Styles/Crawford win the Texel Dutch Open

by Diana Bogaards on 23 Jun 2007 On Friday June 22, the British Fatface-team Styles/Crawford won the Texel Dutch Open after an exciting conclusion. In the end, the gap to Dutchmen Heemskerk and Tentij was only half a point. The British F18 Capricorn duo Gummer/Burke were third.

The Open Class I showed new leaders, as both F18 Nacra Infusion teams Huntelman/Van der Kamp and De Koning/Van Leeuwen took a bullet. Thanks to a moderate south-western wind, the course was laid out along the coast, which gave a good view for the people on the Texel beach. They witnessed the battle against the current while beating upwind. The consideration whether to choose for less current or more pressure, made it an exciting game.

In the very last race, Hans Primowees was finally beaten once in the Open Class II. He finished second after the British Nacra 500 of Luke and Adam Butler, but he won the overall series. Later in the afternoon, Heemskerk and Tentij won the TNG Short Track Races.

Race 1 – Huntelman/Van der Kamp find their speed

The M20 of Xander Pols and Tjiddo Veenstra took off immediately after the first starting gun. Due to the strong counter-current, most of the teams tried their luck close to the shore. Vincent Huntelman and Herwin van der Kamp (NED) sailed a strong race on their F18 Nacra Infusion. They rounded the upwind mark as first F18 with a substantial lead.

Huntelman: 'We do not use our own boat here, so we needed some time to find the right settings. On the last two days, we did not put enough tension on the battens, but we found more speed today and it was a tactical game.'

The TNG-sponsored cat of Huntelman/Van der Kamp had still a comfortable lead at the second gate, followed by Gummer/Burke, Heemskerk/Tentij and Styles/Crawford. The competition between the three runners up was pretty close. Meanwhile, Pols and Veenstra sailed their own race in front of everybody else.

For the F18’s it was an exciting last downwind. Heemskerk and Tentij decided to take advantage of the current by going through the middle, while the rest of their direct competitors went inshore. Huntelman and Van der Kamp continued unchallenged and took the bullet. Heemskerk and Van der Kamp were right and crossed the line as second F18, with Styles and Crawford in their wake.

Styles: 'It was pretty tight today. There was so much tide and light wind, so it was difficult to get clean air. We had to fight our way through the people more than on the other days. We wanted to stay as close as possible to Mischa. We finished one place behind him, so we sailed a solid race.'

Race 2 – Occasional duo De Koning/Van Leeuwen dominates

The second race was full of action. At the start, Heemskerk and Tentij together with Styles and Crawford chose for the right side of the course, because they expected a shift to the right. The M20 of Dercksen/Mcintosh did the same, while most of the other teams headed for the coast.

Heemskerk: 'My plan was to use the height to cross the fleet in front, but the guy on leeward pinched too much and Coen was launched on the left side.' Heemskerk and Tentij were second at the upwind mark. Coen de Koning about the first part of their race: 'We started as lowest boat with most speed on the pin end. From that moment, we dominated until the finish.'

In order to minimize the counter-current, most participants tacked along the coast. In the second beat, Heemskerk and Tentij were the only ones in the top to chose for the seaside and lost some places. They rounded the mark in fourth position. In the last beat, the opposite happened and Huntelman/Van der Kamp had a deficit on Heemskerk/Tentij, but they managed to pass them again just before the finish. Both teams went neck and neck through the gate, with Huntelman/Van der Kamp on the inner side.

Van der Kamp: 'That was exciting. We had the right of way and could gibe on Mischa.' Heemskerk and Tentij nearly capsized shorty after the gate. Heemskerk: 'That was a Boskalis teaching moment.' The spinnaker sheet was too tight. The blue Yamaha-boat of the occasional team De Koning and Van Leeuwen took the overall win. Hugh Styles and Ryan Crawford were seventh.

Preview Zwitserleven Round Texel Race 2007

The organization of the Zwitserleven Round Texel Race 2007 received 528 pre-entries, of which 222 will compete in the gold fleet. According to Mischa Heemskerk there are sixteen potential winners, as the complete F18-top is present. His former skipper on the Tornado, Coen de Koning, considers Heemskerk as a favourite, as well as Bundock and Ashby (AUS).

Hugh Styles looks forward to tomorrow’s race: 'In 7 to 8 knots of wind, we are stronger at speed than the Tigers. If there is slightly more pressure, the M20 will have an advantage, as they may pick up the clear wind earlier. They F18’s will then mess up with each other, which slows down. But I prefer a big sea and a strong breeze. I like to play dangerous.'

Vincent Huntelman and Herwin van der Kamp will definitely put more tension on the battens: 'It is going to be tough with so many top sailors. We aim for a better result than last year.' They finished fourth in 2006.

Ruurd van Wieren, crewing for Hans Bouscholte, arrived in a spectacular manner on the Texel beach. The mechanic of the Royal Navy descended from a helicopter. For tomorrow, the weather forecast looks calm with a westerly force three. The start is about 12.30 hours pm local time.

Open Class I - Top five after six races and one discard:

1. GBR – Styles/Crawford – F18 Nacra Infusion, 9,5 points
2. NED – Heemskerk/Tentij – F18 Nacra Infusion, 10 points
3. GBR – Gummer/Burke – F18 Capricorn, 26 points
4. NED – Huntelman/Van der Kamp – F18 Nacra Infusion, 29 points
5. NED – De Koning/Van Leeuwen – F18 Nacra Infusion, 31 points

Open Class II - Top three after sixs races and one discard:

1. NED – Primowees – Prindle 15, 4 points
2. GBR – Butler/Butler - Nacra 500, 7 points
3. NED – Van Aart – Hobie FxOne, 13 points


In addition to Zwitserleven, the Round Texel Race has been sponsored by TNG Swiss Watches, Repeat Sales Promotions, W&H/Liebherr, Yamaha Nederland, Nissan, Teso, VVV Texel, de Mondriaan Onderwijsgroep, Rabobank, de Meeuw, Zeilen, Texeler, Stiehl Entertainment and Paal-17 Events.