Once one of the fastest race boats afloat, Kialoa III now sails again. With a Swedish captain and a rotating crew of young sailors, the legendary maxi yacht has spent the winter carving through the Caribbean. Next up: the North Atlantic and a long-awaited Swedish summer. 

There are sailboats. And then there’s Kialoa III — a 79-foot sloop designed by Sparkman & Stephens, built in 1974, and once considered the fastest thing on the water. She dominated the Sydney–Hobart Race in ’75, held the course record for over two decades, and earned a place in the mythology of offshore sailing.

Half a century later, she’s still sailing — but not just for podiums or prestige.

“We’re not only racing to win medals anymore,” says Lennart “Lelle” Davidsson, her Swedish owner and skipper. “We’re sailing for the joy of it — and to give young people the chance to feel what real offshore sailing is like.”

Lelle has been with boats most of his life. He restored Kialoa III after she’d been sitting still for too long, a once-fearsome racing machine that needed work and love to return to the ocean. Now, he runs her like a floating school: a mix of regatta campaigns, offshore passages, and life lessons taught by wind.

“You don’t just sail a boat like Kialoa,” he adds. “You become part of her.” 

Since January, Kialoa III has been jumping from regatta to regatta — Grenada Sailing Week, RORC Caribbean 600, St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, etc. — each one powered by a shifting crew made up of seasoned sailors, first-timers, and everything in between.

One of the constants this season has been Sil Romeijn, a Dutch-Caribbean boatbuilder in his mid-twenties who joined in January — and never left.

“What got me here?”, he asks as he points at Kialoa. “The beauty of the boat, the design, the lines — she just calls you. But what made me stay was the joy of being on board. The way of traveling. The addiction to sailing.”

He didn’t exactly plan on joining a historic race boat. It happened more like things tend to happen around boats — over a beer and a story.

“We always seem to meet up while having a beer in the bar. One night, Lelle asked if I wanted to join him for a trip to Curaçao. I thought he meant with the catamaran he had built. Turns out it was a 79-foot Sparkman & Stephens old maxi racer.”

Sil has been on board ever since — and by now, he’s first mate. When asked what he has learned, it was not only about sailing skills.

“I’ve learned how to live and work with constantly new people, to build up a team from scratch again and again,” he says. “I’ve definitely developed some social skills as first mate. And racing! Damn, that was fun. I’ve raced windsurfing, dinghy, kitesurfing — but nothing is like this.”

With regatta season winding down, Kialoa III is now prepping for the big one — the North Atlantic crossing and the sail up to Sweden.

“We plan to beat Gotland Runt,” Sil laughs. “No, but I’m excited about it. It’s a long-distance race, which I think are the most thrilling. I like the endurance — and that’s where Kialoa really thrives. And I’m excited to sail the Atlantic! Excited to experience that amount of time of nothingness. To completely surrender to nature. To fight the boredom — and maybe make some friends for life.”

Linnea Solfors