Two Courses, 138 boats on the South Course, 120 boats on the North Course, 120 volunteers and three days of beautiful mediterranean-like sailing conditions ‘made’ it a brilliant North Sea Regatta for the sailors. After three days of amazing sailing conditions the Dutch champions are crowned in ORC 2, ORC 3 and ORC TwoHanded (offshore and inshore races combined), class champions crowned in ORC 1, ORC 4 and J111, and the J22 has a new World Champion.

Nic Bol strikes again!

Seven years after Nic Bol had won the J22 Worlds here in Scheveningen, he strikes again! After four days of sailing, Nic and his team are the new World Champions J22! Nico Bol: “I really want to thank my young crew! I think I’ve been sailing longer than they’ve been alive, and it’s great sailing with them! It’s a tough place to sail but great conditions. Totally different conditions than seven years ago. I’m now sailing with my son and two students of the Rotterdam Sailing Federation. We’ve been training together since November, we went for the title and earned it! Super happy! And you all have to keep sailing J22 because it’s brilliant!”

Numero Uno wins North Sea Regatta Super CUP

The crew on Numero Uno was in the winning mood this week. They didn’t score less then a third in both offshore and inshore races. The one and only UFD behind their name is because they were to eager and had a false start. There was a lot to loose on the last day of the North Sea Regatta, but they decided to go out only for one thing; win everything! Which they did. They won the Dutch Championships ORC 3 and the North Sea Regatta Super Cup, which is the prize for the team that has the best average score at the North Sea Regatta, that means the Vuurschepenrace, the North Sea Race and the inshore races.

Erik van Vuuren: “We left the marina this morning with only one goal: to win every single thing we possibly could. To become the Dutch Champion ORC 3 you have to give all you’ve got and more. And we did. Today we scored a 1, 2 and 1. We worked hard, sailed smart and had a lot of fun. Also a result of the hard work the North Sea Regatta organisation and all volunteers have put into this event. Thanks for everything!”

John van der Starre wins Dutch Championships ORC TwoHanded

It looked like the Dutch Championships ORC TwoHanded was battling between John van de Starre, sailing on Ajeto, and Roy Heiner, sailing on Hemels van der Hart. When Roy Heiner retired from the regatta there’s no doubt left. The Ajeto crew are the new Dutch Champions ORC TwoHanded.

“It was a very strong competition, with Roy Heiner, but also with Unique. They are sailing on the same boat and the guys are pretty good sailors. The competition we had from Roy was an extra motivation for us to keep fighting for the title. We have won the Dutch Championships three times in a row, I’m very happy! Next year we’ll fight for it again!”

The smallest class at the North Sea Regatta: The Flying Dutchman

Enno Kramer en Ard Geelkerken have been sailing together for the past 17 years, which is prize worthy in itself, but they also won every single race at this event! The six Flying Dutchman’s, being the smallest class sailing on the South Course, had no trouble getting around the course, although they would have love to see a few more out there.

“A few teams don’t like to sail at sea with the waves and the current. We just bought a new (old) boat and we really wanted to fine tune the boat here. The Flying Dutchman is a technical boat and the finetuning options are endless. It was a real washing machine out there today but the sailing was amazing.”

Martin Boatman: “Perfect practise for the Worlds SB20 in the Hamble”

Martin Boatman is for the first time at the North Sea Regatta. He isn’t hesitating to come back next year, he says after winning the event: “It wasn’t easy though. It was really close racing and most of the racing got decided in the last run. The sea was really confused today and trying to keep the boat speed up, was quite a challenge. The conditions here were a perfect practice for the World Championships in the Hamble this summer, also choppy and tidal. This is the first time I’m here and I won’t hesitate to come back next year, it was really good fun and the conditions were perfect.”

After three days of amazing sailing conditions here are the winners, Dutch champions are crowned in ORC 2, ORC 3 and ORC TwoHanded (offshore and inshore races combined),  class champions crowned in ORC 1, ORC 4 and J111, and the J22 has a new World Champion. 

Class Championship ORC 1 Overall	J22 World Championship 2017
Van Uden NED 17001	Nic Bol NED 1609
ORC 1 Inshores	J11 Class Championship
Elke NED 6169	Lallekonig SUI 2193
Dutch Championship ORC 2 Overall	Dutch Championship ORC TwoHanded
Jai Lai NED 7439	John van der Starre NED 9112
ORC 2 Inshores	ORC TwoHanded Inshores
Jack Rabbit NED 6809	John van der Starre NED 9112
Dutch Championship ORC 3 Overall	ORC Sportsboats
Numero Uno NED 4994	Erik Wesselman NED 18
ORC 3 Inshores	Javelin
Numero Uno NED 4994	Willem Slendebroek NED 559
Class Championship ORC 4 Overall	Flying Dutchman
De Ondeugd NED 6252	Enno Kramer NED 26
ORC 4 Inshores	SB20
De Ondeugd NED 6252	Wildling GBR 3310
IRC Overall	O-Jolle
Lady Mariposa GBR 6255N	Thies Bosch NED 665
IRC Inshores	Finn
Lady Mariposa GBR 6255N	Hein van Egmond NED 841
IRC 2 Overall	Contender
Peter de Ridder NED 14884	Rene Heynen NED 2582
IRC 3 Inshores	Efsix
Peter de Ridder NED 14884	Jan Ligthart NED 2201

Photo’s: Jasper van Staveren