(Medemblik, The Netherlands)- Medemblik, a picturesque small town on the
IJsselmeer Sea in The Netherlands, is considered the Mecca of Dutch
sailing. It's a fun place to sail, can be very challenging, and the
weather never seems to be what it's supposed to be! Sometimes gorgeous,
sunny, sublime with gentle breezes, other days freezing cold, blowing
dogs off chains and raining hailstones.
This
year's event presented the schizophrenic nature of sailing on the
Ijselmeer. After a long period of rainy weekends and winds, the weekend
of the Spring Cup was forecast (almost promised!) to be a nice weekend
with lots of sunshine and moderate winds. But, Saturday saw something
different. It was cold on the water and there was a fair wind in the
chilly rainfall. However, three races to sail, lots of action and plenty
of warm drink kept the crews working hot and furiously. After the
races the sun finally came out, it was time to dry out, jump into the
wonderful hot tubs and relax. Then, a large group of J/22 sailors all
had dinner at the Pizzeria La Grotta (a locals favorite hangout) to eat
the delicious pizza pies by the pound!
The
forecast for Sunday was a very gentle breeze. During the first two
races there were lots of wind shifts and pressure differences on the
race track. From "hero to zero" and vice versa was the rule of the day.
After six races, it was clear the "local hero" with places of
1-1-1-6-2-1 was Ivo Kok with 12 points. Showing how strongly the German
J/22 teams have evolved over time, much like their J/24 and J/80
one-design teams, Reinhold Grob managed to sail a very strong series to
amass a 2-2-3-1-6-2 record for just 16 pts. Third was Jean-Michel
Lautier sailing to a 3-5-2-2-3-5 score for 20 pts. Rounding out the top
five were two other Netherlands teams, Ivo Jeaukems in fourth with 27
pts just edging out Dirkjan Verdoorn with 29 pts for fifth. For
more J/22 Netherlands Spring Cup sailing information For
more J/22 Germany sailing information
