J/Crews dominate Dutch Doublehanded Awards

J-122E AJETO, crewed by John van der Starre and Robin Verhoef © J/Boats

At the season-ending awards banquet hosted by the Dutch Noordzeeclub, J/Boat teams swept all three season-series spots in the highly competitive doublehanded class, and picked up another season trophy in the fully crewed IRC classes.

Doublehanded racing is the fastest growing discipline in the Dutch racing circuit, with over 120 boats taking part in at least one of the season series and 30 boats competing in multiple events.

This season three J/crews took the top honours with the J-109 Firestorm, crewed by Wim Van Slooten and Jochem Heemstra, completing the season series in third place and the well campaigned J-120 Maverick, crewed by Chris Schram and Raymond Roesink, added to their 6th place finish in the RORC 2-handed class and 2017 Eaora Doublehanded Trophy with a second place finish for the season.

Overall, the competition was dominated by the shorthanded-optimized J-122E Ajeto, crewed by John van der Starre and Robin Verhoef, winning five of the six events they entered. John and Robin also took their top form abroad this season with an impressive second place finish in the IRC Double-handed class in the famously tough 635nm RORC Fastnet Race.

Finally, Alain Bornet's J-109 Jai Alai earned a third place trophy for the season in the fully-crewed IRC 2 Class, highlighted by a second place class finish in the North Sea Regatta inshore series. For more Dutch Offshore sailing season information at Noordzeeclub click here.