81 Dragons Racing at 3 different venues… 18th-20th May.

Jens Christensen DEN 405 continued his great form by adding the Danish National Title to his “Double” win in Douarnenez, last weekend when with his usual crew Kim Andersen and Anders Bagger, they managed to be top of the leader board after the first two days of sailing. Jens told me “We had a beautiful sailing day on Friday with a 15 knot south-easter. It was a little tricky because of the current and it was all very close after the first two races. Then on Saturday there was less wind and more current, so we were very focused on having a good day as there was a possibility of having no races on Sunday, because the wind was forecast for even less”….  Jens took the title with 15pts, 2nd was DEN 332 Nicklas Holm on 18pts , 3rd overall was NED 316 Pieter Heerama from Holland on 24pts.. Jens also commented ” Hellerup Yacht Club did a great job organising and every one enjoyed the cocktail party at Frank Berg’s house..  It was good that 26 boats took part in the event and I know all our foreign friends enjoyed Hellerup and said they will be back next year”…  Well done again to Jens and his winning team…

Meanwhile, over on a Lake at the Bodensee Yacht Club, Uberlingen (Germany) 38 Dragons were taking part in the the Swiss National Championships.  The winner and taking his first ever Dragon Title, was RUS 32 helmed by Leonid Altukhov, crewed by Werner Fritz and Valentin Uvarkin. This was indeed a fantastic achievement as Leonid has only been sailing in the dragons since 2010, where he began his apprenticeship in Palma de Mallorca…  Whilst Leonid was learning about the Dragon both Werner and Vincent Hoesch have both been very instrumental in his quick raise to fame.. Many a time I have seen Leonid covered is plasters and bruises after races due to hit’s from the boom and crews elbows etc…  :-)However, he now helms his boat well and lets hope this is just the start of his winning ways…… 2nd overall and just losing out on count-back, was SUI 291 Peter Muller who also finished on 21pts, then in 3rd place was MON 2 Jens Rathsack helming his new Petticrow “Jeanie”.  After the event Werner told me “It was a very nice Yacht Club with perfect hospitality, we enjoyed the 5 races we had but then the last 2 days there was no wind. It was a good race committee and this was excellent training for the Europeans”…..

Finally, back in Muiden, Holland 17 Dragons were getting beaten by NED 405 the Bakker’s!!  This Father (Jan) and Son’s (Dominic and Oliver), combination are really starting to kick-ass on a regular basis as they proved in this Grand Prix d’Enkhuizen by winning the first 4 races !  Then discarding one of their two 2nd place’s to finish the series on just 6pts. The nearest boat overall to this “Hot” team was NED 345 Reinier Wissenraet on 19pts in 2nd place, followed by NED 408 Andre’ du Pon in 3rd on 23pts. It’s great to know that so many Dragons were racing at Three International Venues as our season is still only just beginning….

This weekend will see many more regatta’s with the Irish East Coast’s in Dublin and the British East Coasts in Levington.. Meanwhile I’m on the way to join in the fun with many French boats in the beautiful town of Deauville for their annual event… I’m further please to say that both Dominic and Oliver Bakker are sailing with me on the “Bear” so no excuses (Stavros)!

With other events in Holland and two more in Sweden, where will you be sailing ?? ??  🙂

Higher, Faster, Longer………………   Stavros.