GBR pair fourth at Dutch 29er championships

by Jan Lasko on 4 May 2008 774 sailors from numerous countries are competing in ten classes with the Optimists attracting the largest entry of 362 boats from 15 countries. With the 29er being raced at the ISAF World Youth Championships in Aarhus, Denmark during July, the Dutch 29 National Championship being run from the 1 – 4 May is providing an ideal preparation event.

Fortyfive 29ers from nine countries, including a number of pairings who participated in the recent 29er World Championships that were held in Melbourne, Australia, were split into two starting groups

The two British entries for the 29er at the ISAFS, James Peters and Ed Fitzgerald, and Frances Peters and Claire Lasko, took time out from the exam preparations to participate in an event promising good close racing.

Workum on the Isselmeer, did not disappoint on Day 1. Three races were sailed in a variety of wind conditions. Launching took place under a dark cloud with the 29er fleet sailing in a Force 5 at times and torrential rain (and hail). The weather improved as the day went on with the wind dropping to a Force 4 southwesterly and classic Isselmeer large chop.

The British boats got of to a great start in the with James and Ed finishing first ahead of Frances and Claire second in the blue flight well ahead of Annemiek Bekkering and Jeske Kisters of the Netherlands. Unfortunately, James and Ed were deemed to be OCS. In the yellow flight, Mark Walraven and Kaj Böcker from the Netherlands took line honours ahead of Robin Cnudde and Hugo Kerhascoet of France.

Race 2 saw numerous squalls during the race causing affecting many of the sailors. James and Ed made no mistakes to finish first with Kevin Fisher and Glen Gourron of France in second. In the yellow flight, two boats were making the running with the finishing order between the Dutch and French boats being reversed.

Race 3 saw the British girls bounce back to finish first with the consistant French boys, Fisher and Gourron in second and Dutch girls Bekkering and Kisters in third. In the yellow flight, the top two continued to fight it out for supremacy with race three results being a repeat of race 1 for the top 3.

The event consists of two days in qualifying groups (up to seven races with once discard). They will then be split into Gold and Silver fleets carrying forward their points score with the discard applied. Seven further races are planned in the Gold / Silver groups with no further discards available.

On the first day, the 29ers were issued with tracker devices for Championchip Sailing which allowed live viewing of the races during the day and you can re-live the races by visiting the event website.

29er - Provisional Results after 3 races

1. NED 1121 Mark Walraven/Kaj Bocker 4 pts (1,2,1) – Yellow
2. FRA 1350 Robin Cnudde/Hugo Kerhascoet 5 pts (2,1,2) – Yellow
3. FRA 1478 Kevin Fischer/Glen Gourron 7pts (3,2,2) – Blue
4. GBR 16 Frances Peters/Claire Lasko 8pts (1,6,1) – Blue
5. BEL 1154 Morgan Good/Tibbe van Hoof 9pts (3,3,3) – Yellow
6. NED 6 Annemiek Bekkering/Jeske Kisters 10pts (2,5,3) - Blue

event website: http:/www.dutchyouthregatta.org