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What happens when your passion for daycruising and the smaller adventures quickly turn into an Instagram hit?

For Anders and Eva-Lena, it all began on the Swedish lakes and canals – better known under their online pseudonym S/Y Ingrid-Marie. Their online channel took their love of sailing and photography to the internet, and now they have over 85.000 followers onboard. We sat down for a chat with Anders for a talk about their adventures on their Hallberg-Rassy 45.

- S/Y Ingrid Marie is owned by us, Anders and Eva-Lena. For us, sailing started in very different ways. I basically grew up on a sailing boat while Eva-Lena learned to sail as an adult. Over the years, we have actually owned and sailed various different boats, but we kicked off with a Maxi 77. Back then, the 77 was a brilliant match for us and our need for a good family boat. The Maxi 77 ticked all the boxes, but as the kids got older, our boat had to grow, Anders says.

- By now, the kids have moved out, and we are currently sailing our beloved Hallberg-Rassy 45. It’s mostly just the two of us, and we are super happy she’s the perfect two-man boat. And adding to it – being from Sweden, it just made perfect sense for us to go with a Hallberg-Rassy, and when we found the sales listing for Ingrid-Marie it was simply just love at first sight.

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Ticking the right boxes

It combined all the right features for Anders and Eva-Lena:

- Ingrid-Marie is a Hallberg Rassy 45 from 1991. Our hull is #44 out of 71 produced. When launched, it quickly became a trendsetting yacht as a result of its combination of easy handling and elegant lines, Anders says and continues:

- The 45 also holds a special place in Hallberg-Rassy history as it was the first HR designed by Germán Frers. Our 45 came along and it was just love at first sight. We were on the hunt for something that would work well for long distance cruising, and this just turned out to be the perfect choice. Our sail setup is not exactly new, but it still works well. The main is made from Hydranet HN380 and our genoa is Hydranet HN350. They were restored last winter, so we hope to get some more miles out of them before a new set is due.

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Sharing the fun

Today, Anders and Eva-Lena runs a rather big venture on Instagram – despite being a little unusual to the norm when it comes to well-visited adventurers on Instagram. The Swedish couple are not on the big globetrotting adventure – but making the most of day or weekend trips combined with a healthy passion for photography still attracted a great audience, Anders says.

- Our Instagram came along as I love photographing. I wanted to share what I like, but I did not want to make my own personal account flood with yachting and not much else. And with S/Y Ingrid Marie, I hoped to stay a little under the radar, too, Anders notes.

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Lakes and coasts

Staying out of the limelight didn’t last for long, but since then the couple have shared lots of experiences from sailing all over Sweden.

- Trying to stay under the radar was not really a success to be fair, but it was a mind-blowing experience to see thousands of followers flocking in to see what we are up to. It happened so quickly, and ended up being a way bigger hit than any of us ever expected. Today we can share our stories with more than 85.000 people. It’s nothing short of fantastic.

Being based on the coast of Vättern, the second-largest lake in Sweden, Anders and Eva-Lena are used to sailing under all sorts of conditions. The season on the lake is open as soon as the ice lets go in March and all the way until November, when it freezes over again.

The location does however open for an array of adventures. As soon as you sail either up or down the Göta Canal, you have the open choice of sailing on the Swedish east coast or west coast.

- We reside near Vättern, so we are probably some unusual adventurers in the way that we are not trying to cross the Atlantic or sail around the world. But we do sail often and a lot! Having the choice between the two coasts is a great opportunity, so every year, we choose which coast to go for. Last year, we went west and all the way up to Norway, and this year we went east to explore a number of places – including the Åland Islands, Anders ends.

If you want to see more of the very nice pictures from Anders, head over to @sailing_ingridmarie on Instagram and give them a follow!