Background
Berge Viking finished 8th overall in the 1981-82 Whitbread Round the World Race, the third running of the event. The race was won by Flyer, a Dutch entry with Cornelius van Rietschoten as skipper. Berge Viking’s best leg of the race was the one from Portsmouth to Cape Town where she finished 4th. Berge Viking’s principal sponsors were the Bergesen d.y. group and SAS. The boat was sailed by a crew of 12, some were replaced for the different legs of the race, but they were all Norwegian amateurs. Skipper was Peter Lunde and co-skipper was Stig Hatlo.
After the race Berge Viking was run as a sailing school for a few year before Morten Bergesen bought it back and, after a while, upgraded the boat with up to date deck gear, sails and instruments. Berge Viking of today looks exactly like when she entered the starting line in Portsmouth in 1981, but she is kept up to date and in perfect shape over her 30 years lifetime.
Berge Viking
- Sloop rigged Swan 57 delivered from Nautor, Finland in 1980
- Designed by Sparkman & Stephens
- Length over-all: 57,4’ (17.5 m)
- Beam 15,8’ (4,8m)
- Draft 9,1’ (2.8m)
- Main sail 70m2
- Genova 1: 140m2
- Spinnaker: 340m2
- Mast height: 24m above sea level
