Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta - Larsen and Cesari emerge victorious

by Marjolein Brandt on 30 May 2012 In the 2012 Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta, the Boskalis occasional duo Gunnar Larsen and Lamberto Cesari (ITA) emerged victorious this weekend. The other three teams of Team Boskalis also performed extremely well. Jorden Veenman and Frank de Waard finished third and the mixed duo Froukje Feenstra/Mischa de Munck tenth. The just selected youngsters Jolbert van Dijk and Niels Kleijweg sailed above expectations and scored a fifteenth place in a field of 47 F-18 catamarans.

Team captain Gunnar Larsen is extremely satisfied. Tactically it was difficult weather, with little wind and a strong current. On Monday the races even were cancelled due to dense sea fog. Larsen: 'The teams made a lot of progress. Team Boskalis offers a nice concept, in which we share knowledge and help each other. We have reached a new milestone with this event. The sports technical plan of each team offers many insights and benefits. Everybody knows where to focus on. In addition we have evaluated a lot.'

Larsen did not expect the newcomers Van Dijk and Kleijweg to reach that far: 'They really showed potential. A ranking somewhere in the top thirty would have been nice, but fifteenth is superb. I indeed had expected the other two teams to sail well. Each event you can see progress. However, a third place is also above expectations. Mentally Jorden and Frank have grown tremendously, as you can see in the results. Next to that boat speed is very important. Our new boats are fast. Also Froukje and Mischa showed progression. They are a good mix and have reached far. A great difference with what I saw this spring.'

This weekend Larsen sailed with Italian Lamberto Cesari, because his crew member Sam Frank is abroad. Cesari won a bronze medal on the World Championships 2011 in Hungary with his compatriot Vittoro Bissaro. Larsen: 'We had some communication problems in the beginning, because for both of us English is not the primary language on the boat. The benefit is that we have a lot of experience in the F-18 and know what to do.

Jorden Veenman and Frank de Waard are sailing together with Team Boskalis since last year. They have found calmness in the boat. In 2011 they lacked that and a clear plan. In their sports technical plan the focus is on those two points.

Veenman: 'We planned not to get nervous, even if things did not work out. Next to that we kept to the plan we made before each race. The racecourse was very close to the shore and there were a lot of pressure differences. It then is very difficult to predict where the wind comes from. Sometimes it is difficult to stick to the plan, because you think that this way it also goes well.'

But we said, 'If we don't want to go this way, we have to tack'. We then went back to the original plan and it did pay off. Racing is a chess game, but the white and black pawns are moving also. It makes it complex. Third place means a lot to us. It is good to know where we stand before the World Championships Nacra Infusion and F-18. We had expected to finish top five, so top three is really cool off course.'

Jolbert van Dijk and Niels Kleijweg recently have been selected as fourth Boskalis team. The youngsters have trained only three days together before this event. The fifteenth position in this strong field is an absolute achievement.

Kleijweg: 'We came to the event without expectations, because we didn't want to push ourselves. Friday was our baptism, but there was too much wind. After half an hour we capsized. On Saturday we started with too much stress. You just get on a boat together and add the racing element. We still have to learn to cooperate. But in the course of the event progress came. More and more we got to racing and were not distracted by stress anymore. We still have to improve our boat handling. Next weekend we are going to train and we then hope to have a better grasp on the boat for Texel. It is good to know that our boat speed is good.'

The mixed duo Mischa de Munck and Froukje Feenstra is very satisfied with their tenth position. Feenstra: 'We had our good moments, but also made some mistakes. We now have insight in what we are capable of. Unfortunately technically something went wrong. The block of the spinnaker broke, so we couldn't get the spinnaker down anymore. We just then were in the lead at the windward mark, frustrating. It affected us for two races. We aren't looking at the achievements and results yet, but suggest points of improvement at each event. Then the results will follow. At Texel we are going for it and at the World Championships in September we want to perform optimally.' Team Boskalis website