Retired in vigorous boat

by Axel Nissen-Lie, www.seilas.no

79 years old Truls Krogsrud spend his last holidays cruising with his wife on the radical 18 footer.

Andraz Mihelin and Kristian Hajnšek sailed two consecutive Mini Transats before they developed Seascape18, a boat that was elected European Yacht of the year last winter. We were test sailing the boat a year ago, read the review here. Now the boat arrived in Norway and was exhibited at the Boats in the water boat show in Oslo.

Would not sell
Truls Krogsrud is no average pensioner. 79 years old has been sailing regattas in Banner28 before he bought himself a bigger Najad and sailed on a long voyage that took him across Atlantic twice. He is also still participating in on Marcialonga, one of the longest nordic ski events. Read more abut the event here.
Seascape was developed as a versatile boat for almost any sailing profile, but when Andraž Mihelin heard about Truls age, he refused to sell the boat without the testsail.

A week in the south
Truls and his wife (71) took a flight to Dalmatia where they rented a Seascape18 for a week. Ryanair flies from Oslo to Zadar which leaves only few minutes drive to the Seascape Center in Sukošan. Tickets costed 120EUR, baggage another 36, pensioner added with a smile. We were greeted with open arms in every port and mostly we payed no harbour fees.
“We made no food on board and ate out, but we slept in the boat every night. With my 190cm I’d wish the hatch to be bigger but I got the technique. I’m also to high to sit straight in the interior”, tells Truls.

Sailed at 11 knots
“After Croatia I ordered the boat. It has been at Kjøvangen this summer, where I pull it in and out of the water for every sail. With my grandchildren we sailed up to 11 knots of speed, but since they are used to powerboats they were not as impressed with speed as I was”, tells me 79 years old.

Blown to much
“The summer has been marked by fresh winds, which resulted in less sailing that I wished for. It was actually not the question of too much wind for sailing but for launching and recovering on my slip.”, says Krogsrud.

J95 too large
Krogsrud have looked for a while after a fun boat for his old age and went to England to try J95. “The boat was fine, but too big. When I told the british representative she was too long, he was a bit surprised”, adds Truls laughing.

No excuse
Seascape was developed to be boat for all generations and believes that people like Truls are best proof of the concept. In “Die Yacht” Seascape was compared to little cruisers, in “Voiles” they tested her against racing Open 5.70, so she is obviously recognized to cover both segments.
Seascape is a sport-boat but with 79 years old owner there is little excuse not to try it.

Focusing on centers
“Although we had a plan to start developing new model when the 100th boat was sold we decided to focus more to customer support centers.” adds Mihelin. Read more about the center program here.