A-Class Belgian Nats 2016: Phil Muyzers Champ
Pics by 027 Photos, full gallery here. Onsite available report below. Great to see Phil winning the first Belgian Nats and his floating mode Catparts Vision built by Piet Saarberg & Hans Klok.
When foiling came to the Class, I remember Phil getting a little worried on the Class future, but this event and many others past years like wins by Thilo Keller at Garda and others have shown you can still race your floating A against latest tech , have serious fun and even win events.
I sailed myself an A-Cat only for the second time at Bordeaux Europeans 2014, it was a Scheurer G6 (floating mode) and got hooked with the Class. So foiling is not mandatory at all to enjoy and race the A-Class. The US and Worlds are also raking ‘Classic’ divisions too so there is still room for all.
Congrats Phil for the win!
————–
————–
First Belgian A-Class Championship: 16 registered, 1 winner: Philippe Muyzers
The Belgian A-Class Championship was held at SNEH, based on the Lakes of Eau d’Heure, one hour south of Brussels, on September 10th and 11th.
The first day offered stunning sailing conditions with an established 3 Bft, 30 degrees and many liters of beers! The second day was so flat that no departure was given.
Philippe Muyzers (BEL) won with his Vision, non-foiling, followed by two frenchies: Andrew Casanova and his non-foiling Bimare V1, and Jean Darnaude on a foiling Dna.
Key highlights of the events were having Piet Saarberg himself, several capsizes and nosedives 10 meters from the finish line , foiling jumps and boat speeds over 20knots along the participation of a non legal prototype with AC45 foils type.
The organizer finishing 4th place on a floating Dna after losing his Exploder on catastrophic highway accident were his Exploder was sadly lost for good.
Good to see also a 20yrs old Mattia which didn´t finished last!
Several competitors came from up to 800kms away. What else to demonstrate once more the dynamism and passion for this Class?
Congrats to the organizers, and to the generous sponsors that made this event possible: the sailing club SNEH, Les Lacs de l’Eau d’Heure, Wanty, Ruffus, la Region Wallonne, Catacare and Forward Sailing.
—————-