Dutch End of Season open at Grou

Round the windward mark at the Splash Class Dutch End of Season regatta © Splash Class

With over 270 boats competing, sixty of whom would be Flash sailors after this year, the End of Season regatta at Grou promised to be one of the best of recent years.

The event started on Friday evening with arrivals booking in at the youth hostel in the centre of town, old acquaintances being renewed. I am continually amazed how the small town of Grou copes with this annual influx of well over 1000 visitors with no apparent strain.

Sailors from Poland, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland and Great Britain joined the Dutch in making this a true International event. Registration took place on Friday evening and Saturday morning, with the first of 6 races starting at 11 am on Saturday. The fleet was divided into 5 sections to make the starts more manageable.

Saturday dawned with the skies clearing from the west, with a steady wind of about force 3 from the west developing by the end of the day into F4. The course set was of sufficient length for one lap to suffice, with boats starting there next race straight after the first. Four races were held during the day, with racing finishing about three o’clock.

In the evening a grand party was held with all the sailors saying goodbye to those who had turned eighteen this year and welcoming them to the Flash class. The trophies for the new European Championships were also presented, and the evening rounded up with a presentation on next year’s venue for the worlds at Riva. Everybody then went off to various discos, parties and bars.

Racing started earlier on Sunday with blue skies and a very light westerly breeze. The organisers delayed the start by half an hour, then shortened course for all the fleets. Sailors were better disciplined today and there were less incidents at the marks. Only two races were scheduled, and with the shorter course these were run successfully.

In the Flash class Rinse Ubbink (NED 2212) dominated both days winning all the races with Nick Asselmans (BEL 1114) finishing second and Joep Doodeward (NED 104) third. The first division in the Splash class was won by Laura Hondel (NED 2245) beating Remco Hoeffnagel (NED 2062) despite not having as many wins; third was taken by Rik van Loo (NED 1477). The second division was won by Karsten Pierik (NED 2237) who just beat Jochem-Bart Haakman (NED 2238) with Bastiaan Meijenfeldt (NED 1970) finishing third. The final division of Splashes was won convincingly by Dirk-Jan Korperschoek (NED 59) from Freek Wijman (NED 720) and Lana Keijzner (NED 2057) Charlotte Hadden (GBR 2258) finished a creditable 67 out of 105 entries.

Overall Results: