stop of the 2026 season delivered some of the closest club racing of the year against a backdrop of pine-covered coastline.
Arendal Sailing Club hosted the event, drawing 18 teams to the Elite Series and a further dozen into Division 1. That's 30 crews and upwards of 150 sailors racing hard for their clubs over a long weekend, with plenty of socialising ashore once the racing was done.
Soon Seilforening took the Elite Series win on 29 points, skippered by Jonas Sorlie with Erik Holt-Engebakken, Erik Woo-Noren and Lea Jamelia Jofors aboard. Stavanger Seilforening finished second on 31 points under August Hanevik, crewed by Markus Hagen, Gabriel Scherer and Viktor Scherer. Grimstad Seilforening completed the podium, also on 31 points, with August Austefjord at the helm alongside Orjan Flo, Daniel Flo Fjaere and Andre Jorgen Ugland.
The overall series race remains finely balanced. Tonsberg Seilforening holds the lead by a single point, on 8 points total after Moss, Asgardstrand and Arendal. Stavanger Seilforening sits second on 9 points, with KNS, the Royal Norwegian Yacht Club, third on 17. A 10th-place finish in Arendal has badly dented KNS's hopes of taking out the 2026 title.
In Division 1, Bergens Seilforening won under skipper Aslak Iveland, with Eira Nilsson, John Oivind Tollevik-Garvik and Hanna Maja Burski. Oslo Seilforening finished second, skippered by Annelise Kullmann with Ina Kullmann, Hedda Roll and Victoria Proitz. Færder Seilforening took third, led by Helena Næss with Marie Ronningen, Martin Agersborg-Johansen and Henrik Geelmuyden.
Two of the three leading skippers at Arendal, and in the season standings, are women. With Annelise Kullmann and Helena Næss both firmly in the mix, the fight for the 2026 title looks set to be shaped as much by them as by anyone else in the fleet.
