(Stellendam, The Netherlands)- With rain, sun and above all plenty of
wind, the Van Uden Reco Stellendam Regatta was a spectacular season
opener for the over 100+ registered sailing teams in the Benelux
region. The biggest class, again, were the J/22s with strong showings
again from the J/111 class and the rapidly expanding J/70 class. In
addition, there were IRC and ORC/ ORC Double classes competing offshore.To begin with, all the J/111 owners agreed it was another great success! Last year was the first time the fleet had sailed in the Van Uden Reco event as a class; in particular because it was great preparations for the J/111 World Championship in 2016 that was raced in Cowes, England. This year, five teams showed up for close class racing all weekend long.
By
combining the forces of J-Benelux, the J/111 boat owners and crews, the
fleet had another great weekend of sailing with six races. Paul
Gladdines, class chairman of J/Benelux, enthusiastically responded after
the event: "All owners liked it and the class looks forward to more
one-design racing offshore, too! It's truly unique to sail with 36 ft
boats as one-design class machines!" Winning the J/111 class this year was Paul van Driel’s SWEENY crew from The Netherlands, showing that they had learned a lot from sailing last year’s J/111 Worlds in Cowes! They posted a 1-1-1-4-1-2 record for 6 pts net to win the class by a comfortable margin. Pulling in the silver medal on the podium was Sigg Joerg’s LALLEKONIG from Switzerland, with a 2-2-2-3-2-3 tally for 11 pts net. Taking third on a tie-breaker at 14 pts each was Sjakk Haakman’s RED HERRING team from The Netherlands; on the short end of that stick was Sebastien de Liedekerke’s DJINN from Belgium. Occupying the fifth spot was Norbert Burkert’s TOP JOB.
The
J/22 was the largest class in the regatta with no less than 23
participants this year. Lisanne Nijdam’s TU DELFT crew on NED 1365 won
last year with one point difference, but this year it was a much
different story. For starters, a significant development in the Dutch
J/22 class was that NINE of the skippers were women in this year’s
regatta- nearly 50% of the fleet! The other element was that the level
of competition was dramatically higher, especially since the J/22 World
Championship is just weeks away and being sailed nearby.After an eight race series, it was Nic Bol’s QUANTUM HOLLAND that took the series with a very strong performance- accumulating four 1sts and three 2nds to win with 10 pts net. Second was Hans Deutz’s BIERTJE with 19 pts net, including a 1st and three 2nds in his tally. Third was Reiner Brockerhoff’s French/ German crew on JAZZY with 24 pts net, also a double-race winner. After starting with a 1st in the first race, it seems that Lisanne Nijdam’s TU DELFT crew could only manage 3rds- taking four of them in her scoreline- to finish fourth overall (she was also top woman skipper). Finally, if fifth place was Thom van der Starre’s TU DELFT NED 1514 crew with 38 pts net.
As
a result of the fast-growing Netherlands J/70 Sailing League project,
there was a huge increase in J/70 sailors in this season opener.
Winning the J/70 class was Diederik Forma’s JULIA with five 1sts and two
3rds in their eight-race scoreline with 11 pts net. Second was Rikst
Dijkstra’s WATERLAND MONNICKENDAM-SHE SAILS with 18 pts and third was
Thorsten Willemsen’s JAY DAY with 22 pts net.In the IRC Class, Alain Bornet’s J/109 JAI ALAI sailed well to take fourth in class. In the ORC Class, the J/24 JOOL skippered by Dirk Olyslagers simply crushed their class, taking it with a 2-3-2-2-1-1 for 8 pts net. Then, in the ORC Double Class, Yvonne Beusker is out practicing hard to get their team on PANTHER ready for the various RORC and North Sea races in the respective double-handed classes; she ended up tied for 3rd in class. Sailing photo credits- Laurens Morel Van Uden Reco Regatta Facebook page For more Van Uden Reco Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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