Category: Press Release

Hugh Styles and Ryan Crawford (UK) scored two bullets on the first day of the Texel Dutch Open 2007 in the Netherlands. The British sailors shined at boat speed with their Nacra Infusion and ‘simple sailing’, as they called it. Mischa Heemskerk and Bastiaan Tentij, also on a Nacra Infusion, finished second twice in a fleet of 46 competitors. The British Spitfire team Chris Sproat and Georgina Burke are in third position overall. Last year’s runner up of the Zwitserleven Round Texel, Hans Primowees on a 27-year old Prindle 15, is leading the nine small cats in the Open Class II. After a few hours of postponement, the conditions were close to perfect with a southwester force 4, waves and clear skies.

A week prior to the start of the 30th Zwitserleven Round Texel Race, the organization has received 482 pre-entries. Among them the overall winners of 2006, Remco Kenbeek and Paul Brouwer with their F18 Capricorn (NED). The Swedish M20 duo Marström/Persson that took last year’s line honours after an exciting battle, will be back as well. The golden fleet is at full strength with over two hundred top teams from the Netherlands, Australia, France, Belgium, Germany and the UK. On Saturday June 23rd 2007 at 12:30 hours pm local time, hundreds of catamarans will start their race against the clock. From Wednesday June 20 until Friday June 22, golden fleet competitors have the opportunity to warm up by participating in the Texel Dutch Open, the official Dutch Championship Catamarans Sailing. 98 Teams have registrated so far.

A strong representation of home country the Netherlands will line up for world’s biggest catrace. Double former winner Mischa Heemskerk and his new crew Bastiaan Tentij are at full speed this season. Earlier this year, the Yamaha and Boskalis sponsored duo won Eurocat in Carnac (FRA) and the North Sea Regatta in Scheveningen (NED). They are part of the first one season Nacra Master Class ever, in which the 19-year old Tentij is supposed to learn as much as possible from his master Heemskerk. Tentij’s actual skipper Stefan Dubbeldam (19) will be coached and trained by Gunnar Larsen, who won the Round Texel Race in 1999. Team Zwitserleven Booth/Nieuwenhuis will be hard to beat in heavier conditions. At the F18 Worlds in Queensland (AUS) in February 2007, the Dutchmen showed their strength by winning silver with only one point deficit to Gold. Booth won the Zwitserleven Round Texel Race 2004 with crew Herbert Dercksen. Almost a year after their split, the two former mates will compete against each other, but this time both as skipper.

Prototype Volvo Extreme 20

Herbert Dercksen takes the helm of the prototype Volvo Extreme 20, with Aaron Mcintosh (NZL) crewing for him. Dercksen about his latest project, enabled by Zwitserleven: “This carbon cat is based on the M20, but has a different sail plan. You can consider it as a possible successor of the Tornado. Is carries a Tornado mast, the jib is smaller and the main a bit bigger. The VX 20 weighs 125 kilograms, which is 45kg less than the Tornado. I have learned a lot over the past years, so it is very exciting to helm by myself now. I look forward to the race.” At the moment, Dercksen is skippering the Extreme 40 in the Swiss Bol d’Or on Lake Geneva.

Papendrecht / Netherlands, May 10 2007 -- Since the year of 2007, Dredging contractor Royal Boskalis Westminster nv sponsors the ambitious catamaran sailors Stefan Dubbeldam (19) and Sebastiaan Tentij (19) from the Netherlands. These technical students, who won last year’s Dutch Championship Hobie 16 with spinnaker, aim at participation in the Tornado class at the Olympics of 2012. To reach the level of world’s best cat sailors as fast as possible, the team attends a special Nacra Master Class given by professionals Mischa Heemskerk and Gunnar Larsen. Dubbeldam is sailing with Larsen to learn the tricks of the trade, and Tentij with Heemskerk. In these formations the crews participate in the international Formula 18 circuit. In the beginning of May, Heemskerk and Tentij won their first large regatta, Eurocat 2007, in Carnac (FR). Larsen and Dubbeldam obtained a tenth position.

On Thursday April 5 2007, Team Zwitserleven Booth/Nieuwenhuis (NED) finished ninth at the Tornado Europeans 2007 and eleventh in the overall results for the Mats Nyberg Trophy. This was the final outcome, as the Dutchmen just missed the medal race. Sixty teams representing twenty-one countries participated in this year’s European Championship raced in the Bay of Palma. The fleet was the highest standard assembled with many World and Olympic champions taking part. The event was conducted during the annual Princess Sofia Trophy, part of the grade one Olympic Class circuit.

Team Zwitserleven started the ten race series well and by the half way mark it was placed fifth overall. Races seven and eight cost the team badly as they slipped back to sixteenth before recovering to finish ninth overall. This result is awarded with a B-status of NOC*NSF (national Olympic Committee). Skipper Mitch Booth commented: “The conditions were brutal with storms every day over the course that caused the wind to do circles. We are generally happy to have made the top ten in this event, but still have a lot of work in preparation for the World Championships in Portugal this July.” Crewman Pim Nieuwenhuis added: “We have made real progress with our sail development program and now feel confident that we can go and race the best of the best. The new sail designs we are using have improved our light wind performance dramatically.”

The 30th Zwitserleven Round Texel Race in the Netherlands shows several innovations. First, the recreational sailors will have their own classification, the so called silver fleet. That means they don’t need a measurement form and they pay a lower entry fee, which makes participation in world’s biggest cat race more economical. The party tent is the second change, as the new licensee and caterer will restore the original social atmosphere. As of March 6th, all participants can register for the Zwitserleven Round Texel Race 2007, that will start on June 23rd.

Despite the two classes, the whole fleet starts together, so the sensation of hundreds of colourful catamarans on one line remains the same. The top three performances in the silver fleet will be awarded with encouragement prizes. During the Round Texel Week, the recreational sailors can also enjoy the traditional Horsttocht and social beach culture. Their entry fee is 100 euro, whereas the competitive racers pay 110 euro. In addition, the Golden Fleet competitors still have to meet the requirements for participation. Foreigners only need a measurement form, but Dutch equips also need a starting license, eventually a sponsor certificate and a membership at a sailing club that is associated with the Royal Netherlands Sailing Federation. All of this gives them the right to participate in the official Dutch Championship Catamaran Sailing, called the Texel Dutch Open, commencing on June 20th. That competition runs over three days.