Sailing as a spectator sport? Bolster Teamrace Knockout next Saturday

by Mischa de Munck on 12 Apr 2012 On April 14th 16.00- 19.00 CEST, four world-class sailing teams will be team racing each other on high-speed catamarans in order to promote sailing as a spectator sport at the Bolster Teamrace Knockout. Races will be held close to shore in front of a large audience, so the fights between boats are just a stone’s throw from the spectators.

The sailors will be racing a spectacular knockout series right after the F18 class event. During the class event around 100 boats will be attending, a large audience is therefore easily generated. The races are held just in front of the Sail–Today grandstand, on the catamaran beach in Muiderzand.

The race course is a so called ‘Digital N Course’. The boat that finishes last loses as a team. The challenge for the teams is to make sure that one of their opponent’s boats finishes last, resulting in a spectacular one on one never-ending fight.

Umpires will decide protests live on the water, and if necessary will hand out penalties.

World Cup F18 Team racing?

‘We can’t but we are tempted to quote this event as the unofficial F18 Teamrace World cup', says the organisation.

Among the competitors is former and current World champion Jeroen van Leeuwen, former World champion Thijs Visser, current Dutch champion Gunnar Larsen with crew Sam Frank, five time Dutch champion and winner of F18 silver and bronze Mischa Heemskerk with crew Bastiaan Tentij.

Furthermore former Olympian and World champion Carolijn Brouwer will be attending together with Jeroen van Leeuwen as a mixed team.

Finally also multiple Dutch- and European champion Remco Kenbeek and multiple Dutch champion Oscar Zeekant will be attending to fight for the title.

Also several sailors from the rest of Europe will be representing their respective countries. From Italy current F18 bronze holders Vittorio Bissaro and Lamberto Cesari will join the knockout. From France current F18 youth World champions Charles Hainneville and Valentin Bellet will attend the knockout.

The Teams:
Team Green - Oscar Zeekant/Karel Begemann - Vittorio Bissaro/Lamberto Cesari
Team Orange - Mischa Heemskerk/Bastiaan Tentij - Thijs Visser/Matthieu Marfaing
Team Purple - Carolijn Brouwer/Jeroen van Leeuwen - Remco Kenbeek/ Tjiddo Veenstra
Team Blue - Gunnar Larsen/Sam Frank - Charles Hainneville/ Valentin Bellet

The four teams of two boats are wearing a Magic Marine lycra in their colour (green, orange, purple or blue) and have a large coloured sticker in their jib so that spectators can easily identify the different teams. The crowd is also given team gadgets so they can make noise and cheer for their favourite team.

The races can be viewed live from the spectator grandstand and on a mega screen via on board- , multicopter cameras and several cameras on the race course and on shore. The races can also be viewed live via internet and the event is given live commentary by top sailors Andrew Macpherson and Carrie Howe.

This first Bolster Teamrace Knockout will be held on Saturday April 14th, and this year will be free to the public.

Program:
15:30 Reception/Online broadcast
16:00 Start of the spectacular knockout races
18:30 Final races
19:00 Prize giving