(Scheveningen, The Netherlands)- This next week is going to be a hot-bed
of sailing activity across the North Sea and off the seacoast of
Scheveningen, The Netherlands. Hosted by Jachtclub Scheveningen, the
110-mile Vuurschepenrace from Scheveningen to Harwich, England is the
opening of the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta. After a rest day in
Harwich, the IRC and ORC classes sail the RORC North Sea Race back to
the Netherlands.Thereafter, those offshore yachts join thousands of other sailors sailing dozens of one-design classes in one of the largest regattas in Europe. It is truly a sailing festival as the entire town is taken over by sailors. Several disciplines participate in the event, big yachts, Olympic classes, catamarans, open boats, and kite boarders. Next week, the J/22s and J/80s will join the fun.
The
Vuurschepenrace Race to Harwich started on Tuesday afternoon. After
the start off Scheveningen, the fleet had a reach north along the coast
to the first mark (NAM 22), just offshore of the seaside village of
Katwijk. After turning left, the fleet was facing westerlies in the
10-15 kts range overnight going to the mid-channel mark in a WNW
direction. In short, the entire fleet was hard on the nose, very
tightly packed together, hoping to make headway in the 
choppy
channel that is loaded with ships everywhere (here’s the AIS map-
vesselfinder.com- of the channel as 0200 hours on Wednesday!).The “fetch” to Harwich on starboard may or may not be easy depending on how the winds hold up, plus there’s lots of current to take into consideration crossing the channel. You can watch the live/ recorded tracking of the fleet on Yellow Brick’s website- http://yb.tl/vuurschepen2015.
Sailing in the IRC 2 Class is the J/105 HARPOEN skippered by Harry Rek. In ORC 2 division, a duo of J/109s are racing, MAJIC (Arnout Joorritsma) and JAI LAI (JC Bornet).
The
big “news” is the new Dutch Double-handed Nationals series that starts
with the Vuurschepen Race. In ORC 2H are seven very well-sailed and
prepared J/Teams, many of whom have won previous RORC offshore races and
the Delta Lloyd Regatta. Those teams include the J/133 BATFISH (Bart
Desaunois/ Gerard de Boer), the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER (John van der
Starre/ Robin Verhoef), the J/122 JUNIQUE RAYMARINE SAILING TEAM (Chris
Revelman/ Pascal Bakker), the J/120 MAVERICK (Chris Schram), the J/109s
FIRESTORM (Wim van Slooten/ Jochem Hamstra) & ARETHUSA (Kees Mijs)
and the J/105 PANTHER sailed by the women’s team of Yvonne Beusker/
Edith Voskamp.The North Sea Regatta this year has a special edition for the two-person sailing teams. For the first time in Dutch history, but also internationally, there is a national championship for Two-Handed sailors. The organizers are the Shorthanded Dutch class organization, the North Sea Club and the Royal Yachting Association. The Vuurschepenrace, the North Sea Race and the North Sea Regatta 2015 are designated as the first official Dutch Championship for duets! The explosive growth of Two-Handed teams in the North Sea Regatta shows that one-third of the fleet is now manned by pairs!
“The
class organization for Two-Handed sailors is ready”, says a proud
Yvonne Beusker. Yvonne’s responsible for the new competition format and
is a proud J/105 owner/ skipper. She adds, "The first event is
anything but simple, with two long range offshore races and four days of
inshore racing off the coast Scheveningen. We already have 22 die-hard
sailors! Quite a few duos, including Junique, Maverick, Panther and
Xcentric Ripper (all JBoats teams) will continue the fight after the
North Sea Regatta, with everyone preparing for the Rolex Fastnet Race in
August!” The photo here is of Yvonne and co-skipper Edith Voskamp on
their J/105 PANTHER. Follow their activities on social media Facebook sailing page.For more North Sea Regatta sailing information.
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