Whitbread 60 Swedish Match

Swedish Match, skippered by Gunnar Krantz, was the Swedish entry in the 1997–98 Whitbread alongside stablemate EF Language. Sweden’s strong presence in that final Whitbread edition reflected the nation’s growing commercial engagement with offshore sailing, driven by the EF corporate campaign.

Krantz went on to become a key figure in the Volvo Ocean Race era, and Swedish Match’s campaign laid groundwork for Sweden’s continued investment in ocean racing through the following decade.