KZ&RV Hollandia, Medemblik, May 2 – 4
Report from Tony Woods
The Spring Cup was the first major event in the European calender held in Medemblik, Holland. The 8 race series over 3 days in early May gives an indication which nation has the fastest OK sailors and who has been out training.
Forty nine boats from Holland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, New Zealand, Denmark, France, Belgium, and the UK assembled to form a strong fleet. Many of the pre-regatta favourites were from the talented Danish team who have worked and trained hard in recent seasons. The number 1 ranked OK sailor Greg Wilcox from New Zealand was also there looking to carry on from his recent win in the Interdominion Championships in Melbourne (AUS).
On Friday 3 races were held in a challenging 25 knot breeze with the waves lived up to Medemblik’s reputation for steep and short rolling seas. Many of the fleet had a tale to tell in the Cafe Brakeboer that night.
On the Saturday, winds had dropped to 11-14 knots with big short term shifts meaning it was never over until it was over. Getting caught on one side of the course or another was a very dangerous strategy.
On the Sunday the fleet drifted around waiting for the breeze to fill in from one direction or another. It pushed and then pulled but never played ball enough for the Race officer to set a fair course and line so racing was abandoned.
After 3 tough days on the water the regatta was won convincingly by Jim Hunt From Great Britain. In the windy conditions of the Saturday he was a league above the competition with fast pace up wind and a mastery of the waves downwind the 2004 OK World Champion showed that he’s going to be a force in the European OK circuit this year.
2nd overall was the No 1 ranked Greg Wilcox from New Zealand. A Medemblik regular Greg was usually on the right shift and can always be reckoned on for consistent speed and tactics.
3rd overall was Stefan Myrälf from Denmark. Runner up in last years European Championships and with an impressive sailing CV, he was never going to be far from the front of the fleet.
4th overall was Bo Petersen also from Denmark. The current European Champion was given plenty to think about by Jim Hunt, and will be working hard to keep his European crown in Germany in July.
5th was the legendary Jørgan Lindhartsen also from Denmark. Despite his age Jørgen always seems a shift ahead of the fleet and his Olympic experience and years of OK sailing behind him mean that he’s still a contender in any fleet of quality despite his creaking bones.
No | Sailno | Name | Tot-1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | GBR 2162 | Jim Hunt | 5,0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
2 | NZL 544 | Greg Wilcox | 12,0 | 3 | 3 | dnc | 2 | 2 | 2 |
3 | DEN 1423 | Stefan Myrälf | 23,0 | dnf | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 1 |
4 | DEN 1431 | Bo Petrsen | 23,0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ocs | 3 |
5 | DEN 1420 | Jørgen Lindhardtsen | 25,0 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 20 |
6 | DEN 1393 | Rene Sarabia Johannsen | 33,0 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 4 |
7 | GBR 2167 | Lee Child | 35,0 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 21 |
8 | GBR 2157 | Dave Bourne | 49,0 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 19 | 5 | 17 |
9 | GER 778 | Sönke Behrens | 55,0 | 10 | 14 | dnc | 21 | 4 | 6 |
10 | GBR 2118 | Terry Curtis | 57,0 | 18 | 11 | dnc | 12 | 11 | 5 |
11 | GER 693 | Martin v. Zimmermann | 57,0 | dnc | 7 | 11 | 18 | 10 | 11 |
12 | DEN 1369 | Christian Hedlund | 61,0 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 3 | 13 | 16 |
13 | DEN 1424 | Ask Askholm | 63,0 | 13 | 16 | dnc | 5 | 19 | 10 |
14 | GBR 2145 | Tony Woods. | 65,0 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 27 | 17 | 27 |
15 | GBR 214 | Alex Scoles | 72,0 | 24 | 17 | 8 | 25 | 8 | 15 |
16 | SWE 99 | Hans Elkjaer | 74,0 | 17 | 19 | 15 | 15 | ocs | 8 |
17 | GER 787 | Ralf Tietje | 77,0 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 24 | 24 | 24 |
18 | GBR 2151 | Jonathan Fish | 82,0 | 4 | 23 | 9 | 42 | 12 | 34 |
19 | GER 777 | Andreas Pich | 82,0 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 6 | 26 | 23 |
20 | DEN 1407 | Malte Petersen | 82,0 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 45 | 18 | 26 |
21 | GBR 2130 | Deryck Lovegrove | 97,0 | 16 | 21 | 13 | 37 | 28 | 19 |
22 | DEN 1433 | Lars Andresen | 123,0 | 23 | dnc | dnc | 16 | 16 | 18 |
23 | GER 769 | Volker Paatz | 124,0 | 26 | 24 | 18 | 23 | 39 | 33 |
24 | GER 715 | Sven Beye | 134,0 | 20 | 20 | dnc | 17 | 33 | 44 |
25 | GER 775 | Joerg Rademacher | 135,0 | 15 | dnc | dnc | 20 | 22 | 28 |
26 | DEN 1430 | Jesper Strandberg | 136,0 | 21 | dnc | dnc | 26 | 30 | 9 |
27 | DEN 1315 | Bo Reker Andersen | 145,0 | dnf | dnc | dnc | 11 | 9 | 25 |
28 | GBR 2101 | Julian Burnham | 145,0 | dnf | 22 | dnc | 22 | 21 | 30 |
29 | GBR 2147 | Tom Lonsdale | 159,0 | 22 | dnc | dnc | 33 | 25 | 29 |
30 | GER 771 | Ralf Mackmann | 161,0 | dnc | dnc | dnc | 32 | 15 | 14 |
31 | DEN 1397 | Henrik Kofoed | 165,0 | dnc | dnc | dnc | 39 | 14 | 12 |
32 | NED 664 | Peter van der Schaaf | 165,0 | 27 | dnf | dnc | 14 | 37 | 37 |
33 | NED 663 | Stephan Veldman | 167,0 | 25 | 25 | dnc | 47 | 34 | 36 |
34 | DEN 1402 | Bo Teglers | 177,0 | dnc | dnc | dnc | 41 | 23 | 13 |
35 | GER 688 | Ronald Foest | 196,0 | dnc | dnc | dnc | 13 | 42 | 41 |
36 | GBR 2121 | Anthony Rich | 196,0 | dnc | dnc | dnc | 34 | 40 | 22 |
37 | GBR 2149 | Martin Bower | 197,0 | dnc | dnc | dnc | 30 | 29 | 38 |
38 | GBR 2129 | Alan Atkin | 206,0 | dnc | dnc | dnc | 35 | 36 | 35 |
39 | NZL 2028 | Finn Gheury | 209,0 | dnc | dnf | dnc | 29 | 38 | 42 |
40 | FRA 1823 | de Kervenoael Guillaume | 211,0 | dnc | dnc | dnc | 44 | 35 | 32 |
41 | BEL 220 | Ronny Poelman | 213,0 | dnc | dnc | dnc | 31 | 32 | ocs |
42 | GER 727 | Frank Strelow | 217,0 | dnf | dnc | dnc | 40 | 27 | ocs |
43 | GER 783 | Karsten Kath | 217,0 | dnc | dnc | dnc | 43 | 43 | 31 |
44 | GER 567 | Jan Beckmann | 220,0 | dnc | dnc | dnc | 28 | 46 | 46 |
45 | GER 651 | Heinz Ridder | 220,0 | dnc | dnc | dnc | 36 | 44 | 40 |
46 | GER 649 | Wehmhörner | 222,0 | dnc | dnc | dnc | 48 | 31 | 43 |
47 | GER 640 | Marchot Sven | 226,0 | dnc | dnc | dnc | 46 | 41 | 39 |
48 | NED 555 | Jan Siebe de Vries | 238,0 | dnc | dnc | dnc | 38 | dnf | dnc |
49 | NED 638 | Robert Bancken | 239,0 | dnc | dnc | dnc | 49 | 45 | 45 |