TEAM NED 412 WINS DUTCH OPEN CHAMPIONSCHIP 2019

Pieter Heerema can add another national titel of the Dutch International Dragon Class to his serie of titles. With an impressive score of 9 points in 6 races team NED 412 was certain of the title before the final race.

Team GBR 408 had done everything in race 6 to show what they can. They took the victory of race 6, but it was not enough to get closer to the total score of NED 412, who scored a 3 in race 6.

The Swedish team SWE 389 with Karl-Gustaf Loehr, Jesper Bendix and Mads Hansen sailed a solid final day with a 2 and a 3, thereby claiming the 3rd place overall . GBR 585 had a less strong day and finished 4th overall.

The full Corinthian young Dutch team NED 360, helmed by Mart ten Harmens van der Beek with Daan Goedkoop and Bart Klinkenberg also sailed a strong final day. They claimed the 5th place overall.

NED 422 had the smileys on again after race 7, which they did win. As Jan Bakker said: ” The V6 needs a bit of wind to get the good feeling of the helm. It is rather difficult to feel and steer the boat in light airs, which we had the previous days”.

With many smiling faces after another super sailing day and Dragon sailors who were happy with their performance and some less happy with their results (the old BB 1986 NED 398 showed she was still pretty fast in those conditions) this event was concluded with the prize giving. Not only the medals and Champions ‘wimpel’ were presented. Philip de Koning took the opportunity to thank some participants, members of the class and volunteers of the Royal Netherlands Yacht Club for their loyal support to a dynamic Dutch Dragon Association.

Dutch Open Championship 2019 : Day 1, 2 and 3.

With only 4 points after five races, it is most likely that team NED 412 Pieter Heerema, Lars Hendriksen and George Leonchuk will become the 2019 Dutch Champion.
Team GBR 408, sailed by Dmitri Bondarenko, Vadim Statsenko and Aleksander Shagalin are the runners up with 9 points. Martin Payne ‘Stavros’ (GBR 585) follows in 3rd with his mates Frank Dobbels and Nicklas Jansson. In 4th place the Swedish team SWE 389 (Karl- Gustaf Loehr, Jesper Bendix and Mads Hansen) is only 3 points behind GBR 585.

NED 345 sailed by Reinier Wissenraet, Marc Reijnhoudt and Elmar Pigeaud is the best performing Corinthian, standing 5th. This result gives food for thought how to deal with the prices for international events like this in The Netherlands, given the Dragon Gold Cup as an example.

The Bakkers (NED 422) did not sail their luckiest championship up to now. Sailing a V6 Petticrows, Jan Bakker said to have some difficulties to get the speed in the boat during the up wind tracks. But a collision with the NED 385 during a start did not help them either. A broken runner and a hearing and verdict by the Jury resulted in a redress, but did not add to a winning mood.

At the end of Day 1 the NoR was adapted – with full consent of the fleet – to sail one race ahead of schedule on day 2, weather permitting. This was in anticipation of a strong High over the IJsselmeer region on day 3. Everyone was relieved that three races were indeed completed after a long day at the water with a Bf 2 – 3 wind.

On Saturday the waiting started. The Dutch owners had their meeting to discuss plans for the 2020 season. Some boats went out to check the wind themselves. At 12:30 hrs the RO blew the gun twice. ‘No more racing today’. The racing area north of Pampus Island had too many spots with no wind at all. A wise decision. However, a few Dragons went out to the IJsselmeer to train ‘ light air tactics/ manoeuvres’ close to the shore where some 5 – 6 knots of wind still was to be found.

The forecast for Sunday is projecting a westerly flow building up to Bf 3, partly cloudy and temps around 21 C. It could well be that we will sail two races to complete the 7 races as stated in the NoR.

More news about this Dutch Open will be published by Stavros at www.intdragon.net

The final story will be on this website on Sunday evening around 22:00 hrs.

TUNE UP RACE for Dutch Open 8 September

The Tune Up for the Dutch Open has been sailed on the 8th by nine of the thirteen registered teams. Material issues stopped a couple of teams from racing.

After a consultation with the participants Jan Willem de Vlaming (RO) decided to facilitate several abbreviated races. Start – Up Wind – Down Wind followed by a short Up Wind to the finish line, close to the starting line.
A great formula that allowed teams to practice all manoeuvres.

Due to a passing shower with strong wind and gusts (over 20 knots) and a following drop of the wind, the full range of settings could be practiced.
Team NED 390 (Klaas Ruigewaard c.s.) scored the best results, followed by Team NED 422 ( Jan, Olivier and Dominic Bakker) and Team NED 432 (Michiel van Dis c.s.)

The racing for the Dutch Open will start Thursday 12 September .
As of today we have an entry list of 30 Dragons with six different Nationalities among the participants.

Defending Dutch Champion 2018 Pieter Heerema c.s. (NED 412) will be meeting challengers like NED 411 (Charlotte Ten Wolde c.s), GBR 585 (Martin Payne c.s. who did recently win the French Open), NED 422 ( The Bakkers, who are Belgian Champion 2019), GBR 408 (of the Estonian Team Dmitri Bondarenko c.s.), BEL 80 (Ben Van Cauwenbergh c.s.) and local teams like team NED 432 (Michiel van Dis c.s.) and NED 390 ( Klaas Ruigewaard c.s.) who can create some surprises.

After a total of seven races we will know on Sunday 15 September who is going to be the Dutch Champion 2019.