Krister Bergstrom has an impressive list of qualifications in 505.
He has won the World Championship five times, the European Championship
twice, the Swedish
championship 15 times, the Scandinavian Championship 4 times, the Golden Anchor once and
finally he has been nominated yachtsman of the year by the
Swedish Sailing Federation. Krister is a
long-time member of GKSS, the Royal Gothenburg Yacht
Club. He is born 1956, raised
in Gothenburg on the Swedish westcoast. He lives in Stockholm with his wife Helen and
their two children, Oskar and Hanna.
A Way of Living
Krister started to sail
the 505 in 1975 together with Martin, one of his three younger brothers. Before the 505
they had been sailing the Trapez, a racing dinghy designed by Paul
Elvstrom, as many
others in Sweden and Denmark who joined the 505 class at that time. Krister has since
then remained true to the class and is today one of the legends within 505 sailing. The
next Worlds in Malmö will be his 22nd!
The motive power behind
his success is great zeal in sailing, which makes him go sailing time after time. Today,
sailing is not only an interest of his, but it has also become a way of living. He is not
only talented and interested in sailing but he also has the physical qualities needed to
become a top class yachtsman. He is strong and flexible, has good balance and he quickly
apprehends and understands the different situations that occur in races. These
qualifications together with a well planned and carried through training have led him and
his crew to success. His training consists of
three different parts - physical, mental and sailing. The physical training is mostly
running to get in good conditions and weight lifting for shoulders and backside. The
mental training increases his ability to concentrate which helps him to systematically and
thoroughly think of the start, the first windward sailing and so on. After a race he
analyzes advantages and disadvantages.
Serious
'Here and Now'
The most important
training is of course the hours spent in the boat. Krister has about 200 hours of
efficient sailing practice before he participates in a championship. It is the amount of
sailing that separates the top class from the less successful ones. He is of the opinion
that the elite are both practicing and competing more than the rest and he emphasizes the
importance of being serious "here and now" in order to achieve ones goal.
But how is he able
to make the boat go at such great speed? - Training, training and
again training he replies. You have to manoeuvre the boat and sheet the sails right and at
the same time have a good balance in the boat. The trimming is more like 'the cream
on the cake'.
The Crew
He has been sailing with
a number of crew during his career. The most important, he thinks, is not to compare the
different crew but to take care of the qualities of each man. The difficulty in
cooperation between helmsman and crew is not, which can be assumed, the sailing itself and
the technical parts but to get a well working communication. It is very important that you
understand one anothers expressions.
In a regatta Krister
takes no unnecessary risks at the beginning and he concentrates on the 'safe
sailing'. At the end, however, Krister does not hesitate to put everything at stake
if necessary and take a course of his own in order to maximize his chances to secure a
front position. It can sometimes go completly wrong, like it did in the final race at the '96 Worlds in Townsville.
Current Plans
In 1997 he bought a new
505 (his 10th) from Rondar. Continue to work on new smaller rudder &
centerboard
designs using carbon fiber.
The Bergstrom Brothers
Besides Martin, whom
Krister sailed 505 with for 4 years in the 70's, there is Rasmus (crew
on above photo). Rasmus is sailing the 49'er. Jan, his 3rd brother, is currently
sailing J24s. Jan finished 4th at the '96 Europeans in
Marstrand, he has been sailing 470's
for many years with Rasmus and others. Jan also spent a couple of years sailing the
505 with great success. Jan finished 3rd after Krister who was 2nd at the Worlds in La
Rochelle in 1987.
