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I know it has been a while, over two weeks to be more precise but I was focussing on exams rather than keeping everyone up to date.

So the exams, well the second semester was harder both the material and the time frame. The biggest difference with semester one was the fact coursework was still a very big part in the last week of lectures and revision week. As a result I could not spend nearly as much time on revising. However I am confident I have passed all my modules and can now look forward to learn from practice. No more Uni-stuff till the start of the new academic year but a lot of boats still on my mind this summer.

Yesterday I thought I’d enjoy the weather and I set out on a tour on my bike. Confident as I was it was only the second time I went for a decent distance ride without taking along a tyre repair kit…
Anyway the route went from home down to Ocean Village Marina to have a look at Leopard which had just finished a delivery trip from New York (and called it a record attempt…). Though I’m not a big fan of powered winches I think it is the only way for the 98/99/100ft canting keel maxis such as Leopard3. (photo of the boat moored in Ocean Village)And to be fair the boat looks impressive and I think the scars of a year long campaigning give the boat just a bit more character. Anyway I went on and took the scenic route towards Hamble. This wasn’t the smartest thing as a downhill section was full of potholes and dodging them was not always possible. A particular bad one resulted in a nasty sound but other than that everything seemed fine. So I locked my bike and had a stroll around the docks in Hamble with a nice ice cream (oh yes it was/is very summery in the UK) only to find a deflated tyre upon my return.

A call later and I had found a refuge and a way to fix my tyre (which included borrowing another bike to get to Tesco’s). This took up a bit longer than planned and expected and once I was satisfied with the result it was way past six o’clock. This meant a meet up with my helpers (Fred and Laura) at the local pub which led to dinner and a night of Wii…

Of course I have tried to show my gratitude not only for helping me out this time but also for hooking me up with cool rides and I do hope they enjoy their cheese platter. If you got a boat related job in the area, have a look at their company’s website: Radical Marine.

Which brings me to more boats and sailing: A lovely list of events is forming and if it wasn’t for Schengen and the EU I think I could be filling my passport with stamps pretty nicely in the coming weeks. For this weekend it is Matchracing on Farr45’s. A different type of sailing and I really look forward to it especially since I’ve never done it on anything bigger than a polyvalk (http://www.hoogenboomkaag.nl/images/polyvalk.jpg)…

I really look forward to the coming weeks and will take notes for future reference.

After two great (fun) weekends of sailing the schedule is looking slightly different. The end of the year is closing in and that means revision-time. I really needed to get started on revisions since most of the time has been taken by all the coursework this second semester. To be honest, the subjects aren’t that interesting, especially after the design module this semester. However if the module has taught me one thing, it is that the courses are a vital part of a good design.

But it wouldn’t be me if I did not paid a bit of attention to what’s going on sailing wise… Last weekend the Irish IRC-nationals were held. As I explained it was also the start of my revision period and though I would have loved to compete together with a couple of guys I sailed with earlier this year (and will be sailing with throughout the season) I could not have missed the time revising.

Then there is the upcoming weekend and it is the Scottish Series. From what I’ve heard a great regatta in a brilliant place. Sanguma is being towed there as I’m writing this and so are a large number of yachts from Ireland, France and the UK in their build up to the Commodores’ Cup. Chris invited me to come along with Sanguma and yesterday I got a call asking if I could do the event. It would have been great if I could sail the regatta as quite a few of my friends are down there this weekend but on the bright side I have almost finished the first year and I will have plenty of time to do some sailing over the summer.

So congratulations to Jump Juice (shared first at Irish IRC’s with Tom and Jochem on board) and good luck to them this weekend in Scotland.

To Chris, Fred, Laura, Pete, Jack and the rest of the Sanguma crew also the best of luck for the weekend!

I’ll shut my mouth and continue here in the library.

Ciao!

Great Times!

What a great event this year’s North Sea Regatta (http://www.nsr.nl) turned out to be. It started for me with sailing with my old team from Harwich (UK) to Scheveningen in de RORC North Sea Race and finishing second. The Eclectic team (http://sailing.eclectic.eu) then went on to win the first day of the inshores (first wins of the boat and team) and performed well throughout the entire series from Friday through this Whitsun Monday to grab the overall victory in IRC1-class (21 boats, including 7 out of 9 Dutch Commodores’ Cup boats). Congrats to them and I am very very happy for them and feel quite pleased I’ve contributed a tiny bit to that victory as well.

For me the NSR was more about bobsledding as I was substitute bowman on the English X35 ‘Cool Runnings’ on invitation of Al Risk, Tom Whitburn and Jochem Visser. Leaving Southampton on Thursday and with some tuning up on Friday morning the entire team seemed pretty ready for three days of racing. Since Monday wasn’t a bank holiday in the UK the team did not participate in the last day of the event, but more on that later.

Friday morning and the conditions were picture perfect: sunny, warm and consistent breeze in the mid teens (that is around 15 knots, ~4 beaufort) and 18 boats of the same design. The team consisted of:
Myself on the bow, Jochem Visser (tactics), Al Risk in the middle of the boat, Tom Whitburn and Sam Richmond trimming the headsails, Jeremy Smart on mainsail, Mark Richmond helming and Thorkild Juncker (owner). All very capable people (well apart from myself obviously).

Two races on Friday and although the competition is tough in the class, we managed to get two bullets (first places) to not only grab the lead for the overall score, but also win the ‘Houtrust Races’. Saturday and the conditions were a bit tougher with very light and flucky winds. only two of the three scheduled races could be started and again the boat was sailing at the top of the class scoring a fourth and a third, losing a bit of our leading gab but still very much in control. Sunday was the final day for the team and with three races, packing up the boat and getting to the airport in time it was a busy day. Luckily the conditions were better than on Saturday and three races could be started within a reasonable time. The first race went really well and the third bullet was put on the scoreboard followed by another fourth and third. With three bullets, two thirds and two fourths the regatta ended for the team and a five point lead overall was still in place but the team lost the ‘Yeoman Challenge’ by two points (only the scores of Saturday and Sunday counted towards the challenge). When Monday came, the guys from ‘Cool Runnings’ were busy with other things (as was I) but since only one race got sailed we managed to stay on the podium without starting the final day.

For the team it was a good tune-up regatta and for myself it was an awesome experience to sail with such a group of guys in such a competitive One-Design fleet. I wish them all the best on their way to the World Championships later this year. For me it is time to spend my weekends on studying, the end of the year is closing in fast and it is not going to be easy in these last couple of weeks (but I’m expecting to keep enjoying it all).

Here are some photos of the team from the racing over the weekend, the photos are by Richard de Jonge and can be found on the regatta website (http://www.nsr.nl):

Ciao!

For more on Cool Runnings:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22cool+runnings%22&search_type=&aq=f
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106611/

First of all I’d like to thank everyone for al the nice messages on Monday (and from some on Tuesday), made the 24th one a bit more special than anticipated. Celebrating the whole birthday thing was good fun on the day before as well and I got spoiled beyond expectations.

Anyhow Monday I did fly back to Soton after the sunny North Sea Race with the Eclectic Team and it was straight back to work. There is plenty going on as the academic year is coming to an end and all deadlines are pushed into the last two weeks of lectures. Hard work, but from what I can see now I am managing it all. And that’s a good thing since I’m lucky enough to do some more sailing this upcoming weekend.

As I’ve written before here, I’m joining the English X-35 ‘Cool Runnings’ for three days of NSR (North Sea Regatta, Scheveningen NL). When visiting Cowes earlier in the year I managed to get a pic of the boat, just so you guys know:

I really am looking forward to joining the team for the weekend and work towards a good result. But then again it feels like the past and upcoming weeks are going from high to high. The year is nearing it’s end and with the amount of work that has to be done I look forward to some time off even though I’m also already really looking forward to continuing in the autumn. First though it is a week and a half of hard work on assignments and everything and then two and a half weeks of exams.

Hard work, but I’m enjoying all of it!

Ciao!

There I was sitting in the train from Soton to London (where I had to change stations and trains to get to Ipswich) when the train came to a halt and nothing happened for 45 minutes…

That’s a good start to an 185nm offshore where no wind is predicted. However the train started moving again and I arrived in Ipswich where I got picked up by the van of the Eclectic Sailing team. Some new faces and a lot of familiar ones were to be greeted upon arrival at the Royal Harwich Yacht Club and soon it was as if I’d never been gone except for the contents of the conversations. The wind predictions had become a bit better as well and a Sunday arrival was no longer expected. Friday morning and all the preparations, especially by the navigator Joost Smit seem to be top notch.

The start is okay and safe and already the first beat shows the preparation of the afterguard as the correct side is chosen and the mark is rounded very close to the leaders of the fleet (but who are sailing in a different class and are thus no competition). With the rounding of the first mark the team was in a nice position and the real offshore stuff could start. The winds were doing exactly what naviguessor Joost told us (and had used in the strategy planning together with Gerd-Jan) and it paid off during the race towards Smits Knoll. Upon rounding the mark we heard teams notifying the race committee and we were very close to the much faster boats of the fleet and were well ahead in our class. However with the predictions for a close to 36 hour race the gap between us and the other boats behind us still had to grow overnight. When dawn broke early on Saturday morning we could still see the bigger, faster boats from the faster class ahead of us which was promising. Less promising was the fact we could still vaguely see some boats behind us.

After rounding MSP just of the IJmuiden coast the race for the finish started and the ETA became more and more reliable and as a result the required gap as well. The tension on board increased as the finish drew nearer and our closest rival kept being visible behind us. Gaps were timed and showed it was going to be tight… about 4 hours of racing were left and the gap had to grow by about 16 minutes. As we crossed the finish after 30 hours, 30 minutes and 35 seconds we waited anxiously for the Roark to finish keeping a hopeful eye on the stopwatch. It wasn’t to be and with ten minutes to spare Roark finished first on corrected time in our class as well as taking the overall win for IRC handicapped classes in the race. The second place in the race showed that the team can do well in these races, wether it is very windy like the ’07 race (also 2nd place) or pretty light. For the overall classification of the North Sea Regatta series I think the result is a 4th spot (two boats in a different class for the race rate in the same group for the regatta). That should allow the team to get a great result after next week’s inshore races.

For me it is back to home and back to work on Monday morning. Plenty of stuff to do throughout the week especially as I am heading back to Scheveningen on Thursday night. I can be found on the bow of the English X-35 ‘Cool Runnings’ and after this offshore look forward to more sailing!

Ciao!!!

With the Dutch boats all arriving in Woolverstone (that’s in between Harwich and Ipswich on England’s East coast) after a quick Vuurschepen Race and myself finishing the work due this week I can look ahead to the North Sea Race.

The race basically starts in Harwich, then when you’re half way back to the Netherlands you turn back, go up the English coast before crossing to IJmuiden and then it’s back to Scheveningen. Last year I sailed on Eclectic and we did the 185nm in just under 19 hours. Then two weeks ago I got a call from the team asking if I had the time to join them for the race back this year. After making sure I could combine it with the rest of my life (wow that sounds deep) I agreed. I really look forward to sail with the team again and they should be in a very good mood after coming third in the opening regatta and in de Vuurschepen Race. One downside though, the grib-files (digitalised weather files) are pretty blank indicating very little breeze. Anyway, I’m sure everything will work out.

Talking about the rest of my life, we’re currently actually designing ship shapes in Uni. Using Woolston Unit software and design parameters the task is to combine the skill of working with the software and knowing how it should look like into a hull design. Other than that there is just a large number of deadlines for coursework and reports looming as the year is coming to an end. Three more weeks of lectures before revision week and exams start. Good stuff, challenging but fun (and it helps I think I’ll manage).

Hope all you Dutchies had a good Queensday! Mine was filled with joyful work (and again that is not a complaint). I should be arriving somewhere in the afternoon on Saturday with the great crew of the Eclectic, check with the regatta website ( http://www.nsr.nl ) if you want to organise something fun for our arrival…

Ciao!

Interesting boats those Farr45’s. Everything seems well thought through (lay-out and everything) but after all those years they’re not perfect yet. As for Atomic this weekend:

Saturday was horrible, wet and cold (just terrible weather) and some issues with the gear made for little nice sailing and a decent amount of work. However the crew was pretty star studded with Hugh Styles (Olympic sailor) and Graham Sunderland (winning tides) calling the shots. What surprised me is that still there is the search for good rig settings, the development clearly hasn’t stopped.

Sunday, today, was better since everything worked ok and the weather cooperated with the occasional sunshine! The starts were challenging as today saw all the big boats start together and with a short line made for tense moments and tight manouvres. It showed the crew-boat combo had some catching up to do compared to the other boats but that was in the details. No issues, no breakages and no f*ck-ups combined with nice conditions made for a good Sunday out.

It was early this morning and there’s a busy week ahead, so…

Ciao!

Already one week has passed after returning to Uni from the spring break. This leaves only a couple of weeks filled with assignments, labs and reports before exams and summer. On the other hand there’s the weekend awaiting and it should be good fun (again). This weekend is the second weekend of the big boat series and it’ll be Atomic’s first outing of the season. Chris (the skipper from Sanguma) will be racing on her as well and it promises to be a nice weekend albeit a bit chilly and wet.

a collection of photos of Atomic last year.

As for the rest of the world, well I’d like to wish Eclectic all the best this weekend with their season opener at Stellendam. I’ve had great fun with the team last year and I do hope they can do well this year! The regatta website can be found here, the team’s website is here.

After this weekend it’s back to hard work with two more deadlines for coursework next week. One can’t comlain when life’s good, right? So I’ll just say it keeps me busy…

It’s still good fun and I might be making a surprise appearance somewhere soon…

That’s it for now… Ciao!

Ankie,

nogmaals van harte gefeliciteerd met het afronden van je studie!!!

Succes met alles wat nu komt (en ja ik had de oud huischgenooten gevraagd er ook eentje namens mij te drinken)

p.s. Ankie is one of the great guys I lived with when in Delft. As you can see on the photo above he really is a great fun guy!

After the past couple of weeks doing a lot (but very little study work) it was time to get back into the lecture theatre today. Luckily an easy start as there are no labs scheduled for today… As the last week was very, very enjoyable a good thing life wasn’t too harsh. So what has the week been like…

Well after racing got cancelled last week I spend time doing coursework in preparation of the last 7 weeks before summer holiday. With that out of the way(-ish) by Tuesday I very happily took up the offer to look, learn and help out at Corby Boat Works on the IoW. At the moment refitting the Corby38 ‘Gloves Off‘ is the big project but there is plenty of other projects going on in Cowes. The two days I spent were filled with prepping paintwork for final spray, some small boat prep and fairing and filling Gloves. There was no laying up going on so my hands stayed well clean of epoxy or any other resins, however it was really interesting and helpfull to be shown what some ordinary days are all about for boat-builders. And with Pete being a great host the days in cowes had a good finish on Saturday.

Saturday was the Nab Tower Race, a race run by JOG and Sanguma’s yearly offshore as it is around 35 nm and leaving the security of the Solent. With weather prediction and reality not being on the same page conditions were interesting to say the least. Whilst a dry day with the breeze maxing out at around 15 knots was forecasted, showers and squalls came through regularly. The start was downwind and gave Sanguma the opportunity to sail to her rating. The breeze was about twenty knots but very twisty. Although not rated as the fastest Sanguma could hang on to the leaders up to the forts at the end of the Solent. The jib-reach up to the tower showed the advantage of having waterline length and meant several big boats (up to 15 feet longer) could make up for lost ground. Rounding the tower and jib reaching back to the forts the first of the heavy squalls came through. Icy rain, hail and gusts of up to 40 knots meant hard work for Chris and John at the back of the boat and many boats around us opting for reefing or even fully lowering the sails. It also showed the first damage occurring to some of the racers throughout the fleet. The beat back to Cowes from the forts had several squalls still destined for us making hard work of the getting home part of the race. However both boat and crew managed to hang in there and the result was a victory in our class (as well as overall!). With the crew (Chris, John, Fred, Laura, Pete and Adam) having a lot going meant I was on for sailing the X41 on Sunday.

However before that Fred and Laura invited me for dinner, maybe a drink and a place to crash in preparation of showing up on Sunday morning at Hamble Point). After the pest SpagBolo in years and some excercise on the (brand new) Wii we headed off to Boomerang’s. A funny place that is at night, with a bunch of great fun (semi-)locals (sailors) enjoying a night out. After a great evening and night it was an early morning but the lucky streak hadn’t run out yet and a lift from Hamble to the marina meant all went very smoothly.

Racing itself was odd, squalls like on Saturday were around but not of the same severity. Two short races for class IRC1 resulted in a kind of W-L racing. The wind varying around the cross-over point for two headsails meant plenty of changes (on the downwind leg). A bunch of new guys as part of the crew resulted in not the smoothest of crew work but never resulted in faults. The result was pretty uneventful racing from my perspective, not necessarily a bad thing.

Anyhow, it’s dry now outside so time to do some shopping. All’s well over here, life’s good.

Ciao!