_luukleclercq.nl

From the UK-trip.

Cowes week was great; great fun, learned heaps again and raced well. We even did a first, though afterwards we learned we were over by a couple of metres. 6th overall isn’t bad and our Dutch competitors Holmatro and Roark did a great job finishing 1st and 2nd.

After Cowes we were looking at the Fastnet forecasts and after the 25 hour postponement the skipper in agreement with us (the crew) decided not to start the Fastnet. A shame really, but certainly the wise decision with the forecast at hand. A combination of depressions and confused seas were the ingredients for this edition. As a crew we were looking for a race, not a survival tour. Going out with the option of seeking shelter in your mind wasn’t the way we wanted to race and thus the boat got turned around to face the other end of the Solent.

After helping with fitting the cruising forestay I grabbed a bit of gear out of the team-van and headed for London to stay with an angel (I later found out there were two!). From London I arranged for a meeting with the admissions tutor of Southampton University’s Ship Science course. After a great talk and going through my grades the prospect is looking great for a change to the Naval Architecture course at Southampton Uni.

Well, I’ll be diving back into the paperwork and finishing my application.

Ciao,

It’s about to start… Saturday Cowes Week 2007 kicks off, one week later the Fastnet will start and in the coming days the boat needs to be prepared for all this.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) the first bunch of the team will depart for Cowes (me included). On Thursday the boat will undergo a transformation from cruising to racing and on Friday we will go out to practice and get rid of the dust on the manoeuvres.

Updates will be available through:
http://sailing.eclectic.eu (written updates by the team)
http://www.cowesweek.co.uk (results will appear before we are on shore)
http://fastnet.rorc.org (Live tracker during the Fastnet race)

Ciao,

What a day…

I was asked to help a friend of mine out and well with not much else to do I said yes…

So this was the plan:
-Pick up a 90kg jib in Antwerpen
-Check in at Brussels Airport for a flight to Nice
-Retrieve the sail and meet your pick-up in Nice.
-Deliver the jib personally to the boat and help getting them set-up.
-Wait
-Get back to Nice Airport
-Fly to Brussels
-Go home

This was my day:
-4 am the alarm clock goes
-4.30 leaving Delft
-6 am picking up the sail near Bergen op Zoom (note, not Antwerp)
-7 am having parked the car checking in for 8.55 departure with sail at Brussels Airport
-7.05 Sail gets rejected…

-7.06 I explain everything to the manager and notice North Sails. I recieve my instructions and everybody starts working about a solution…
-Around 8 there has been arranged to get the sail on a cargo plain for Nice late in the evening
-A bit later there is arranged to get the sail on the next plane (12.40 departure)
-8.25 someone from Brussels Airlines makes some arrangements with some friends in the luggage handling department
-8.30 I receive my ticket after handing off the sail and start running towards the gate
-8.50 Boarding the plane
-8.55 Push back on time
-8.56 A big sigh of relieve

-10.40 Touch down in sunny Nice
-10.50 leaving plane and notice the sail being loaded from the plane (another big sigh)
-11.15 sail shows up on the normal luggage belt, some strange looks, very funny
-11.25 Picked up by Jamie and Jodie of Aqua Equinox
-11.30 Sail is in the car and we’re off to Villefrance-sur-Mer
-12.15 Sail is on the boat and time for a bit of rest

During the afternoon the sail gets hoisted and set-up, the work on the boat to prepare her for charter continues and the sun is out (32 degrees on the water and not a single cloud to see). After the hectic (and slightly stressful) morning everything became more relaxed after the sail was hoisted in the early afternoon.

-17.45 departure from Villefrance and heading through traffic to Antibes.
-19.00 Time for a short stroll through the HUGE Antibes marina whilst Jamie picked up some new sheets for the boat
-19.55 Arrival at the airport and check-in
-22.50 after almost an hours’ delay the plane is pushed back and the return journey really starts
-0.40 Arrival in Brussels
-3 am Home…

Here’s a cameraphone shot from the boat (with just delivered jib):

Great day!

Ciao,

So it has been a while…

After the NSR it was time to shift the focus fully back to the textbooks in preparation of the exams. After a couple of tough weeks I made my last exam of this period on 2 July.

You are thinking time off, wild times and what’s not? Nope, our boat captain was ill and with the boat in desperate need of getting finished for both the holiday of the skipper and our England trip after that I took some of the work on my shoulders. So the past week I have been busy:
– Making an inventory of the storage
– Get our new van ready and loaded up
– Check on the progress on the keel and rudder
– Check on the work of the guys from the yard
– Check for stuff on board
– Get the boat ready once in the water
– Step a mast with the wind blowing a force 5…

Today the work needs to be finalised, the electronics need recalibration and a check and after that the boat should be ready for the delivery to England. I’ll be on her for the delivery, which should start on Wednesday as early as possible. If the wind plays nice, we should be in a car heading for home on Saturday.

After that I have some real time off, I won’t be joining the action at the Kaag this year but will finish some jobs for the boat in preparation of the British races. I also got the oppurtunity to do some work for the big blue.

Well B&G first up. let’s hope it does what it has to do.

Looks sweet, no?!

This is Mark Mills’ new 40ft IRC (and other rating rule) beater. To be build by King Marine (Argentine and Spain, known for building race yachts) and focused towards the American market. More info here: http://www.mills-design.com/King401.htm

Damn, the long weekend is just finished and the agenda is full again. Not much sailing planned in the weeks ahead, but the focus on studying gets intesified.

NSR was a good regatta; fun, interesting and filled with learning experiences. More info on the event-website: http://www.nsr.nl

Not too much time now, got to edit an assignment.

I’ll try to find some nice pics of the weekend. For now…

Ciao!

So after a week of mostly sailing it was back to the university on Monday. First I finished the work on an assignment for this week and did some more studying. Tuesday was a great day however. With the work for an invite to sail on a brand new Swan 45…

So Tuesday afternoon I helped Stijn Becker prep the boat and welcome the corporate guests of the sponsor: Bolidt

As you’ve probably noticed these photos are by Paul Wyeth, these have been shot during the Red Funnel Easter Regatta in Cowes 2007.

Weather was great for a sail with a bunch of newbies to the sport and Stijn did a great job getting everyone involved. The plan was for him to rule over the back of the boat, whilst I took charge of everything happening from the pit to the front. All the guests were subjected to the training regime Stijn has gotten used to. Tack after tack was practised with helm, trimmer, tailor and floaters switching every so often.

At the end of the day, both sponsor and guests were happy and impressed and was there only one task left… to clean up before having a bite afterwards. It was a beautifull day out on the water and the boat is a beauty. The Bolidt deck has also surprised me, it not only looks great, it also gives lot’s and lot’s of grip when dry or wet. More photos of the Boldit/No Limits can be found here.

Just two days left till the start of the NSR, looking forward to that and I’ll try to keep everyone updated.

Ciao,

didn’t have the time to update when in Britain, but here goes:

First race (Vuurschepen) was in medium to light conditions and we finished 7th overall. Tough race, because of the lighter conditions and being the first offshore for me (and the team)

Layday was interesting and it was a pleasure to be a guest of the Royel Harwich Yacht Club (with the free G&T’s and pints).

The RORC-North Sea Race was a blast: force 6 building to 8 (from 20-35 knots of wind), and the speeds were awesome (an average of 9.5 knots for the race, a top speed of 19.6). We sailed well, were the first of the normal boats to enter Scheveningen and depending on which result one uses we finished 2nd (IRC class 0 – RORC) or 6th (IRC overall – RORC). The latter being the result of the favourable conditions for the big beasts, such as the VO70 Mean Machine XX and the Lutra 56 ‘Formidable 3’ (but also the TU Delft-Mumm and the W-60 pleomax)

Next weekend is all about the inshores. More will follow including hopefully some pics)

Ciao

(more info and results&official photos can be found at the http://www.nsr.nl website)

Video report of the start: http://www.westonline.nl/mms_video/2007/1605nws_northsea%20regatta.wmv

Audio report of the start of the Vuurschepen Race: http://www.westonline.nl/mms_audio/2007/1505-Start%20North%20sea%20regatta.mp3

in 24 hours I’ll be way, way off shore. Really looking forward to it and the to do list is more and more becoming the list we have for an inshore. Almost everything is done and mentally I am as ready as one can ever be.

Anyway, if your interested one can always check the official regatta website for updates and news. Though there will not be a tracker (device that transmits location and that shows up on a chart) there will probably be updates and of course results.

If possible I’ll update in Britain (hopefully with pics).

Ciao!

And what a weekend it’ll be!

Tonight we start a tour with (almost) all my roommates, visiting (almost) all the parents this weekend. Still some stuff to get organised for this, but it seems to be coming together nicely.

In the mean time I have almost finished my part of the assignment of a course on the university, so I have everything in order for next week!

Talking about next week… It’s offshore time! Man, do I look forward to that. I’ve been wetsanding the bottom of the boat yesterday till it was very dark. Today some pro’s will work on the keel area and the BN Manne is working his ass off to get everything done in time. Today Renate and Tiemen are helping him, so I look forward to seeing the boat in Scheveningen on Monday.

Here’s a pic of the team in France, for the NSR Joppe, Jan Derk and Robert won’t be on board:

Time to move on, have a good weekend!

Ciao,