Please select your home edition
Edition
Doyle_SailWorld_728X90px_SY TOP

RORC North Sea Race - Tonnerre and Xcentric Ripper overall winners

by Diana Bogaards on 17 May 2010

RORC North Sea Race - The Tonnerre de Breskens 3 of skipper Piet Vroon (NED) and the Xcentric Ripper of John van der Starre (NED) are the overall winners of the R.O.R.C. North Sea Race 2010, respectively in the IRC and ORC fleet. On Friday May 14, a total of 64 yachts started in Harwich and 62 of them crossed the finish in Scheveningen this weekend. The former holder of the North Sea Record, the VO60 Pleomax of Harm Prins (NED), took the line honours on Saturday morning at 10:20:36am Dutch Summer Time. Today, the 30-foot long Four Seasons of Krupinski (POL) came in as last finisher at 10:26am.

The North Sea Race, organized by the Royal Ocean Racing Club and part of the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta, turned out to be much quicker than expected. Various light air scenarios forecasted a long trip to the Netherlands, but the participants enjoyed an average of nine knots in the sails. Due to the weather forecasts prior to the start, the race committee decided to let the ORC three class race the shorter course (about 135 nautical miles), like the ORC four and five. Other classes faced about 18nm.

Line honours and IRC
On the finish line, the gap between the 60-foot long Pleomax (former Whitbread racer) and the new KER 46 Tonnerre only twelve minutes. That wasn't enough, concluded Prins. 'It went excellent,' was Vroon's answer. His 46-foot racing machine was the fastest to complete the course along the English coast and first to round the Smith's Knoll Buoy, with Pleomax in her wake. Prins: 'We were leading, but we decided to stay deep and Tonnerre went more offshore. They were 50 till 100 meters earlier at the mark.'

The breeze backed to the south and offered the two front runners a nice reach across the North Sea. The international crew onboard of the Tonnerre hoisted the spinnaker, but changed it quickly for the Code Zero. Vroon: 'Maybe that wasn't the best call, but furthermore we haven't made any mistakes.' Pleomac was back in the lead at the MSP buoy off the coast of Ijmuiden (north of Amsterdam) and kept it. The much smaller Tonnerre grabbed the overall win in the IRC zero and IRC overall.

Van der Starre: 'Nice tactical game'
In the ORC it was the Xcentric Ripper J-109 of John van der Starre that showed the best performance overall. She also won the ORC two class. Van der Starre: 'The ORC two starts with the IRC and ORC one, so it is quite difficult to find a good position between the big boats. The first two attempts were general recalls. At the second start, everybody commenced at the five minutes gong, despite the ten minutes procedure. That caused chaos on the line and many teams were late for the next start.'

Van der Starre and his crew took advantage of the confusion: 'We were off at the committee boat and went to the right in free air. We rounded the top mark with the big boys. All went well until two miles before the Galloper (last buoy before Smith Knoll). We missed a shift and saw ten boats passing us. At that moment, I had to motivate my crew.' That did not take long, as they were flying to the Smith's Knoll and MSP buoys. After an exciting duel with the Yeti J-109, the Xcentric Ripper finished ahead of them at 07:50 PM local time.

Two wins in a row for Que Guapa
After having finished top three more often, the Que Guapa X-332 of Suzanne van Meerten and Kees Groenenboom took two wins in a row this week. This fanatic Dutch couple won the ORC three class in both, the Vuurschepenrace and the R.O.R.C. North Sea Race. They seized the opportunity on the tactical lap from Smith Knoll to the MSP: 'We stayed below the rhumb line, whereas our competitors did different things. We played the current.' During the dark hours it was impossible to learn anything about the positions, so they had to wait patiently until sunrise. 'Luckily the next boat behind us was the Together. We were in trouble if it would have been the Gem.'

On Friday May 21, the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta continues with her inshore sailing program. About thirty classes will compete and Scheveningen will be the Dutch centre of the coastal sailings sports for four days. On Saturday evening, Delta Lloyd offers a free concert in the harbour, called Delta Lloyd North Sea Sounds.

IRC 0 (10 entries)
1. NED - Tonnerre de Breskens 2, Piet Vroon
2. NED - Charisma, Nico Poons
3. NED - Checkmate, Peter de Ridder
IRC 1 (8 entries)
1. BEL - Allard, Nadia Ifticene
2. GBR - British Soldier, Army Sailing Association
3. FRA - Coup De Coeur, M de Saint Denis & G. Trentesaux
IRC 2 (16 entries)
1. BEL - Rackham, Eric van Campenhout
2. NED - Xcentric Ripper, John van der Starre
3. NED - Yeti, Paul van der Pol
IRC 3 (5 entries)
1. GBR - Wambam, Eddie Clay
2. NED - Brut, Chris Schram
3. NED - L'Esprit de Morbihan
ORC 1 (3 entries)
1. AUT - Visione, Nikolaus Knoflacher
2. NED - Waikabubak, Remko de Haan
3. NED - Angry Pirate, Denis Bezemer
ORC 2 (16 entries)
1. NED - Xcentric Ripper, John van der Starre
2. NED - Griel, Robert Jockin
3. NED - Moshulu, Hans-Albert de Graaf
ORC 3 (8 entries)
1. NED - Que Guapa, Kees Groenenboom
2. NED - Together, Marcel Blomsma
3. NED - Nada, Nico Hoefnagel
ORC 4 (3 entries)
1. NED - Celestine, A. Van der Hout
2. NED - Gouden Ruiter, Willer Kats
3. NED - Avanti, Lody Vel

Sea Sure 2025Rooster 2025C-Tech 2021 (Spars-QFX Racer) 728x90 BOTTOM

Related Articles

Long Beach Olympic Classes Regatta 2025 Preview
The fourth stop of the five series Sailing Grand Slam circuit Over 200 elite athletes from 42 nations have converged on Long Beach to test their skills on the same waters that will host sailing events during the LA2028 Olympic Games as they compete in the Long Beach Olympic Classes Regatta July 12-20
Posted today at 12:11 am
Long Offshore Race winners declared in Helsinki
A demanding course across the Gulf of Finland in the Garmin ORC Double-Handed Europeans The Long Offshore Race of the 2025 Garmin ORC Double-Handed European Championship, concluded on Friday in Helsinki after a challenging 247 to 283-nautical-mile course across the Gulf of Finland and back.
Posted on 11 Jul
Best Buddies from Germany win the AEGEAN 600 2025
The second wave of finishers benefit from last night's steadier breezes Behind the first wave of finishers yesterday morning, yesterday and last night's steadier breezes helped sweep in another wave of Monohull and Multihull finishers to the race finish at Cape Sounion.
Posted on 11 Jul
Tough conditions test Morris
As iQFOiL World Championships wrap up The iQFOiL World Championships have drawn to a close in Aarhus, Denmark, following a week of light and unpredictable wind that tested both race officials and athletes to the limit.
Posted on 11 Jul
Conversation with Ben Willows: CEO RS Marine Group
Some people's passion for sailing runs so deep, it feels like it's woven into their DNA There are some people whose passion for sailing runs so deep, it feels like it's woven into their DNA. Ben Willows is one of those people.
Posted on 11 Jul
International Moth Worlds at Lake Garda Day 4
Balanger dominates qualifying, storm cuts Gold fleet racing short Day four of the 2025 Moth World Championship opened at dawn with another early start for the 137 athletes from 25 nations competing on Lake Garda.
Posted on 11 Jul
iQFOiL Worlds in Aarhus overall
Thrilling Medal Series closes out a spectacular week of high-stakes foiling in Denmark The 2025 iQFOiL World Championship wrapped up in Aarhus with a spectacular Medal Series showdown that saw Emma Wilson (GBR 7) and Andy Brown (GBR 360) rise to the top and secure World Championship titles.
Posted on 11 Jul
Rolex Fastnet Race IRC Three preview
This has produced the overall winner of two of the last six editions IRC Three may consist of smaller, slower and in some cases older boats than those that will garner headlines in the first couple of days of the Rolex Fastnet Race.
Posted on 11 Jul
Zhik Nordic Youth Sailing Championship preview
This year's regatta will be the largest of its kind ever hosted in Tallinn Tallinna Yacht Club brings one of the biggest sports events of the summer to Haven Kakumäe - 300 young sailors expected at the Zhik Nordic Youth Sailing Championship, plus just as many supporters on shore!
Posted on 11 Jul
18th Puig Vela Clàssica Barcelona day 1
Opening victories and nautical splendor This week, Barcelona once again takes center stage in the world of classic sailing as the 18th edition of the Puig Vela Clàssica gets under way. The opening day delivered ideal conditions for a spectacular display on the water.
Posted on 11 Jul