Sunday, May 13, 2012

North Sea Regatta Sailing Preview

J/111 J-Xcentric sailing Netherlands (The Hague, Netherlands)- Many teams are entered in the upcoming Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta in The Hague, The Netherlands, which starts next week with the "Vuurschepen Race". About 400 yachts will be participating in the three separate events of the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta.

On Tuesday May 15th the Vuurschepen Race from Scheveningen to Harwich, England will start at 1900 hours. This offshore race of 110 nautical miles is the opening race of the week-long event. The route across the North Sea has been slightly modified to include sailing away (out and around) from the enormous windmill farms off the English coast.  After the finish, the sailors will enjoy a day of rest in Harwich, hosted by the Royal Harwich Yacht Club in Woolverstone. On Ascension Day the sailors enjoy lunch in the pub often used by ancient smugglers along the coast- The "Butt and Oyster" at Pin Mill.  After much camaraderie and reveling in past sea stories, the sailors will then hop aboard again and go back across "La Manche" (the Channel) in the RORC North Sea Race back to Holland on Friday May 18th. One of The Netherlands top offshore sailors, John van de Starre, will be sailing the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER in both events in IRC2 Class.

In the Pentecost weekend from May 25th to 28th 2012 more than 400 teams will race just of the coast of Scheveningen. Different classes will attend, including a good field of J/22s and J/24s as well as an IRC Class for the North Sea Regatta.  In IRC will be the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER participating in the third portion of the event.   For more Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta sailing information