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Reporting: Day Two of Texel Dutch Open, Netherlands
De Koog / Texel, June 21 2007 - On the second day of the Texel Dutch Open in the Netherlands, Hugh Styles and Ryan Crawford (UK) consolidated their lead in the Open Class I. They finished third and first on handicap, racing a F18 Nacra Infusion. Mischa Heemskerk and Bastiaan Tentij scored a first and fifth, which left them in second position overall. The Frenchmen Jean-Christophe Mourniac and Frank Citeau climbed on the leader board and are third overall, followed by their Nissan team-mates Jörg and Arne Gosche (GER). Father and son Gosche had a good day with a fourth and a third. Hans Primowees still leads the nine small cats. The participants in the Open Class II have completed only one race this afternoon, since they were not in time at the first upwind mark of the second one. After almost two hours of postponement, the breeze was strong enough to start racing, but later the wind died due to a front that moved across the North Sea.
Race 1 - Duel experimental M20’s
In the first race, the two experimental M20’s of Pols/Veenstra and Dercksen/Mcintosh battled for the line honours. Herbert Dercksen and Aaron Mcintosh had a good start, while Xander Pols and Tjiddo Veen had more problems in the middle of the line. Pols: “We closed the gap to Herbert and we could pass him in the last downwind.” According to Pols, the speed difference had to do with their custom made rig: “Mischa Heemskerk and Peter Vink made a beast of our M20. They worked together on the development of the sails, made of PBO-cloth, which is also used in the America’s Cup. PBO loses strength due to UV-radiation, but the material is stiff and therefore fast. The cut looks like an A-cat mainsail, but flatter. We added a jib as well. The acceleration is awesome. I have never had this feeling on a boat before.” Mischa Heemskerk and Bastiaan Tentij, sailing a F18 Nacra Infusion, won on handicap. They were even leading at the first top mark, but had to give up that position under spinnaker, as the M20 was the faster cat.
While working on his M20 in the Pit Lane, Aaron Mcintosh (NZL) enjoyed the surroundings on the Texel beach: “I always wanted to do this race. The number of boats and all the energy is exciting. I wish we had an event like this in New Zealand. The festival atmosphere is what I enjoy. It is pretty special. We all share the same interest for catamaran sailing. Mcintosh about their experimental M20: “This boat is a little bit different from the traditional M20. We have less mast height and we capitalize on the experience and development in the Tornado. We have been working on making the boat more refined.” Dercksen and Mcintosh used the M20 platform with a Tornado rig. “We are happy with the performance. We felt really comfortable in sailing upwind in a breeze. This afternoon was not pleasant racing with the shifty conditions, but we use these days as a tuner up for Saturday. We aim for the line honours.”About their chances he said: “We prepared ourselves, as well as the boat to win this race, but there are many variables. We need to sail a smart race because the competition is fierce.” Remco Kenbeek, overall winner of 2006, agrees. His run toward this event is thin. “To be honest, I have only been on the water this season for just 1,5 hours this afternoon”, Remco said. His crew Paul Brouwer will arrive at Texel on Friday.
Race 2 – Mass floating
Pols and Veenstra won the line honours again in the second day race. Because the wind died, the racing committee shortened the course after one lap. Because of the strong current Pols/Veenstra needed several attempts to cross the finish line, after one hour of floating they succeeded. After that, five boats finished within the time limit, the rest was too late. Leaders of the Open Class I, Hugh Styles and Ryan Craw, came in second with their Nacra Infusion, and they won on handicap. Styles: “I was fortunate twice today to find a gap on the line.” From the little cats in the Open Class II, no one was able to finish in time.
The registration for the ZwitserLeven Round Texel surpassed the 500 today. Even though the sun was replaced by rain in the afternoon, the atmosphere is still excellent. More and more people are dressed in the new Round Texel collection of Repeat Sales promotion. Tonight, singer Ilse de Lange will perform for hundreds of sailors and visitors. Tomorrow, the last two races for the Texel Dutch Open are scheduled, and in the afternoon the so called ‘short track races’ will take place, in which everything is about speed.
In addition to Zwitserleven, the Round Texel Race has been sponsored by TNG Swiss Watches, Repeat Sales Promotions, W&H/Liebherr, Yamaha Nederland, Nissan, Teso, VVV Texel, de Mondriaan Onderwijsgroep, Rabobank, de Meeuw, Zeilen, Texeler, Stiehl Entertainment and Paal-17 Events.
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