Sailing high and sailing free – a chat with Finnish sailor Ludde Ingvall
Continuing our interview series with interesting people who have a connection with both Australia and Finland is our interview with Ludvig "Ludde" Ingvall, a well-known Finnish sailor. He started sailing in the Finnish archipelago as a small child, represented Finland at various international events and launched his big boat career in 1989 – 90 when he skippered the Union Bank of Finland yacht in the Round the World Yacht Race. He and his wife are always looking for new experiences, having moved to Australia in 2001. They've just sold their farm and will be homeless for a year while they race their new yacht from Finland all the way down to the Mediterranean.
Introduce yourself!
My nickname is Ludde, surname Ingvall. I have done quite a lot of things, but the thing I do the most is sailing. I started sailing in the Finnish archipelago as a little kid and ended up with a dream that one day, I would sail the Round the World Yacht Race in a maxi yacht [a racing yacht of up to 21m in length]. That was simply because it was the longest race in the world with the largest boats. I sailed a lot in 1985 and 1986, ended up racing in the Round the World races and then in 1989 – 90 I skippered the Union Bank of Finland yacht in Round the World. That's what I've done the most of since. I'm also the Board Director of a number of companies and I invest in businesses.
What's your relationship with Australia and Finland?
I would never give up my Finnish passport, but I now have a passport for both countries. I had a conversation with my father many years ago about the sacrifices of my parents and grandparents to keep Finland a free country. Considering that, I decided I would never relinquish that link. Although I haven't lived in Finland since 1990, the pride is still there.
Australia is my adopted home. My wife is from Cape Town, South Africa, and has family in Australia. We were looking for a country where we would be able to set roots and with three daughters, South Africa wasn't really an option. Australia became an option for us in 2001 and we took the chance and moved here.
Have you noticed any differences between the two countries?
Besides the weather? Of course, there are many differences. Australia is more multicultural than Finland, or at least, the Finland I recall. I enjoy that. We've lived in so many countries and travelled around the world so many times that the multicultural society here makes life interestingly comfortable. It's fascinating to recognise people from different backgrounds who are foremost Australians. So you have fellow Australians coming from the most amazing backgrounds with the most amazing stories. I think it's one of the strengths of Australia and is one of the things I enjoy a lot. Living in a multicultural society means that our families are also becoming multicultural because our kids have no inhibitions and don't judge people in the way previous generations did.
For us, our eldest daughter just married a gentleman who comes from Brazil. Our second daughter married an Australian whose family is partly of Chinese descent and they have two daughters. Our granddaughters are absolutely stunning – one has beautiful Eurasian features and blue eyes, whereas the second one has come out looking like a Viking, all blonde and very bossy!
What about similarities?
I think the biggest things are the basic human values. Scandinavia has been very strong with their social democratic values. Their strengths have been the social system, the security, and giving every child the opportunity to reach their full capabilities. Australia has chosen their own basket of these values but in general, there are a tremendous amount of similarities to how Australia is approaching various important issues, e.g. healthcare etc. Of course, all countries are struggling in the current economic climate that we're living in.
As a parent, you always think about how your family can stay safe, live out good lives and have opportunities to move forward. You make decisions for yourself, but also for your children and grandchildren. Choosing Australia instead of another country made the move a lot easier since the basic value systems are similar.
Do you have any stories or incidents from Finland that have had a great impact on you? Or any funny anecdotes?
Yes, lots of stories! Many aspects of life are different in Finland. When I tell Australians about my childhood, you can see they find it hard to believe that someone would choose to live in a place that is essentially a freezer – just as dark and just as cold. So every now and then, I show them pictures of ice skating or I tell them this story.
As a little kid, my father would drive the car down to the beach in winter. We'd drive out onto the ice and out to the island with the car. Once we were on the ice [on a frozen sea], I would sit on his lap and steer the car. Every now and then he would engage the handbrake and we would spin 360° about five times before the car stopped. Then he would laugh his head off.
I also tell them how I'd skate to see my friends when the ice was good. But I'd always carry little ice picks with me. Every now and then I would go through the ice and I needed the ice picks to pull myself out of the ice and skate home before my trousers froze!
You see, I grew up on an island not far from Helsinki. The way life was there – we pretty much lived off the fish and whatever else we caught ourselves. I remember seeing the Sydney-Hobart race on television on the day after Boxing Day. I said to my father that I wanted to complete it one day and he cracked up laughing, saying, "Come on, my son. Nobody has left the island!" But I was fascinated by the world and all the places you could go to. Since then, I've been just about everywhere in South America, Australia, New Zealand, Asia and so forth. I'd been dreaming of completing the Sydney-Hobart yacht race and we finally won it in 2000. My father was present at that time and I laughed and recalled this story. He didn't quite remember it himself, but I think it sounds pretty typical of the kind of things he would say.
How would you describe the cultures and habits of the two countries? Is there anything that you have had to get used to or that has seemed strange to you?
Not really in Australia, no. Just the wildlife! We have a fifty acre property with horses just outside of Sydney. This is where the biggest surprises appear. The amount of wildlife here that we engage with, just by living on a farm in Australia, is crazy. Not a day goes by without seeing something unusual. We've had wallabies jumping past the house, cockatoos making the weirdest sounds in the trees, brown snakes in the garden and stunning birds marching around our pool. The nature in Australia is amazing.
My wife and I see our lives as a compilation of multiple lives. You have lives that are based on the human context and links, you have geographic lives (where you've stayed long enough to make friends), family life (and as a famous Finnish president once said, family that you can't choose), you have your family of friends (friends that you do choose), you have your life related to your work, and then your life related to your passion. Passion is very important because you choose your passion, whether it's golf or tennis or sailing or whatever. The difference there is that everybody present is there for the same reason – because they have a passion for it.
How about the differences and similarities between people? Have you ever had any funny or strange incidents or mishaps when communicating with people from Finland?
Finland is such an opposite extreme to Australia. We have totally different extremes in terms of light and darkness. When you live in an extreme country you have to come up with unusual solutions to survive.
I find that when I'm telling people about my life in Finland, they find it very weird to listen to. For example, when I was in Lapland for military service, we had to camp overnight. We were told that the temperature would drop to -24°C but it actually dropped to -42°C. The difference between the two temperatures is significant. All you can really do is to bury yourself in the snow and wait for the weather to change. At the same time, you wonder how someone can march with a train of camels across Australia.
We also get Finnish friends staying with us and they walk around our farm absolutely fascinated by everything they see. The differences are very obvious.
Is there anything Finland has that you wish could also be found in Australia?
Dark bread. But nowadays, most of the things you can find in a shop in Finland can also be found in Australia. When I land in Finland I go straight to the shops and buy licorice and some specific cheeses. And I love listening to Finnish radio and music. But in the world today, any time I want to speak to my friends in Finland, or in Europe, I just skype them. The modern digital world allows us to stay in contact and decreases the things you miss.
I feel I am a citizen of planet earth, not of a particular place. My roots are in Finland, my children's roots are in Australia, but I am also comfortable just about anywhere. Finland has given me a good education, mental strength and the ability to go and do almost anything. It has given me comfort travelling, engaging with new cultures and exploring new countries which I think is a huge strength and an important part of the Finnish culture.
Interview conducted by Karen Khoo