Nacra Championships: Day 2 in Challenging conditions

Press release sent by Diana Bogaards. Day two of the Nacra 2010 International Championship was sailed in challenging conditions along the Texel coast in the Netherlands. The northern breeze had an average strength of 15-16 knots, gusting up to 18-22 knots, and there was a big swell. The overall leaders in the Nacra Infusion class, Gunnar Larsen and Jeroen van Leeuwen (NED), extended their lead. The Dutch F18 World Champions Coen de Koning and Thijs Visser capsized in the surf, but made a winning comeback. Not everybody had the guts to fight today’s circumstances. Almost half of the Infusion fleet raced and in the other classes only a few teams turned up. They prefer to save their equipment and energy for the big battle on Saturday; the Zwitserleven Round Texel Race 2010. The flying Dutchmen Gunnar Larsen and Jeroen van Leeuwen were on fire. They know how to handle the big swell and breeze. They took both bullets this morning. ‘It’s about mind set”, commented Larsen during the lunch break. ‘It seemed to be blowing, but in reality the wind was not that strong. We did not switch to the survival mode, but sailed strategically and we continued pushing. It was great fun surfing down the huge waves.”
…
Turbulent day for World Champions
In the afternoon, the wind picked up a little bit and the tide turned. Some cats had troubles to get through the building surf. The current F18 World Champions Coen de Koning and Thijs Visser had bad luck and capsized. Their boat hit the rocky dam and the helmsman had to be picked up by a jetski driver. However, the damage to their Infusion was repairable and they were back on the water for the eighth and final race of Tuesday. De Koning: ‘The waves were huge. We just hit a big one and went over backwards. That has never happened to me before. It was shocking to watch our boat going over the rocks. We are always so careful with our equipment.” They replaced the broken battens and set sails again: ‘We were sharp in the preparation, had a good spot at the committee boat, accelerated quickly off the line and had free air. We tacked as soon as possible to the right side.” De Koning and Visser hoisted the spinnaker first, extended their lead and took the bullet. ‘It was at least a convincing win”, said De Koning. Vincent Huntelman and Herwin van der Kamp from the Netherlands had a strong second day with only top five finishes. ‘It was great”, reacted Huntelman afterwards. ‘After a few hours practice on the water, we are back in the groove. Our boat speed is good, so this is a perfect training for the Round Texel Race.” Aussies face Dutch summer
…
The Dutch summer doesn’t help the Aussies to acclimatize, as the northern breeze comes with chilly temperatures. But as long as there is a strong wind and a nice swell, they are happy. Mick Guinea smiles: ‘It is good sailing, especially downwind. The competition is tough. One mistake and you lose a few spots. In today’s windy conditions, we had different people on our hip.”
Top five Nacra Infusion after 8 races and one discard:
1. NED, Larsen/Van Leeuwen, 9 points
2. NED, De Koning/Visser, 19 points
3. GER, Sach/Sach, 27 points
4. NED, Huntelman/Van der Kamp, 30 points
5. AUS, Guinea/Richardson, 36 points

Top three Open class after 8 races and one discard:
1. ISR, Leshed/Oded, 19 points
2. NED, Skotnicki/Kleijweg, 22 points
3. NED, Meermans/Brommer, 26 points

Top three Nacra carbon 20:
1. NED, Vink/Green, 7 points
2. NED, Bouscholte/Bouscholte, 14 points
3. NED, Van der Plas/Pool, 26 points For more information, pictures and complete results, please surf to
——–
For full text and more info check www.nacrachampionship.com