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.

2014 Spring Cup – Results
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