Saturday, May 31, 2014

Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta Preview

J/22 sailboats(Scheveningen, Netherlands)- The Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta is the largest Dutch sailing race event on the North Sea, from May 27th until June 9th, 2014. The 110 nm Vuurschepenrace from Scheveningen to Harwich on 27th May opens the annual Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta. After a day of rest in Harwich the IRC and ORC classes return to the Netherlands, sailing the 180nm RORC North Sea Race.

During the following Whitsun weekend about 25 classes race on the Scheveningen coast, including big yachts, Olympic classes, catamarans, open boats and surfers. Apart from being well known for its yearly races the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta is also known for its side event in the Hellweg Harbour going by the name “North Sea Kitchen”- a culinary heaven of delicacies await the sailor’s each day, so long as the crowds ashore haven’t gobbled it all up! The best cooks from the Benelux/ Netherlands region present you the best food, bands will play great music and the youngsters get entertained in the kids program.  Truly a regatta for the whole family!

On Tuesday 27 May, the traditional Vuurschepenrace begins with forty-five participants on the starting list; including a record number of fifteen entries in the Double-handed Division.  The race promises to be a very tactical crossing, characterized by little wind from various directions.  The Double-handed Division starts at 1900 hrs.

There are excellent J double-handed teams sailing from the Netherlands and Great Britain, many with championship winning pedigree.  Starting with the J/105’s, we find the teams of FAY-J (Wilko Seelt & Max Seelt), HARPOEN (Harry Rek) and DREAM MACHINE (John van Veen) dueling for 105 supremacy.  Next up is the J/109 ARETHUSA (Kees Mijs & Camille Mijs) trying to one up her sisterships.  Then the two big boats, the J/122 JUNIQUE sailed by Chris Revelman & Pascal Bakker and the J/133 BATFISH (http://www.batfish.nl/) sailing with double-handed veterans Bart Desaunois & Gerard de Boer, either team are capable of winning.  The Netherlands-based JUNIQUE team (Revelman & Bakker) were the 2013 Double-Handed Award winner in the Netherlands and are already in training-mode for the 2015 Fastnet Race!

In the ORC 2 Offshore division, there is a trio of J/109’s participating in the fully-crewed portion of the race, including J-BORNET (Alain Bornet), JETTJE (Floris Waller) and YETI (Paul van der Pol).

There will be “live tracking” provided for most of the participants in both the Vuurschepenrace and the RORC North Sea Race. Follow your favorite teams on YellowBrick.   For more Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta sailing information