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Bundock/Ashby (AUS) Win the 2006 Texel Dutch Open
On Friday June 16 2006, Bundock/Ashby (AUS) won the Texel Dutch Open.
Yesterday the Australian team dominated the races with three bullets
and it seemed as though they would obtain overall victory hands down.
But team Heemskerk/De Boer gave tough competition. With a difference
of one point, Bundock and Ashby won the event. Heemskerk and De Boer
were runner-up and Skomski and Kopylowicz ended in third position.
“It got trick today”, says Bundock. During today's first day, they managed to keep the other teams at great distance, but after that, they could not keep up with Heemskerk. “We made some tactical mistakes. At the second match we chose the left side of the field, but it turned out there was more wind on the right. The last race we got away quite well, but we were on the wrong side of the field again.” The Australians hope the breeze picks up tomorrow: “Wind, waves and sun. Just like home.”
Leg 3 Cancelled, Great Texas Catamaran Race
June 16, 11:30am, Breaking News From Mustang Beach!
Leg 3 Cancelled After Several Delays The race committee cancelled todays racing due to lightning and thunderstorms along todays route. The final leg is scheduled to start tomorrow at 10 AM from Surfside to Galveston Island.
Day Two Photos of Great Texas Catamaran Race Launch
June 15, 2006 - Day Two
Leg 2: Mustang Island to Matagorda Beach, June 15, 2006
Distance: 91 Miles Along the Texas Coastline
Day two started off as a light air morning when the wind building and clocking from the south to the south east by the end of the day. All the teams got off the beach on the first attempt and wind build along the way.
The F18's hit the beach first with Team Cubra Libra coming in first and had a sizable lead over the rest of the second pack. They were followed by TPR, Team Chums II, Nauti Gear, R3, TCDY, Sailboat Shop, Yost, WWW, San Diego, Team Chums I, Team Dallas and McBok. A couple of the teams to hit the beach first said that there were two areas that the wind was light during the course.
The ground crew had another 100 plus miles to cover and I hit the beach about 45 min. before the first team landed. The first thing the crew did was grap a couple of cold drinks. Team Chums II, after temporarly losing the skipper the day before, hit the beach 3rd,
Winds on the beach were ~15kts and weather was clear and sunny.
Australians Bundock - Ashby DominateTexel Dutch Open - Day Two
On the second day of the Texel Dutch Open, Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby
(AUS) were unbeatable. The Hobie Tiger-duo took three bullets. The weather
conditions were fine with a north-eastern wind, force four and a considerable
wash of waves. In total 43 teams started this morning. Mischa Heemskerk and
Sander de Boer (NED) finished three times behind the Australians, with their
Nacra F18 Infusion. Koen de Koning and Sacha Larsen (NED), also sailing with
the new Nacra, are in third position after today.
Great Texas Catamaran Race - Day One Reporting
June 14, Leg One Results:Team Cuba Libre Wins First Leg Of the 2006 Great Texas Catamaran Race on a Hobie Tiger, "Read More" to see full results.
June 14, 7:00pmTeam Wild Wild West is the only boat out. Winds are 15 and steady. Team San Diego had a heck of a run with making up huge amounts of time after having to return to replace a rudder and came in the second group of boats.
Team Chums II had a mishap after the boat coming in behind them crashed into them right on the water line. The boat only got a dimple and all the crew was not injured. Now we are just waiting on the last team to arrive.
June 14, 4:30pm A couple of teams have reported in from the water and most of the ground crew has arrived. Blowing 10-15 here on the beach on Mustang Island with nice formed white caps on the water. The last team to leave the beach Wild Wild West, after repairs this morning, left at noon. We are looking for the first 5 teams to finish before dark.
Reports indicate that the race started off at a slow 5 knots from South Padre and have been building since. The head group of tearms, as of the last report, was R3, Team Chums I, McBok, TPR, Yost and Nautigear. Not in order. All but one team were hugging the coast.
Excellent conditions here and lets hope for a good finish before dark. Photos will follow tonight, late, so check back soon.
June 14, 10:00am There off! 14 boats off with 4 left on the beach. 1 broken rudder cam and 2 with various other problems. As of 10:47 CT, one boat was still on the beach redrilling/mending their rudder cams.
Surf, 2-4ft, winds 8-10. Weather system coming in fast. More soon, gotta hit the road, 109 miles to cover for us ground crew.
See you in Mustang Island.
June 14, 9:00am Some talk last night of pushing back the start but the race is going on as scheduled at 10 am
Bad Weather Cancells First Day Racing at Texel Dutch Open
On Wednesday, 14 June 2006, the 64 entered teams did not leave the beach to sail the first races of the Texel Dutch Open 2006. An
approaching rain cloud with heavy gusts of wind made the racing
committee decide to keep the competitors ashore. Eventually, it turned
out to be not that bad and the dreary weather stayed on. The Open Dutch
Catamaran Sailing Championships, which are officially acknowledged by
the Royal Dutch Sailing Federation will last until Friday. On Saturday
the 29th the Round of Texel is expected to kick off with 450
competitors.
Great Texas Catamaran Race Gets Under Way
Pre-Race Practice Day, June 13, 2006 Today winds were out of the East, which is not typically for this area, and
blowing 5-8. The beach here in South Padre Island is quite shallow for a distance
out and produces a nice series of breaking waves which teams must navigate
through to launch.
Today started off very hot, humid and slow, but the pace picked up as crews prepared for the safety inspections and some managed to get some sleep and still hit the beach. There is a great turnout of the F-18 class and a few are running the new F-18 European style chutes.
Four teams attempted to launch through the surf today; only three were successful. It made for some great photos. Tomorrow will be interesting as the tropical storm that is crossing Florida is changing the typical local weather patterns.
The teams look pretty prepared as of this evening and are now attending a mandatory meeting and team check in followed by a dinner and meeting later tonight
More to follow...
--Connie Brown
Photographer, Great Texas Race
Bol D'Or Rolex - 40 Big Catamarans at Lake Geneva
June 13, 2006- Great festival of speed
The Bol d'Or Rolex has always attracted the most extreme boats, each attempting
to make the best of the typically light, but fickle conditions found on Lake
Geneva.
The 40 or so multihulls competing in this year's Bol d'Or Rolex, are mainly
catamarans. The Décision 35s (or D35s) are now universally admired for
their state of the art design and high tech carbon fibre construction. They
are the fastest boats on the lake and with owners such as Ernesto Bertarelli,
the man behind Switzerland's successful challenge on the last America's Cup
and famous skippers such as Alain Gautier and Loïck Peyron, they are also
the most high profile. Winner of last weekend's Genève-Rolle-Genève'race,
Peyron is returning to try to defend Bol d'Or Rolex title after his victory
last year on Nicholas Grange's Okalys. For the D35s, the Bol d'Or Rolex also
forms part of their championship for the Julius Baer Cup.
Another smaller class of high speed one design catamaran really booming in
Switzerland is the M2. This class originates from the former F class multihull,
the rule being reworked, adapted and simplified to make boats that are attractive,
fast and spectacular, while remaining within a tight budget. This formula seems
to be highly successful: on the start line of the Bol d'Or Rolex last year
were 20 examples and of these eight were new. This year 29 M2s are entered.
Of these 19 are the latest breed of Ventilo M2.
Randy Smyth Leads Volvo Extreme 40 Series After 3 Days.
After eight races on Saturday 10 and Monday 12 June 2006, Team Holmatro (NED) climbed on the leaderboard of the Rotterdam Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix. The Dutch entry is in fourth position not far from the podium. On Saturday, the VX 40's competed off the coast of Hoek van Holland, while four Volvo Open 70's were finishing their eight leg. On Monday, the 40-foot catamarans returned to the Nieuwe Maas with a tough competition. Halfway the series in the Netherlands, Tommy Hilfiger (USA) took over the lead from Motorola-CHR (UK). The crowd onshore and on the water enjoyed the spectacle. They could clearly see the crews working hard on the trampolines and they could hear the winches.
Tropical temperatures prevailed on June 12th and the South-easterly was variable in direction and strength. Due to a small race area, the course was short and because of the wind angle it was only reaching. A good start turned out to be essential, as there was very little room left for tactical moves. The one that rounds the mark first, is likely to take a bullet. Out of five races, the fourth was by far the most exciting one. Tommy Hilfiger with Randy Smith on the helm and Basilica of skipper James Grant (UK) were off first, followed by the Volvo Ocean Race of Nigel Pit (USA). At the buoy, Holmatro sneaked to the Volvo-boat and Pit did not give enough water. He had to take his penalty and Holmatro took over their third position. Tommy Hilfiger caught up on Basilica, but hit the British hull while rounding the bottom mark. They had to turn a 360 as well and Holmatro passed them. The Americans chased them up and at the next corner it went wrong again. This time, it were the Dutchmen that hit the Tommy Hilfiger.
418 Entered for 2006 Zwitserleven Round Texel Race
On Monday June 12th 2006, the organization of the 29th Zwitserleven Round Texel Race received 418 pre-entries. As of Wednesday June 14th, sailors from all over the world will drop in and the annual catamaran spectacle will start on the Dutch Wadden Island Texel. The complete national multihull top is present, among which last year’s overall winners Mischa Heemskerk and Sander de Boer and record-holders Wouter Samama and Jeroen van Leeuwen. Zwitserleven Sailing Team Booth/Dercksen, part of the Dutch Olympic team, will try again its luck in winning the line honours. A helicopter will give the famous smokey starting signal on Saturday June 17th at about noon.
Round Texel Co-ordinator Edwin Lodder: "For now, the pre-entries are less than in 2005, but we expect late comers. Especially with the good weather forecast for the coming week. After last year’s rough conditions, many participants decided to wait and see what will happen this time." At the moment, the fleet represents ten nationalities. Former overall winner and silver medallist of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Darren Bundock (AUS), and French top sailor Jean-Christophe Mourniac are back to challenge the Dutchmen. The young winners of the Texel Dutch Open 2005, Kearns and Bearns (GBR), will defend their title. This championship, officially recognized by the Royal Dutch Yachting Association, is to be sailed from June 14th until June 16th and exists of course races. Many sailors consider it as a good training for the Zwitserleven Round Texel on Saturday. On Friday afternoon, ten teams will participate in the first TNG Short Track. They will sail knock-out races and the last two boats will battle against each other in the final.
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