2008 Belgian National Championship, Lake Galgenweel, Antwerp

Koninklijke Liberty Yacht Club, 13 – 14 September

Report by Terry Curtis

26 OK’s from 5 nations attended the Belgian National Championships on Lake Galgenweel in Antwerp over the weekend 13-14th Sept. Due to major disruptions on the channel crossings due to the tunnel fire, only 2 British entries made the trip from the UK.

After a short delay Saturdays racing got underway in a very shifty, patchy North Westerly blowing across the lake. As the day progressed the wind veered to the east & settled a little. Terry Curtis from the UK finished the day with 3,1,3 to hold a narrow lead from Belgian Yannick Laumans with 4,4,1 & Jörg Rademacher of Germany with 1,5,4 in third place.

True to tradition, the host club put on a fantastic BBQ with an appropriate amount of free beer, to ensure a sound nights sleep. Sunday dawned with a very welcome force four from the North East & bright sunshine which stayed throughout the day. Curtis made the most of the conditions winning all three races to take the championship with a race to spare. Germanys Ralf Mackmann took 3 second places losing race 5 by only half a length. Laumans couldn’t get to grips with the conditions & slipped to 5th place overall with Rademacher doing enough to keep 3rd overall.