(Roermond, The Netherlands)- The first match of the Dutch J/70 Sailing
League sailed in Roermond resulted in a number of surprising teams in
the top of the ranking. Under difficult conditions with little wind,
Watersportvereniging Uitdam performed the most consistently to win the
weekend event after sailing just six races for each of the fifteens
sailing club teams on Saturday. Day One
The sailors from WV Uitdam showed their class and immediately took the lead in the rankings on the first day. Under the guidance of their new and talented skipper, Guido Buwalda, they reached a point total of only 8 points after five flights. Remarkable, because it is only his third time sailing the J/70 and the first time as skipper during an event. Said Buwalda at the end of racing, “this is fun, it is really good racing".
Wietze
Zetzema, one of the founders of Team WV Uitdam, adds, ”this is exactly
what we stand for as Uitdam, giving a mix of experience and young talent
the chance and opportunity to sail in such high level competition. That
it works out so well, is only beautiful."The hosts of the regatta, RR&ZV Maas and Roer were certainly hoping to be in contention for the lead after a strong day of sailing. A penalty in race four meant they did not take the lead after day one. Max Visser, skipper of Maas and Roer, does not hide his enthusiasm for the racing in Roermond, “it is really nice to sail here. The atmosphere is good and it is well organized. It is also nice to put Limburg on the map as a water sport province. There is a lot of nice water in Limburg, but not many people know that. Winning this stage is our goal. We sailed well in Almere, so we be near the top of the league."
WV Almere Centraal, two-time National Champion and winner of the first round at Almere Centraal, had a slightly harder time. After a day of racing they were in fifth place.
Day TwoOn Saturday, WV Uitdam took the only victory in the only race they sailed. A 1st place in the 6th flight turned out to be the key to win the regatta; little did anyone anticipate that would be the case. After that flight of races, the wind died completely for the rest of the day.
Day Three
An attempt was made to run two races in the early morning breeze of up to 7 kts. However, it was impossible to complete the full flight before the wind died off completely. As a result, WV Uitdam was declared victor of Act II. Second was the RR&ZV Maas & Roer team, followed by the VW De Twee Provincien club in third.
Team WV Uitdam had a completely new team optimized for the light wind conditions.
"On Friday, we chose to attack with our flyweight crew and immediately took the lead. On Saturday, we had to sail against a number of our direct competitors in the first race and therefore opted for more conservative tactics,” said an elated skipper Jan van Wengerden. A tactic that obviously worked out well for Uitdam.
"It's
nice to surprise everyone again. Sometimes, we are not so good at an
event and we do not perform well. But, if we do, we are really good
enough to compete for victory. We think we had one of the lightest crews
this weekend, every downwind run we would gain a few critical meters
for tactical advantage at mark roundings. Honestly, if there were over
15 knots of wind we probably would not have won here."RR&ZV Maas & Roer New Series Leader
As they had in Almere Centraal, the Maas & Roer team again took second place. Thanks to their consistent results, they now took over the overall series lead with a 2-2 tally. They now lead the reigning national champion WV Almere Centraal that has posted a 1-8. Third overall are Jachtclub Scheveningen with a 3-5.
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