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Netherlands, Spring Cup 1998

KZ & RV Hollandia, Medemblik, May 1.-3.

Report by Peter Scheuerl

33 sailors from 5 countries competed in the well organized Spring Cup. Two light wind races and seven moderate to strong wind races were held. The course was a Triangle-Run with finish downwind. Hedley Fletcher (GBR) and some Swedes and Poles were missed.

Friday 1. May

Race 1

Light north-easterly winds.

Shifty and light winds saw Ingo Ballerstein (GER 607) in front in the beginning of the race, but Bart Bomans (BEL 44) took the lead on the second beat to win.
Sönke Behrens (GER449), who did very well during the series went third.

Race 2

Light north-easterly winds.

Positions in the front changed several times, Rüdiger Prinz (GER 711, current GER champion) won from Ingo Ballerstein and Nick Craig (GBR 2042, new boat from Rushford).

Race 3

Breezing north-easterly winds.

With the wind building up, some guys in the fleet started to smile. Karsten Hitz (GER 672), current bronze medallist at the worlds, won with some distance. Nick Craig again showed good tactics to follow up with Bart Bomans 3rd.

In the evening the fleet went to a good chinese restaurant in Medemblik to have a meal and some drinks sponsored by the NED OK association.

Saturday 2.5.

The wind had build up during the night (even in the harbour there was some, everybody been in Medemblik knows what that means).
from about 20 knots (10 m/s, 4 Bft) in the morning, the wind builds up to 26 knots (13 m/s, 6 Bft) and some gusts with great waves during the day.
Northerly winds.

Race 4

The right side of the beat was slightly better.

Jan-Dietmar Dellas (GER 698) already known from the worlds in Adelaide in 1998 as an up wind racer, was first at the first mark, but lost his place with his also famous downwind "speed" to Karsten Hitz.
Bart Bomans watched the battle from the 3rd position.
Some Boats (even in good positions) went to the wrong windward mark (about 500 meters to the right and windward).
The race committee showed a course diagram of about 1x1.5 m between the races.

Race 5

The wind started to increase to 5-6 Beaufort during this race.

Again Karsten was well in front, hard to read his sailnumber from the next positions. After reaching from 11th to 3rd, Peter Scheuerl (GER 618) was the second boat to know that the second windward mark was different to the first. Nick Craig went from a safe second to 9...
Sönke Behrens became 3rd.
Bart Bomans got bad luck when his mast came out of it's step at the gybing mark and made a hole in the hull. He managed to capsize, refix and sail back to the harbour. After taping the hull, he managed to come out in time for the third race of the day.

Race 6

The wind builds up as well as the waves.

Karsten showed his upwind speed to the rest of the fleet with only Jan-Dietmar fast enough to follow upwind (even with a early start and sailing back with a capzise...), but no chance to follow downwind. Volkmar Kiene (GER225, the only boat with alloy centerboard in the fleet), showed great tactics and speed to become second. Nick Craig third.

During the evening there were some guys drinking free beer at Cafe Brakeboer and some guys repairing. A good live band with Salsa and so on helped to recover the muscles until 2:00 in the morning

Sunday 3.5.

The breeze had got slighty lighter but was building up again up to 20 knots, much more just after racing.

Race 7

Karsten Hitz again got a competitor only on the first beat in Jan-Dietmar. Bart Bomans became 2nd following Karsten with 200 meters and a lead on Sönke Behrens of about 100 meters.
(And the writer of the is article had to go to the shore again to fix his mast step again...)

Race 8

Jan-Dietmar was in front enough at the first mark to defeat his place against everybody except Karsten. Oliver Gronholz (GER 679) was good enough on the final beat to defeat his 3rd on the run to the finish by half a meter.

Race 9

Jan-Dietmar was in front at the first mark again and this time Karsten was out with a OCS. Jan's upwind speed was good enough to take the win home with good shifts-sailing on the second beat. On the final beat the positions 2-4 changed several times, in the finish Nick Craig became 2nd with Bart Bomans 3rd surfing the same wave with Peter Scheuerl, 4th into the finish

The course with downwind finish (two beats, one reaches, one downwind), seems to be very interesting in a breeze, but is very open to pumping in no-planing conditions. This year we got 6 wind-races with interesting downwind finishes, as it was possible to win 3-5 places just 10 meters to the finish with a wave.