It may seem odd to call a yacht built in 1938 a newcomer but that is exactly what Northern Light is in the Baltic 12-Metre class. She was bought by a group of Swedish sailors who wanted to challenge the hegemony of the Danish owned Vim, the Danish/Finnish consortium owning Wings, and the other predominantly German-owned top 12-Metres racing at various events in the Baltic such as Flica II, Trivia, Sphinx and Jenetta. After her first full season racing in 2022, she has done more than just challenge the old guard but has thoroughly turned the accepted order upset down with deciding wins at Dyvig Week in Denmark and the Robbe & Berking Sterling Cup in Flensburg, Germany. Where did this race horse come from?
By 1938, although only 30 years old at the time, Olin Stephens was already accepted as one of the foremost naval architects in the world. His amazing talent was consolidated into business success with his winning designs (1929) and (1934). These powerful ocean racers won both the Bermuda Race as well as the Fastnet several times and, 90 years on, they are still winning races consistently on the classic regatta circuit as well as in more challenging events such as the Sydney–Hobart Race and the Trans-Pacific Race which, for instance, won in 2013. Together with W. Starling Burgess, Olin, which convincingly beat in four straight races in the 1937 America’s Cup. Between 1958 and 1980 Olin designed six out of the seven successful defenders of the America’s Cup, which during that period was sailed in 12-Metres.
