Round Texel Race - Successful 36th edition, 2014 date revealed

by Simon Keijzer on 27 Jun 2013 From 12-16 June, the beach around Paal17 on Texel was in the spell of the Texel Sailing Week and the 36th Round Texel Race. This 'Back to Basic' edition, of the biggest cat race in the world, took the sailors in the centre stage again. The 36th edition caused a lot of spectacle. Also in 2014, the Round Texel will be on the international sailing calendar. The 37th edition of the Round Texel Race will be sailed on Saturday, June 28, 2014.

Because of the strong wind, the start of the 36th Round Texel Race on Saturday, June 15 was postponed to the Sunday, June 16. Of the original 288 registered participants there were 194 left. At the start on Sunday, the remaining participants were confronted with wind gusts at seven beaufort.

A spectacular sight for the thousands of spectators on the beach was the sailors’ braving the ground swell. Also on the rest of the island, the race was good to follow for the audience. Especially at the lighthouse and at Oudeschild where the catamarans flew nearby, with occasional speeds up to 40 miles an hour.

After 2 hours and 34 minutes Peter Vink and Jeroen van Leeuwen crossed the finish line first, in their Nacra F20 Carbon. By crossing the finish line first they won the Round Texel line honours. Vink and Van Leeuwen where followed by Xander Pols and Stefan Dubbeldam, the line honours winners of last year. John de Vries and Diederik Pauli went as third across the finish line at Paal17.

Based on the Texel Rating, a corrected time based on: boat length, boat weight and sail area, knows the Round Texel two winners.

Oscar Zeekant and Karel Begemann won the Texel Rating <105, class 1. Zeekant and Begemann kept in their Formula 18 just enough distance to Begemann his teammates at the Dutch Olympic Delta Lloyd Squad, Renée Groeneveld and Thijs Visser, to win. Mischa Heemskerk and Bastiaan Tentij finished in a deserving third place.

Cristopher Hancock and Alex Young won in their Hobie 16 the Texel Rating> 105, Class 2. The Australian duo was followed by Gert Roukema and Michelle van Dorst on the second and Rogier Duijndam and Sonja Steenvoorden in third place.

The title Fastest Texel Team went to Gunnar Larsen and Dorian van Rijsselberghe. The occasional duo made use of the knowledge of catamaran skipper Larsen and the island knowledge of Van Rijsselberghe, the Olympic champion windsurfing. After a cautious start they ended as Texel Fastest Team and fourth in the overall standings Texel Rating <105, class 1.

Traditionally the Texel Sailing Week was preliminary to the Round Texel. During the Texel Sailing Week the Texel Dutch Open was held. This official Dutch championship catamaran sailing contained seven races sailed across Wednesday June 12 and Friday June 14. After a very exciting last race Mischa Heemskerk and Bastiaan Tentij captured the title for the third time.

In 2014 The Round Texel is also noted on the international sailing calendar. The 37th edition of the Round Texel Race is scheduled for Saturday, June 28, Round Texel website