Wednesday, June 14, 2017

QUANTUM HOLLAND Crowned J/22 World Champion

J/22 World Champions (Scheveningen, The Netherlands)- This year’s J/22 World Championship was held in conjunction with the famous North Sea Week, held in Scheveningen next to the iconic and famous landmark- “The Hague”.  Thirty-nine teams participated this year with teams coming from the Netherlands, France, Canada, Belgium, Germany, Cayman Islands and the USA.  In the end, it was the second time for Nic Bol’s QUANTUM HOLLAND team to win the J/22 Worlds.  His team consisted of Chris Bol, Niels de Vries and Tim de Weerdt.

Commenting on his win, Nic Bol said, “I really want to thank my young crew! I think I’ve been sailing longer than they’ve been alive, and it’s great sailing with them! It’s a tough place to sail but great conditions. Totally different conditions than seven years ago. I’m now sailing with my son and two students of the Rotterdam Sailing Federation. We’ve been training together since November, we went for the title and earned it! Super happy! And, you all have to keep sailing J/22's because it’s brilliant!”

J/22 sailing around markThe regatta started off with a postponement on the first day, but the sea breeze slowly built and permitted the teams to go sailing in the late afternoon.  Ultimately, three races were held that day and the TU DELFT BROACH student teams all did quite well, with all three in the top ten.  In fact, winning after day one was top woman skipper Lisanne Nijdam on TU DELFT BROACH 1365.

However, after three days of sailing, Nijdam’s team got called for two “black flags” and, as a result, finished in 4th place.  Meanwhile, Bol’s QUANTUM HOLLAND sailed fast and smart and after their slow start on the first day, accumulated three 1st, two 2nds, and two 3rds in twelve races sailed to easily win by 12 pts.  Also having a first day case of the “slows” was Jean-Michel Lautier’s FRAPORITA. Nevertheless, over the next two days they recovered well and sailed mostly top five races to take the silver by just one point!  Completing the podium was Hans Deutz’s BIERTJE with 47 pts.  Rounding out the top five were Nijdam’s TU DELFT BROACH in 4th and taking the 5th position was the French crew on JAZZY, skippered by Reiner Brockerhoff.

SAP Sailing Analytics was providing the North Sea Regatta with the latest technology that makes it possible to follow the races online for friends and family. For sailors the SAP Sailing Technology is a perfect way to analyze their performance after the race.  Sailing photo credits- Jasper van Staveren  For more J/22 World Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.