GBR 803 helmed by Quentin Strauss, with Nigel Young & Pedro Andrade win race 5.
Two more races were completed yesterday (Sat 10th Sept) in Muiden as the 37 boats enjoyed a rain free day! Yes, we had grey skies and even the occasional black clouds but the rain only fell on Amsterdam so a great time was had by all at the Open Dutch Championships.
In the first race of the day, NED 345 Reinier Wissenraet held a commanding lead at the top mark, with GBR 803 and NED 412 in close pursuit… Quentin Strauss helming GBR 803 looked to have taken control of the race by the final beat, but as he kept a close watch on both NED 345 & overall leader NED 412 it was NED 422 helmed by Jan Bakker, crewed by his sons Olivier & Dominic who sneaked in on the exact lay-line to win the race.
Olivier Bakker, tactician of NED 422 wearing his prize at last nights Dragon Dinner 🙂
In the 2nd race of the day (race 5 of the series), it was the famous NED 247 Fred Imoff’s old boat, now owned by Hay Winters, who took the lead from GBR 803 & NED 412. However, on the final upwind leg a 40 degree right shift allowed GBR 803 to cross the line first ahead of NED 412 in 2nd and NED 247 3rd. So overall Pieter Heerema still holds a comfortable lead from Quentin Strauss in 2nd and Reinier Wissentraet in 3rd place.
Today’s forecast is looking good for a possible 2 more races which will conclude this very well organised Championships. The lines have been set correctly and the courses have been well laid, so the 37 boats have enjoyed some great sailing here on this wonderful part of Holland. Here we see Muiderslot (The Castle of Muiden) at the end of a Rainbow… the clouds have gone and it should be a great sailing day. The Championship is now really between two boats, NED 412 Pieter Heerema & GBR 803 Quentin Strauss… with around 5 other boats fighting for the final “Podium” place.. If Quentin wants to make it 3 Championships in a row he will have to pull out all the stops today to beat Pieter… A truly exciting climax to a very competitive event..
Higher, Faster, Longer…. Stavros. (NED 247).