The Pinta-M of skipper Atse Blei (NED) is the big winner of this year’s North Sea Race, organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club and part of the ABN AMRO North Sea Regatta. With an average breeze of nine knots the North Sea Race took very long. The smaller boats sometimes had to fight not to stay in one place, but according to organiser R.O.R.C. none of the boats had to anchor. The fastest boat, the Pleomax from Harm Prins, crossed the finish line on Saturday May 2nd at 4:38 hours PM. It took the former Withbread racer 29 hours and 9 minutes to make the 185 NM crossing from Harwich to Scheveningen. That is 18 hours longer than the current record, set by the VO70 Mean Machine in 2007. The slowest boat sailed for almost two days, and arrived Sunday morning at about 10:30 in the Scheveningen harbour.

The start on Friday morning around 10:30 British time was quite messy. Because of the current, many boats had problems starting off. The Formidable 3 from Piet Vroon had become entangled with the pin-end buoy. Vroon: “The buoy was attached to an anchor, and the current pushed it away. We have a long keel and it was difficult to estimate what distance we should keep to the buoy. That took us 17 minutes.” The Checkmate from Peter de Ridder was involved in an incident with a British boat. Due to severe damages both yachts could not continue the race.

Skipper Artse Blei immediately admits: “We had all the luck. The current was in our favour and we encountered no upwind legs.” He and his team won the overall ranking in the IRC and the ORC and they were thus the best boat in their classes, the IRC3 and ORC3. His boat likes the light weather. Blei: “In those circumstances everything is easy.” They only made one bad tactical decision, on Sunday afternoon. The wind shifted a little more than expected, so they found themselves beyond their rum line and had to sail some extra meters. “But apparently that did not matter”, he says with satisfaction. Blei and his team plan to sail the famous Sydney-Hobart race this year.

About ABN AMRO North Sea Regatta 2008

The ABN AMRO North Sea Regatta started on Tuesday April 29 2008 with the traditional Vuurschepenrace for IRC and ORC yachts. This offshore of 110 nautical miles went from Scheveningen to Harwich. On May 2 after a lay-day, the starting gun was fired again for the North Sea Race of 185 nautical miles back to Scheveningen. The inshore races will be sailed from Friday May 9 until Whit Monday May 12 off the Scheveningen coast. The fleet consists of dinghies, beach catamarans, Olympic- and one-design classes, modern and classic yachts.


Provisional results top 3:

ORC overall
1. Pinta-M, Atse Blei
2. Lancer of Hamble, Herbert Visser
3. Que Guapa, Kees Groenenboom/Suzanne van Meerten

ORC 1
1. Ragazza, Bert Dolk
2. Waikabubak, Hans Kuiper
3. Xanadu, A. van Lookeren Campagne

ORC 2
1. Joris K, J.M. Kakebeeke
2. Windveer, Reijer Blankevoort
3. Griel, Robert Jockin

ORC 3
1. Pinta-M, Atse Blei
2. Lancer of Hamble, Herbert Visser
3. Que Gapa, Kees Groenenboom/Suzanne van Meerten

ORC 4
1. Gouden Ruiter,Willem N.R. Kats
2. Celestine, A. van der Hout
3. Haddock, Jorg Raven