ABN AMRO North Sea Regatta - Vuurschepenrace Finish

Kees Kaan's Roark wins the Vuurschepenrace at the beginning of the ABN AMRO North Sea Regatta © Diana Bogaards

CHANGEABLE CONDITIONS CAUSE AN INTERESTING VUURSCHEPENRACE 2007

Daikin Airco loses her rudder again

The changeable sailing conditions caused and interesting Vuurschepenrace 2007. After a promising start the fleet floated for hours during the night, as the wind dropped to almost zero. This calm made it impossible to break the record of 10 hours and 47 minutes, set in 1993 by Jan van Gelderen with his Lutra 40 Bierkaai. Team Mean Machine took the line honours onboard its Volvo Open 70.

In the provisional results, Grand Soleil 43 Roark of skipper Kees Kaan leads the IRC 1 class. For most of the race, Roark was in close competition with the Grand Soleil 44 Holmatro of Sander Speet and the Ker 11.3 Daikin Airco of Frans van der Heijden, until Daikin lost her rudder. The unfortunate sailors and boat were towed by Holmatro, which put an end to the battle between the three teams. The last participants finished at about 7.00 pm local time.

The 70-footer of Peter de Ridder was on record schedule in the first 60 miles, as they had an average speed of 14 to 15 knots. According to Dirk de Ridder, Director of Operations for the Volvo Ocean Race campaign of Team Mean Machine, after this first part of the race the wind dropped and they had to start beating. Some sail changes followed. De Ridder: 'For about 30 nautical miles we only had 7 to 8 knots boat speed.' Then the breeze picked up to 10-12 knots and they could go upwind towards the finish. 'It is a pity that we had those light conditions for a while. Otherwise we could have broken the record', said De Ridder. Mean Machine crossed the line at 6.19 hours AM Dutch time, after 10 hours and 59 minutes of sailing. They are in fifteenth position overall in the provisional IRC 1 results, followed by the runner up in real time, VO 60 Pleomax.

Roark – Patience pays

“We had a bad start”, said Roark skipper Kees Kaan. However, Kaan and his crew are leading the IRC 1 class. Kaan: “We were a bit squeezed at the starting vessel and had to tack to the right. We passed the fleet from behind, but managed to close part of the gap at the first mark. We decided to stay underneath the pack.” Due to a wind shift, the front runners had to bear away in order to round the next mark. Roark could continue her way and closed the rest of the gap. Kaan: “The breeze picked up and it started to get dark. We knew the wind would die and return from the northwest, so we decided to stay on the right side as long as possible. Holmatro did the same and we both got the fresh breeze first.”

Patience paid. After sunrise, Daikin Airco joined the two Dutch competitors. Kaan: “Daikin and Holmatro were fighting each other, when we saw a strange move from Daikin. They dropped their sails immediately and Holmatro followed. Sander Speet informed us about the fact that Daikin had just lost her rudder again.' It is not the first time that this happens to the Dutch crew. Last year, the unfortunate sailors had the same problem with their Sinergia 40, for which they received a special 'bad luck' award from the Royal Netherlands Sailing Federation. Roark was not needed for rescue and could continue. She finished fifth. Kaan: “It is a pity that our direct competitors had to abandon the race. It is not an elegant way to win.” Holmatro skipper Sander Speet has asked for redress. Speet: “Of course it is a disappointment, because we were doing very well. On the other side, we would always assist a team that needs help. We feel happy about the fact that everybody is safe.”