Round Texel Race - Windsurfers will now be competing

by Simon Keijzer on 23 Apr 2014 From 25th-29th June 2014, Texel will once again be the global epicentre of catamaran sailing! On top of the internationally renowned Round Texel Race for catamarans, windsurfers will now be competing for the Open Dutch Championship Marathon Windsurfing as well. The game is on.

The 37th edition of the Round Texel Race is extended with a new element this year, the Open Dutch Championship Marathon Windsurfing. The windsurfers will sail the exact same route as the catamarans do every year: rounding the Isle of Texel. Registration is open for windsurfers over 15 years with a registered slalom-, formula-, or race board. Qualification for the Open Dutch Championship will be held on Friday 27th June. On Saturday 28th June the 50 qualifying windsurfers from the previous day will race each other for the title.

On Saturday at 8:45 am, all 50 windsurfers will start from the beach. Fifteen minutes later, at 9:00 am sharp, the catamarans will leave for their Round Texel Race. It’s a very challenging race; therefore time limits will be set at every gate.

Willem Hemelraad, chairman of the Board of the Round Texel Race, is very pleased that he can now invite windsurfers to participate in the event: 'The organization of the Round Texel Race is very proud that we are able to organize the race again in a way that it is both exciting and safe. We could never do this without all the help we get from other companies, sponsors, local authorities and all our volunteers.

Adding the Open Dutch Championships Marathon Windsurfing means a lot to us. We aim to have the ‘Dutch Championships Extreme’ as part of the Texel Race Week and the Round Texel Race, ‘Cats and Boards’ in popular speech. It fits our vision for the future, a water- and beach sports event.'

'Safety is very important to us during the event, but safety requires a large investment,' says Race Manager Jeroen Romkema. 'Therefore the organization has started a special campaign. Entrepreneurs, especially the local entrepreneurs on Texel, will be approached for the last additional funding'.

Romkema: 'With small one-time investments of our local entrepreneurs we will try to put the last piece of finance in place. In return we have an attractive offer. Several entrepreneurs on the island have already signed up for this campaign. We want to express our gratitude to anyone who will help us to make this event happen.'

The organization is very pleased to announce that the program includes the Texel Dutch Open for catamarans from Wednesday 25th to 27th June. Three days with in total ten scheduled races.

Recreational catamarans can register for two events on Texel.: the 'Horstocht', on Thursday 26th June and the ‘Tocht om de Noord’ on Friday 27th June. Like every year, single handed and double-handed catamarans are trying to break records. This year the record attempts take place on Wednesday 25th June and Thursday 26th June. Xtreme Kitesurf races will be held on 26th, 27th and 28th of June. Event website