I never planned for a career in boatbuilding, but life worked out this way. I was not a sailing aficionado, I used to be into computers instead. Then, I was asked to help with implementing some business software at a boatbuilding company.
Everything was possible in the 90s, at least in this corner of the world. I worked as a salesman and warehouse manager in the pharmaceutical industry and saw my employer go from 10 to 70 people in my 4 years with them. One of my duties at the company was to manage IT. We built a computer network and introduced accounting and inventory software. I was lucky to find young enthusiastic IT specialists for my team. We worked long days and on occasions, late nights. Some of those people later went on to become key persons at Microsoft Estonia.
One of the most challenging tasks for our IT team was to build a computer network connecting the 3 separate company locations at different ends of the town. Back then, no such solutions were readily available. I found people who were familiar with old Soviet military communication systems and figured out that the Tallinn underground was filled with communications cables. We ended up just connecting a few of them in the right places and the system started to work! I imagine those cables are still there today.
Visiting the Saare boatyard, I saw a bundle of intricate sailboat drawings laying on the table. I was sat down and given a job offer with two days to think about it. I asked to take the drawings home and spent the two days studying them with growing fascination. On the third day, I called the company manager and said I was accepting the job. The interest that sparked over those two days has been the foundation of my career for over 20 years now.
As I delved into yacht building, the mechanics of it kept getting more exciting. Soon after starting out, I was lucky to meet Stig Nordblad, my future mentor and good friend. Stig is the founder and former owner of Finngulf Yachts OY. After successfully completing the construction of a Finngulf 37, Stig decided to continue long-term cooperation with the Saare yard.
Around the same time, we began working with naval architect Kamu Strahlmann. A year and a bit later, we launched the first Finngulf 28e. In February 2000, Finngulf 28e was named Sailboat of the Show at the Helsinki Boat Show.