RORC Season's Points Championship - North Sea Race overall

by Louay Habib on 2 Jun 2014 RORC North Sea Race 2014 is organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with the Royal Harwich Yacht Club, the East Anglian Offshore Racing Association and the Yacht Club Scheveningen.

A fleet of 52 yachts entered the 180-mile RORC North Sea Race, the fourth race of the RORC Season's Points Championship. Starting from Harwich on the East Coast of England, the line was blessed with a 15 knot easterly wind, providing a true beat to the first turning mark of the course. The breeze was to fade during the race which suited Volvo Ocean 65, Team Brunel. The Dutch team, skippered by Bouwe Bekking, took line honours and the overall win under IRC after time correction. Wouter Hermsen's Sydney GTS 43, Luctor 3 was second overall and winner of IRC One, and Harm Prins Volvo 60, Pleomax, was third and winner of IRC Zero.

Congratulations should also go to the winner of IRC Two, Ard Moerman's Bashford and Howison 36, Ace, and to Paul van der Pol's J/109, Yeti, which won IRC Three.

Team Brunel show their ability
This is the first RORC race in which the new VOR 65 has competed and it was a great warm up for the Volvo Ocean race, which starts in the autumn, providing an opportunity for Bouwe Bekking to trial his new team and to give his sponsors the sail of their lives.

'It is great to see that the boat is competitive under IRC and that this new team worked well together,' commented Team Brunel skipper, Bouwe. 'There are lots of things that we look at when we are picking a team, obviously just to be in the selection you have to be a very talented sailor, but the biggest criteria are that everyone clicks together and work as a unit. Of course we work hard but it is important that we have fun together and the North Sea Race was a great opportunity to have our sponsors on board, as well as windsurfing Olympic gold medallist Dorian van Rijsselberghe.

Team Brunel and all the competitors put a lot of effort into taking part in races and the great thing about RORC races is that they are always so well organised, which sometimes people take for granted but it is very important for everyone. As a Dutch boat, the North Sea Race is very important, I think I did my first race in 1983, and the race to Harwich and back to Scheveningen is a very important part of yacht racing in Holland.'

The overall winner of the North Sea Race under ORC was Frans Rodenburg's First 40, Elke. Robert Jockin's Dehler 39, Griel, was second and also winner of ORC Two. Anita Bakker's Dehler 35, Gast-Vrij, corrected out to win ORC 3 and 4.

'We have a great team on board Elke that have been together for a couple of years now,' commented Frans Rodenburg, skipper of Elke. 'The team is very keen and has done a lot of research to work out how to sail the boat as well as possible. At the upwind start, we decided to sail as high as we could, maybe five degrees more than normal, with the crew hiking hard because we knew that we needed to get ahead of the boats that rated lower than us. We knew we needed to put a big effort in for that beat, as the competition is very good. After that the wind went very light and we really concentrated on just keeping the boat going. About 25 miles from the finish, the wind was virtually gone for us but the other yachts would come with the breeze. However, we just kept going, even when the wind was just three knots, we were sailing as fast as the wind. After finding out we had won, we cleaned up the boat and celebrated a little, enjoying the full hospitality of Yacht Club Scheveningen.'

15 teams, all from The Netherlands, raced in the IRC Two-Handed Class and, after a race lasting over a day and a half, the result was decided by just one minute. John Van Veen's J/105, Dream Machine, with Rob Vis as crew, was the winner of the class, beating Chris Revelman and Pascal Bakker's J/122, Junique, into second place. Chris Schram's JPK 10.10, ‘So What’, was third.

John sails every evening out of his home port in Enkhuizen, North Holland, and was overjoyed to learn of the win.
'When we finished the race, it was very nice to find out it was so close, we didn't know but what a great feeling!' smiled John Van Veen. 'For a Dutchman to win class in the North Sea Race is absolutely fabulous. The race took us over 34 hours and was very tiring as we were constantly changing sails and concentrating on tactics all the time. Two-handed racing in Holland is getting more and more popular. When we started four or five years ago, we often raced with just two or three boats. We have a 50 mile race on Ijsselmeer, and now, this year, we had 70 boats racing two–handed! This is the biggest win ever and we are so happy with the result.'

The RORC Season's Points Championship continues next weekend with the De Guingand Bowl Race, starting and finishing in The Solent. The Belgian team racing Azawakh, owned by Vincent Willemart and Eric Van Campenhout, are currently leading the championship with Noel Racine's Foggy Dew in second place and Louis-Marie Dussere's Raging Bee in third.

2014 RORC Mainseries IRC Overall North Sea Race Start: Fri 30 May 14 Provisional Results

Points	Factored Points	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Sailed by	Elapsed	Handicap	Corrected	Finishing Place	Comments	Points	Factored Points
100	120	NED1N	Team Brunel	VO 65	Sailing Holland	Bouwe Bekking	17:04:20	1.631	1 - 03:50:41	1		100	120
94	112.8	NED8843	Luctor3	Sydney GTS 43	Wouter Hermsen		1 - 04:10:12	1.181	1 - 09:16:08	2		94	112.8
90	108	SWE20002	Pleomax	Volvo 60	Harm Prins		23:44:31	1.416	1 - 09:37:07	3		90	108
86	103.2	NED3888	Ace	Bashford & Howison 36	Ard Moerman		1 - 08:45:55	1.055	1 - 10:34:03	4		86	103.2
83	99.6	NED7023	dream machine	J/105	John Van Veen	2H	1 - 10:31:41	1.003	1 - 10:37:54	5		83	99.6
80	96	NED7244	Junique	J/122	Chris Revelman & Pascal Bakker	2H Chris Revelman & Pascal Bakker	1 - 07:54:17	1.086	1 - 10:38:55	6		80	96
78	93.6	NED7990	Yeti	J/109	Paul van der Pol		1 - 09:49:50	1.031	1 - 10:52:45	7		78	93.6
76	91.2	FRA37588	So What	JPK 10.10	Chris Schram	2H	1 - 10:55:35	1.008	1 - 11:12:21	8		76	91.2
74	88.8	GBR3438L	Jameerah	J/120	Richard Fawcett		1 - 08:55:12	1.078	1 - 11:29:16	9		74	88.8
72	86.4	NED7345	Stortemelk	X 43	Frans De Vries Lentsch		1 - 08:57:50	1.077	1 - 11:30:08	10		72	86.4
70	84	IRL3208	Blizzard Of Uz	Sun Fast 3200	Erik Mayer-Martenson	2H	1 - 11:29:41	1.003	1 - 11:36:04	11		70	84
68	81.6	GBR1293R	Batfish	J/133	Bart Desaunois	2H	1 - 08:19:55	1.106	1 - 11:45:33	12		68	81.6
66	79.2	NED904	Windsprint	Elan 400	Reijer Blankevoort	2H	1 - 09:42:23	1.061	1 - 11:45:45	13		66	79.2
65	78	GBR3015	McGregor IV	MG 38	Peter Ward		1 - 12:45:08	0.974	1 - 11:47:48	14		65	78
64	76.8	NED8306	SparklinGS	Grand Soleil 37	Richard van Leeuwen	2H	1 - 11:44:21	1.011	1 - 12:07:56	15		64	76.8
63	75.6	GBR1355R	Lulotte	Swan 55 Yawl	Ben Morris		1 - 10:58:33	1.039	1 - 12:20:24	16		63	75.6
62	74.4	NED7280	Grace O'Malley	Bavaria 38 Match	Zeezeilschool Scheveningen	Pieter Visser	1 - 12:01:54	1.021	1 - 12:47:18	17		62	74.4
61	73.2	NED8244	Harpoen	J/105	Harry Rek	2H	1 - 13:27:52	1.000	1 - 13:27:52	18		61	73.2
60	72	AUT15764	Visione	ILC 40	Nikolaus Knoflacher		1 - 08:50:58	1.161	1 - 14:08:18	19		60	72
59	70.8	NED7858	Home Of Jazz	VQ 32	Hendrik ten Hoor	2H	1 - 14:41:11	1.016	1 - 15:18:19	20		59	70.8
58.5	70.2	RSA23	Arwen	Class40	Austen Clark		1 - 10:54:57	1.242	1 - 19:21:56	21		58.5	70.2
58	69.6	GBR7707T	Fay J	J/105	Wilko Seelt	2H	2 - 00:32:29	1.005	2 - 00:47:03	22	DPI-30% Time Penalty	58	69.6
57.5	69	NED7800	Arethusa	J/109	Kees Mijs	2H	2 - 04:00:57	1.012	2 - 04:38:24	23	DPI-50% Time Penalty	57.5	69
57	68.4	NED1106	Havoc	Prima 38	Frans van der Heijden	Maurice van der Heijden	2 - 01:17:09	1.074	2 - 04:55:59	24	DPI-50% Time Penalty	57	68.4
56.5	67.8	NED1499	Beluga	Baltic 45	Floris Ingen Housz		2 - 04:26:45	1.039	2 - 06:29:28	25	DPI-50% Time Penalty	56.5	67.8
56	67.2	NED8248	RoaringX	X 41	Ad Lagendijk	2H	2 - 03:26:45	1.095	2 - 08:19:59	26	DPI-50% Time Penalty	56	67.2
10	10	GBR4950	Woozle Hunter	Sigma 33 OOD	Ian Ivermee			0.912			DNF-Did Not Finish	10	10
10	10	BEL1464	Bahia	J/35 C	Jean Malgaud			0.974			DNF-Did Not Finish	10	10
10	10	NED7975	Blue June	Standfast 43	Henk Zomer	2H		1.003			DNF-Did Not Finish	10	10
10	10	GBR8416R	Blue-J	J/120	Stan Fenton			1.049			DNF-Did Not Finish	10	10
10	10	GBR1513L	Il Corvo	Grand Soleil 43	Astrid De Vin	2H		1.092			DNF-Did Not Finish	10	10
10	10	GBR720R	Assarain IV	J/133	Angus Bates			1.102			DNF-Did Not Finish	10	10

2014 RORC Mainseries IRC Two-Handed North Sea Race Start: Fri 30 May 14 Provisional Results

Points Factored Points Sail No Boat Type of Boat Owner Sailed by Elapsed Handicap Corrected Finishing Place Comments Points Factored Points 94 112.8 NED7023 dream machine J/105 John Van Veen   1 - 10:31:41 1.003 1 - 10:37:54 1   94 112.8 88 105.6 NED7244 Junique J/122 Chris Revelman & Pascal Bakker   1 - 07:54:17 1.086 1 - 10:38:55 2   88 105.6 84 100.8 FRA37588 So What JPK 10.10 Chris Schram   1 - 10:55:35 1.008 1 - 11:12:21 3   84 100.8 80 96 IRL3208 Blizzard Of Uz Sun Fast 3200 Erik Mayer-Martenson   1 - 11:29:41 1.003 1 - 11:36:04 4   80 96 77 92.4 GBR1293R Batfish J/133 Bart Desaunois   1 - 08:19:55 1.106 1 - 11:45:33 5   77 92.4 74 88.8 NED904 Windsprint Elan 400 Reijer Blankevoort   1 - 09:42:23 1.061 1 - 11:45:45 6   74 88.8 72 86.4 NED8306 SparklinGS Grand Soleil 37 Richard van Leeuwen   1 - 11:44:21 1.011 1 - 12:07:56 7   72 86.4 70 84 NED8244 Harpoen J/105 Harry Rek   1 - 13:27:52 1.000 1 - 13:27:52 8   70 84 68 81.6 NED7858 Home Of Jazz VQ 32 Hendrik ten Hoor   1 - 14:41:11 1.016 1 - 15:18:19 9   68 81.6 66 79.2 GBR7707T Fay J J/105 Wilko Seelt   2 - 00:32:29 1.005 2 - 00:47:03 10 DPI-30% Time Penalty 66 79.2 64 76.8 NED7800 Arethusa J/109 Kees Mijs   2 - 04:00:57 1.012 2 - 04:38:24 11 DPI-50% Time Penalty 64 76.8 62 74.4 NED8248 RoaringX X 41 Ad Lagendijk   2 - 03:26:45 1.095 2 - 08:19:59 12 DPI-50% Time Penalty 62 74.4 10 10 NED7975 Blue June Standfast 43 Henk Zomer     1.003     DNF-Did Not Finish 10 10 10 10 GBR1513L Il Corvo Grand Soleil 43 Astrid De Vin     1.092     DNF-Did Not Finish 10 10

http://www.rorc.org/race-results/2014-season-cumulative-results.html" target="_blank">Full results from the North Sea Race