28/08/2026
Early this morning King Harald V of Norway passed away, aged 89.
King Harald was a TP52 Class Member from 2006 to 2008. It is quite a coincidence that the class right now is racing in Puerto Calero for the Royal Cup, a trophy donated in 1995 as a challenge trophy for IMS 50 racing by King Harald, Pasquale Landolfi, Willi Illbruck and Yannis Costopoulos. Four great names of sailing, now all deceased.
Harald's first race must have been on the 8-metre yacht Sira when taken onboard by his father, then Crown Prince Olov, in 1939. Just two years old. It must have made an everlasting impression as he raced a wide variation of boats nearly all his life till announcing his retirement from competitive sailing for health reasons after achieving a 10th place with Sira at the 8-metre World Championships on Lake Geneva in July 2022.
Sira (NOR 33) was launched in 1938, designed and built by legendary Norwegian naval architect Johan Anker.
Then Crown Prince Harald represented Norway at the 1964 Tokyo, the 1968 Mexico City and 1972 Munich Olympics in sailing. The first two in the 5.5 Metre class with Eirik Johannessen and Stein Føyen as crew (8th in 1964 and 11th in 1968). Then in 1972, as the 5.5 was discontinued as Olympic class, in the Soling class with Rolf Lund and Eirik Johannessen as crew for a 10th place.
His father set the Olympic bar at its highest winning a gold medal at the 1928 summer Olympics in Amsterdam in the 6-metre class. King Harald, in my eyes at least, equalled this in 1987 when winning the One Ton Cup in Kiel with the Farr designed FRAM X.
The following year (1988), King Harald traveled to San Francisco to defend his title, taking home the bronze medal behind New Zealand’s Propaganda and Bravura (USA).
It must have been King Juan Carlos who persueded King Harald to join the TP52 class and of course it was Bruce Farr who designed him FRAM XVI, built by Mick Cookson during 2005. King Harald then joined the MedCup in 2006 for a credible 13th overall in a 23 TP52s strong fleet given that the FRAM crew was full amateur.
In 2007 FRAM joined two of the five MedCup events, I guess King Harald realized the MedCup, besides time and money consuming, was rapidly becoming the playground for professional teams and that never was how he wanted to sail.
The last time FRAM raced in class was at the Puerto Calero TP52 Worlds in 2008. But without King Harald, FRAM was chartered out to a Norwegian businessman.
King Harald became ISAF, later World Sailing, President of Honour in 1994, succeeding his late father, King Olav V, who died in 1991. This gave him a permanent seat on the ISAF / World Sailing Council and influence to shape global sailing policies, rules and the selection of Olympic classes. World Sailing in a first reaction to his passing praises King Harald’s guidance and help in promoting inclusivity, youth participation and marine conservation worldwide.
It was King Harald who convinced his fellow TP52 class members to join the ISAF. Initially quite a few members were not convinced this was required. Also I, as fresh class manager, had some reservations. But to ignore the king’s wish ….. I then set out to go through the formalities of becoming an ISAF Class and, no surprise, did not encounter any problems doing so.
Must have been well over ten years later, bumping into King Harald in Saint-Tropez, when he subtly reminded me of my ‘misjudgement’ at the 2007 class meeting, saying: “Hi Rob, I read your Seahorse articles. You still have quite strong opinions”. I knew instantly what he referred to, we both laughed and talked about boats and sailing for a bit. Great man, passionate sailor.
Both José Cusi and King Harald passing while we are in Puerto Calero triggers a lot of memories of how TP52 sailing in the Med started and for many of us much earlier memories going back to the IOR and IMS days.
Both men had long and well-lived lives in which sailing played an important role. As well as that both were important for sailing beyond sailing their boats. Before we start Saturday’s prize giving we will remember them. Those in Puerto Calero please all join.
Our condolences to Her Majesty Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon, the Norwegian Royal Family, his many friends, the people of Norway and all those who sailed with King Harald.
Rob Weiland
Photo 1: MedCup
Photo 2: Rolex/Daniel Forster
Photo 3: Christian Ruscetta, Kongelig Norsk Seilforening
Photo 4: Eivind Kleiven, De kongelige samlinger
