Alibaba II
Alibaba II was designed and built by Tore Holm for Sven Salén in Sweden in 1948. She made her international racing debut at the 1948 Olympics, helmed by her designer, who went home with a bronze medal for Sweden. Holm competed in the Olympics five times between 1920 and 1948, winning two gold and two bronze medals.
In 1951 Alibaba was sold to Harry Melander from Uppsala, when he participated in the Mariehamn regatta. Sadly the fresh winds got the better of Alibaba and she lost her mast and had to be towed back to port.
The following year Alibaba II was sold to Y. O. Rüsla in Finland, who owned 1937 Six Metre Raili (L30). Confusingly, Rüsla renamed Alibaba Ralia. She was given the sail number L50 and the two boats competed along with Vinnia (L29) for a place at the 1952 Olympics. Ralia once again beat off the competition to enter the Olympic games for the second time, this time representing Finland and, also for the second time, winning a bronze medal.
In 1964 Ralia moved back to Sweden, regaining her old name and sail number but in the early 1980s she found her way back to Finland again, becoming L50 for the second time. She was renovated in 1989 at Emsalö Båtupplag near Porvoo. Alibaba II came in 2nd place in the 1998 European Championship in Cowes, UK, Classic Division. She remained in Finland for the next nearly three decades, notably winning the 1999 World Cup in Hanko, beating 31 other classics for the title. She won the 2000 European Championship in St Tropez, France and placed 4th in the 2002 European in Rungsted, Denmark, both in the Classic Division.
In 2016 she moved away from Scandinavia for the first time, moving to Spain to join the new fleet emerging in Sanxenxo. Here she continues to be very competitive, with the nearly 80-year-old boat demonstrating her Olympic pedigree by winning her first season in 2017.
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