TEAM NED 422 wins Grand Prix Aalsmeer. BEL 79 2nd

Jan, Olivier and Dominic Bakker sailed an impressive final (3rd) serie at Westeinder Lake during Easter to claim the first Grand Prix 2019 in The Netherlands.

With a total op 27 participants from 5 different countries this annual ‘start of the season’ Grade 2 event in NW Europe was a great succes. Also because the weather was much better than we normally experience during early spring in Holland. The ‘ blocking high’ over Scandinavia brought us the warm air from the easterly Med with temperatures reaching 26 C in the afternoon. Including a thermal wind blowing from the ENE with 12 – 14 knots. But also days with very light oscillating air which was rather difficult to deal with.

A total of 21 races were sailed during this Grade 2 event over 7 days. The fleet behaved quite well under the skilled lead of the Westeinder Race committee. With their experience to deal with substantial fleets of Finns, Lasers and 49-ers this team is used to keep the momentum going.

Apart from great sailing, the logistic and social part was also very well taken care of. We applauded for all volunteers of the WV Aalsmeer and WZW who helped to facilitate the event and we are very grateful that members of this fine club allowed us to use their grounds and facilities during many years at the beginning of the season.

Applause as well for the winners of the 3rd serie and the overall prize (NED 422) and for BEL 79 with Alex Helsen, Dries van Abbeele and Floris Mortlemans for winning the 2nd prize of this Grade 2 event.
The 3rd prize went to GBR 408 sailed by Dmitri Bondarenko, Denis Berezkin and Viacheslav Varnachkin.

A less fortunate team was NED 390 with Dutch Dragon Class president Klaas Ruigewaard, the new Treasurer of the Dutch class Erik Groot and Sicco Hoogerbeets. NED 390 had a back stay issue due to a disengaging soft shackle resulting in three races DNC. After his win of the first race on Easter Sunday Klaas was back in the winning mood, however an UFD in the last race did not help his overall score.

The final team that was put in the lime light was NED 1 of Ronald Pfeiffer. During the 3rd series Ronald introduced his grandson Joost (Opti-Sailor of 9 year old) as crew member with his two sons. Joost is the 4th generation of the Pfeiffer family to sail the Dragon in line with his Great-Grandfather ‘King’ Pfeiffer, who was one of the legends of the class during the early years in Holland with his H-1 Conincskint.