Day 3 and 4 Dutch Championship

More of the same conditions as we saw in day 1 and 2- this time with significant drops in the wind between 1-4pm. Winds were 7-9k with some gust up to 12-13k in the late morning and early evening with 10-20 degree shifts around the course. Timing the oscliating shifts was more important than getting the geographical shift off the shoreline, but as always in the light air- its always important to stay in the pressure!
There just wasn't enough breeze to get my set up to work efficiently so I felt out of the race in most of the last 2 days of racing. Without an 12.0 to keep up, my speed and angle was severely off and every small battle on the course was a loosing one. Just a few tactical cards I could play but I did learn some important lessons in the light air racing:
More and more the fleet was starting on port to get the first shift right shift of the land. In a fleet of 30 boards with 20 starting on port- just a few would get a good start. In the light air- it might have been better to start on starboard with better chances of getting clear air off the line. I tried this approach a few times- knowing I lacked any power w/ my 11.0.
Below are some shots from Alex @ the beach and race deck:


Finding out what went wrong: by process of elimination- its either the board, the fin, the rig, or the rider- or a combination of all of the above.
ML7- while the board is great when its lit up on a 9 and 10, it lacks some drive in the light stuff.
(might be lacking power due to 11.0 rig)
Fin- kashy xs 70 cm should be the wining ticket - but again without 12.0 there was no angle or speed.
Rig- 11.0 north warp- found out this sail does not have the low end of a 11.9. It worked better when I put more batten pressure on, tightened the tack strap to get a pocket in the foot of the sail, downhauled it a little less than I would have (2 cm),and finally moved the mast base back on he board to 70% back in the track. Also moving the booms up lighten up the board- but as a result needed to move my harness lines further back.
Rider- @ 175lbs I think it was necessary to have a 12.0 to be able to make most tactical decisions on the race course-. Not having any options, speed or angle left me back in the fleet.
Saturday- Alex came down and took some more photos:

A video from some of the day 4s racing from a big Dutch speeedsailor- Roger van Tongeren as well as days 3's racing.

Here are the top 10 results:

1-Dennis Little NED-13
2-Adriaan van Rijselberghe NED-2
3- Adri Keet NED 34
4-Dirk Doppenberg NED-51
5-Markus Bouman NED-6
6-Sean O’Brien AUS-120
7-Roy van Koolwijk NED-97
8-Klaas Jissink NED-315
9-Pieter Eliens NED-538
10/1e Jeugd-Teade de Jong NED-777

www.wedstrijdsurfen.nl

Some other race reports:
Markus Boumann - NED 6
Sean O'Brien- AUS 120

and additional photos from Tom Vos

Overall the dutch had an impressive racing scene with an up and coming junior fleet and several top world contenders. Im looking forward to my 11.9 arriving in a few weeks and actually racing with them!