Add Plenty of Sand – Another Ronde om Texel
On Saturday the 6th Maya and I sailed the 47th Ronde om Texel on our Nacra F18. This was not our 47th attempt at this race, but our fourth lap of Texel or strictly our 3 and 3/4 lap as we dis-masted last year after about 3/4 of the course.
When we arrived on Thursday at lunch time it was howling with over 30 knots down the beach and all pre-races for Thursday had been cancelled. We queued for a tractor to have our trailer dragged onto the beach and then retired to the hotel for a nap and a nice dinner. Friday morning the wind had dropped, but waves were still breaking on the beach. We built the boat and went out for a test sail in the early afternoon fighting to make it through the surf.
The start of the main event was set for 11:30 on Saturday to match the tides. Despite a 1 km start line there is dense traffic with around 250 boats jockeying for position and we got blocked in the traffic and only crossed the line a minute late but soon found a clear lane. The wind was blowing 12-18 knots from a more easterly direction than forecast and we were fighting to sail maximum height with the spinnaker up but often had to bear away 30 degrees in big gusts. About half-way to the Texel light house at the north-west corner of the island the fleet started dropping the spinnakers to head up to the first gate in a wild beam reach.
After the first gate the course turns east between Texel and the island to the north through the second gate and then to the famous VC boat. Due to the more easterly winds than forecast, this leg required beating into the wind between two badly marked submerged sandbanks – sort of Marconi style.
At the VC boat the course crosses a sandbank with at best a meter of water at spring high tide. Despite the best efforts of the race committee to time the start, there was much less than a meter of water when we approached the VC boat. We were surrounded by several boats who had also kicked up both rudders. A couple of wing-foilers (who have their own race) were walking across the sandbank taking selfies and pictures of hapless cat sailors struggling to sail upwind without rudders.
Once the sandbank was cleared, we started the long beat up the east cost of the island. At this point the fleet starts to stretch out with a sea of sails behind us, and a smaller collection ahead of us that we were trying to hang on to. Soon a rain shower passed through, and the wind duly picked up. We love sailing in rain, maybe because it reminds us of the opinion (from a non-sailor) that cat sailing is like ripping up £50 notes under a cold shower. The rain was not very cold though.
After the third gate at Oudeschild, where spectators are cheering on the boats, we reached Gate 4 at the southern end of the island which has Caribbean style sweeping sand beaches on Texel and the sand island just south of it. The rain had cleared and the wind dropped and we were slowly cruising along the beach, making sure we miss the two submerged World War 2 bunkers.
After the spinnaker went up again, we sailed downwind in almost calm seas towards the finish line in considerably less wind than at the start but just enough to make good progress. We patiently hunted two Dutch F18s ahead of us and manged to catch one of them by a boat length with a well-timed jibe on the finish line. Finishing 27th after 3:43:25 was our best result to date and a lot better than dismasting.
The race was won by the van Dam son and father team on an F18, and this was not their first win. There were plenty of other F18s ahead of us but also four Hobie 14s and a Tornado. Kevin Dutch and David Oakley came 10th on their foiling Carbon Nacra 20 and were the second boat over the finish line. Grant Piggott moonlighted on a Dutch boat and came 16th. Joseph Bennett from Joyrider TV covered the race sailing a new Nacra 450 and came 45th. The full race results are available here.
The verdict: Racing against 200+ other cats on the vastness of the North Sea around an entirely flat island is a cult event. The race attracts both an elite group of sailors with expensive boats and people who own something with two hulls and a sail that still sort of floats and who are in it for the fun. It is a bit of a beach holiday with a serious race on Saturday. There are big beach parties every evening (which are open to non-sailors), which we were a bit too tired to go to. We are hooked on Texel and will go again next year. Get in touch if you want to come along next year – and get your entry in for the ECPR this week!
Full Race Results can be found here…