Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta 2012
by Marjolein Brandt 29 May 2012 20:54 BST
15-28 May 2012
Mist in Scheveningen at the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta © Sander van der Borch
Dense sea mist brings early end to event
On the final day of the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta 2012 the persistent sea mist brought an early end to the racing. The dense fog covered the coast of The Hague, which forced the race committee to cancel the sportive battle. Therefore the ranking of Sunday remains unchanged. In almost all of the classes the leaders were at a large distance from the rest. That does not apply to the SB20, Dart 18, MaxFun 25 and the Efsix.
Paul Gast ends ahead of Marco van Driel in SB20
In the SB20 class Marco van Driel would have preferred to battle on Monday to close the one point gap with leader Paul Gast. Gast says he would have liked to battle as well, but that he didn't really mind either that the races were cancelled. 'When you look at the results of the whole weekend, you can conclude that we were better anyway", says Paul Gast. 'We scored more bullets and often we finished ahead of Marco, and that's what it takes to win this event. It's not necessarily just luck that the races didn't take place today. We are evenly matched and I would have loved to compete with my opponent Marco." Marco van Driel regretted the missed chance to claim victory.
'It's a pity that the races are cancelled. We had high hopes for today to catch up on Paul and go for the win, but unfortunately we didn't get the chance. For two days we were in the lead, but yesterday we had a bad day, with only one moment that appeared to be decisive for the ranking. Rounding the mark with strong currents another boat came in between and we had to give way. Therefore we had to sail far out, lost a lot of time and eventually came in third." That meant a second place overall."
Dart 18: 'It's fine like this"
In the Dart 18 class with nine boats the final day was supposed to bring the decision. Unfortunately the weather decided otherwise so Dick Ganseveer finished second, with just one point behind the leader. Yet he claims to be content with the results. 'I can live with it. When I saw the list of participants in advance, I knew there were three teams that could beat me. So I think I can be happy with a second place. Yesterday I had a bad first race. I just chose the wrong side, so that was unfortunate."
In the MaxFun 25 Rinke van der Veen and her crew ended up second with only one point behind. The final victory in this small class consisting of five boats goes to Eric Wesselman. In the Efsix class the gap between the leaders Maarten Jansen (1) and Matthijs Korving (2) remains two points.
Large yachts: 'Trimming on feeling'
Skipper De Graaf of the Baraka GP (Swan 42) thinks his victory in the IRC-1 class is just. 'We'd rather sailed the scheduled two races of today, because we were well prepared for the predicted ten knots wind and had a good change to be in first place anyway." In the combined class IRC-2/3 the Xcentric Ripper of skipper John van der Starre is still number one. The same place of honor goes to Samantaga with Belgian skipper Patrick van Heurck in the Swan45, also known as the 'Duvel-yacht'. The BH41 Soulmate with Leon Westhoeve is the winner in the ORC-1 class. Westhoeve: 'This boat can sail really fast, but you have to find the right buttons. Our crew consists of a few experienced J22 sailors who can trim very well. They feel the difference in speed rather than looking at the meters. That worked out well."
In fleet B, the Lenco of Erik van Vuuren is the winner in the ORC-2 class, followed by the Redan with Hein van Schaik. The Lenco has a professional skipper, so Van Schaik and his crew claim proudly to be the best amateur team of this class. 'Even if there is no racing today, it probably wouldn't have changed anything. The cards already were dealt for the first two rankings." In the ORC 3/4 class the winner is Zeilmakerij.com with skipper Wessel van der Werf, in the First 31.7 first place goes to the Blauwe Knoop with Wim Hermans. The Xces with Johan Offermans takes first price in the one design class of the X-35.
Melges 24: One Sails wins by farce majeur
Ben Koppelaar and his crew were supreme these days in the competitive Melges 24 class with seventeen contestants. They won six out of eight races and with that the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta 2012. 'Winning is no coincidence", says bowman Gerwin Jansen. 'We have trained all winter and made a lot of hours in the boat. We also went to Italy, because there is a higher level of sailing in that country. The class is growing in Holland, but in Italy it already exists for 10-15 years and a lot of professionals sail in this class." The training abroad wasn't for nothing, as it appeared to be in Scheveningen. 'We were faster than the other boats and also got our win out of perfect boat handling." Thus the team defeated number two Wietze Zetzema with a lead of eight points. 'It is always nice to win. But it would have been more fun to do so after a day of good sailing."
One design classes
Enno Kramer actually couldn't miss the victory in the FD class (14 boats). 'We have sailed a 2-1-1, so we are in shape", said Kramer after returning from the racecourse on Sunday. 'Our worst performance so far are two third places, but we can deduct those." In the Contender class Dirk Lafleur knew how to let his twelve opponents behind him. On Sunday he got out of his boat tired but satisfied. 'Two times third and two times first. While racing the FD class got in our way, I have to say. We constantly were pushed to the right side of the racecourse. In the second and third race we had a port side start and were in the lead almost the whole time." In the Javelin class (12 boats) Willem Slendebroek finished first.
The team of Wouter Kollman became first in the J22 class (11 boats). Erik Jeuning and his crew got seven out of eight bullets in the J24 class (5 boats). Gert Roukema sailed his Yngling to victory in this former Olympic class (8 boats). Gunnar Larsen and Lamberto Cesari (ITA) did win in the F18 class with 47 contestants.
For the final results, go to www.nsr.nl/results-all.asp