A Fine and Fast YSY Ronde om Noord Holland

6 juli 2016 - Every sail race has a special moment, usually a deft move or tactical revelation, other times a breakage or critical mistake. At the prize giving after any race sailors ..............

are engaged in reliving these moments, cupped hands imitating sailboats, moving across the water in their mind’s eye.

Halfway through the 20th edition of the Ronde om Noord Holland (Around North Holland) Race we led a group of boats into the locks, to transit from the Ijsselmeer inland sea to the narrow channels and tricky tides of the Wadden Sea. We were completely drained by the last leg, hard work in shifting wind. As Raymond Roesink and I secured lines to bollards on the lock wall we noted a familiar, grinning face at the top of the lock – Joop ten Bokkel, the Race Director. “Didn’t we see your twin brother back at the Enkhuizen lock?” I asked. Joop laughed and then tilted a long pole down, with a package in the net on the end – a complimentary snack. Fuelled to this point by strong Dutch coffee and chocolate, we made short work of the warm, juicy sausages. No words, only contented carnivorous sounds and energy for the long night ahead. This was indeed a special moment, one made possible by the often unseen and unsung efforts of the 60 volunteers who run the Ronde. They also take their cue from a Race Director that speeds overland from lock to lock, equally ready to take lines and hand out hot sausages.

The evening before the race the fleet the gathered in Muiden marina, in the shadow of the red-stone medieval Muider Castle. Early arrivals like Mav rested in open berths and the latecomers rafted together along the length of one dock. Crews greeted each other, familiar and friendly after competing through the first half of the doublehanded season. A rainy night gave way to grey skies and a gentle breeze, with even less wind forecast in the day and evening ahead. Not Mav’s favorite conditions but the same wind for all boats, and over morning coffee we weighed conditions on each leg, sail choices, and planned our race.

The Ronde is a challenging 100-mile loop of the North Holland Province, crossing the inland lakes, out to the Wadden Sea and concluding with a 25 mile leg down the North Sea to Ijmuiden. The 150 entries comprise crewed and doublehanded racing classes, contending with shifting wind and land effects across the lakes, narrow passages and tricky tides in the Wadden Sea, and offshore seas and current in the North Sea. Small committee boats wait at the start and finish of each leg, and between the two inland lakes, and from the lakes to the Wadden Sea, a now-familiar and well-trained team of volunteers shepherd groups of boats through the locks.

In the countdown to the start the doublehanded class sailed back and forth behind the line, most realizing the committee boat end was favored. In the final minute most of the boats converged on the same small patch, well mannered and bobbing slowly ahead in the collective foul wind. We found a slot near the committee boat and planned to quickly tack out, but Firestorm came to the line well after the main scrum and delayed our tack. We finally tacked above them and built up speed in clean air, noting a small freighter crossing the field toward us. The low slung black ship angled closer and closer, and in this case sail gives way to steel; we tacked hard over and sailed just behind, through their wind shadow and boiling wake.

We painfully surrendered any early gains and neared the upwind mark in the middle of the field, further annoyed as Moshulu fell off and impeded our line. We were scarcely a mile into the race, and vengeance would soon be ours. After rounding we hoisted our A0 reaching gennaker, expecting a tight wind angle and facing constant work to hold speed on the upcoming 23 mile leg. Moshulu hoisted a kite and faded below and behind, and soon Maverick overtook Push-Up as they gamely tried to hold a higher line with their symmetric spinnaker. Our sister J-120 J-Quattro, improving each race, kept close early under their white gennaker, but ultimately fell off the line and pace. We held Mav on the edge with the A0 and moved up to second pace on the water, leading the big X-43 Bixmile and closely following the higher rated Endorfin. We traversed the Markermeer (lower Ijsselmeer) in just under three hours, overtaking many of the earlier starting crewed boats in the last mile, and finished the first leg in Enkhuizen in second place on the water.

We faced a stiffer 12-17 kt breeze than forecast in the first leg, and exactly as the year before we used the sheltered time in the lock to quickly change from our light wind jib to our medium jib. After exiting the lock the wind slowly dropped, and exactly like the year before we changed back to the light weather jib. Busy hands are happy hands, and the transit time passed quickly. The race rules stipulate a 90 minute minimum and 2 hour maximum to transit the lock and cross the start for the next leg, and to maximize favorable tide for the last leg we set our sails and crossed the Enkhuizen start line just after the 90 minute mark.

Due to the forecast light wind the Race Committee slightly shortened the second leg as well as the course through the Wadden Sea. We would tack upwind toward Medemblik, competing on this leg for the Medemblik Trophy for all classes that we captured the year before, and after passing Medemblik harbor we would ease off for a run to the Den Oever locks. As we started the leg the faster rated Endorfin and Bixmile followed closely, and we concentrated on trim and holding our position.

Grey skies gave way to sunshine and scattered ‘Simpsons’ clouds - so named by my youngest - when the small puffy clouds look exactly like the opening credits in ‘The Simpsons’. The wind periodically shifted 20 degrees or more, and later back again, with around a 10 minute cycle. Recalling Fred Imhoff’s sound advice from ‘Winning Isn’t Luck’ (now available from Amazon ;-)), we could gain by tacking before the shifts, and getting lifted with each shift. We tacked early to anticipate the shift, while boats behind tacked in response to the shifts, and over the next hour to Medemblik we built a comforting quarter mile lead.

Uncertain where the mark by Medemblik lay, we made our only mistake of the race by easing off and sailing a several minutes to the wrong mark. We soon spotted the correct buoy and quickly hardened up on the wind, rounding the buoy and trimming for a shy reach. We continued to overtake the earlier starting crewed boats, sailing a higher line and passing on the upwind side. In close racing other boats will usually sail higher to make passing harder, or to force us to pass i their lee, but the big dog was in a groove and we exchanged waves with crew on the rail as we passed and gassed each boat.

A blue-flagged Committee boat tooted us over the line, and we dropped sails and motored quickly to the locks. The sooner through, the better the current through the Wad and into the North Sea. One group of the earliest starters had just ceared the lock, and we entered the lock as the first boat in the following group. There was Jaap, big grin and offering us the warm and welcome sausages. One of our perennial close competitors, Push Up, caught up to the group while we waited for the lock. Traditionally Dutch sailors at locks display the same discipline as at the cheese counter, where everyone knows whose turn is next, but Jesse Mulder also wanted to get to the re-start as quickly as possible, and as the lock entrance opened he worked his way ahead. With a charming, bad-boy smile and purposefulness he worked his way up to the front, ready for a duel on the next leg.

Due to a very narrow channel on the first stretch of the Wad, we faced a 4 mile motor run to the next start. As the lock doors slowly swung open it was like the “Gentlemen, start your engines” moment at an auto race, and we led a parade up the channel, with Push Up following immediately behind us. Arriving at yet another Committee Boat we hoisted sails, cut the motor, and entered the Wad in twilight.

The Wadden Sea is truly mysterious, flat water masks the swift current, and near high tide the vast shallows and sand flats are covered by a thin layer of water. We switched one of the meters to show the depth, tacking frequently, quickly and quietly to remain in the deeper water with faster-running current. We pulled steadily away from Push Up, as well as J-Quattro who had also caught up while we waited for the lock, and sailed just ahead of the fastest of the crewed boats, the J-133 Batfish. Batfish is a consistent top doublehanded competitor but for this race Bart Desaunois(quite literally) entertains a full crew. We neared the next mark with Batfish closing in, and delayed our tack slightly to remain above him. They smiled and gestured as they endured a period of our foul air before powering past, and then returned the favor by sailing higher and leaving us in their wind shadow.

The current strengthened and we sped along at 10 knots over ground as we neared the narrow gap between Texel Island and Den Helder, and the Wad spit us out into the North Sea. Darkness had fallen and we faced a tight angle for the A0 reaching gennaker but dared to hoist it. We struggled to keep the big sail stable and filled, falling off toward the coast to maintain form and speed. As the coast drew closer and the sound of breaker could be heard. Raymond signaled his preference for going back to the jib by going to the foredeck and readying to hoist, but as we sailed across the transition from the fast current exiting the Wad to the more moderate southerly coastal current, the wind angle shifted back and we raced ahead. We took turns trimming had helming, holding big Batfish close and passing most of the remaining earlier starters. The wind periodically shifted further behind and we contemplated changing to the running spinnaker, but in each case it shifted back and we benefitted from our sail choice. In the last miles the tide turned against and our inshore line paid further dividends, as we faced weaker current in the shadow of the breakwaters.

In the wee hours of Saturday we closely followed the crewed Batfish and Nyx over the line, capturing line honors for the doublehanded class. The rest of the fleet followed, the smallest boats fighting tide and wind to finish mid-morning. Like the rest of the race the evening dinner and prizegiving was not only perfectly organized, but relaxed, friendly, and gezellig. Doublehanders are a close-knit group and hang together, whether on the water, in the locks, or at a big table in the middle of the tent. We cheered Jam Session and Push Up as they collected their third and second place trophies and appreciated their support as we walked to the front, greeted Joop yet again with a big smile, and collected our 1st place trophy. There is nothing like the taste of victory -- except perhaps the taste of a hot sausage in the middle of a long race around North Holland.