Diabo News
31 dec. 2007
Summer & Autumn Wrap-up
A wonderful and busy year 2007
Photo credit:
On this last day of 2007, it is time to look back on a wonderful and busy season. Sometimes I thought the sky was the limit, but a day has only 24 hours, so the universal time is the real limitation. But all my projects and assignments, the people I met, the opportunities I got and the unique experiences in other countries made it a prosperous and inspirational year. From my desk in The Hague, I like to thank you all and I wish you a healthy, happy and successful 2008. Enjoy your life!
The reporting on the ISAF Worlds for Olympic Classes in Cascais (Portugal) became my first major summer project. The Dutch national team did a fantastic job and performed historically well with four medals. The 470-girls Marcelien de Koning and Lobke Berkhout won their third World title in row, which was a breath-taking moment. Zwitserleven Sailing Team Booth/Nieuwenhuis won bronze in the Tornado class and nominated themselves for an Olympic ticket. I worked for them and took care of the press releases in Dutch and English. I also wrote daily web updates for Zeilen, a Dutch sailing magazine, and for http://www.catsanddinghies.nl/. Afterwards, I published an extensive article in the August issue of Zeilen. As an additional service, I sold some of my pictures to news papers, magazines and the regional press agency (GPD). Despite the hard work, I enjoyed the two weeks in Cascais very much…thanks to the nice company of my Dutch colleagues in the press center.
Hobie 16 & Hobie Dragoon Europeans 2007
Soon after I came back from Portugal, the ‘s Gravenzande beach was calling for another event: the Hobie 16 & Hobie Dragoon Europeans 2007. I was responsible for the daily reporting, both for national and international media. Photographer Pierrick Contin captured again all the action in great shots. On a perfect final day, the Frenchmen Christophe Renaud de Malet and Alban Rossollin from New Caledonia won the European Championship Hobie 16. ‘It was a real Hobie Day’, was the most quoted expression on the beach. Blue skies and a southwester force five made the competitors smile. The battle for gold was full on, as the top three pushed really hard. Le Gall and Obert (also from New Caledonia) took two bullets and moved up to the silver position, followed by Bader and Souquet from France. The three French teams were honoured and they proudly sang the national anthem. The German duo Detlef Mohr and Karen Wichardt won the Master Europeans and the Australian ladies Zanesco/Dobie, representing France, won the women’s championship.
Soon after I came back from Portugal, the ‘s Gravenzande beach was calling for another event: the Hobie 16 & Hobie Dragoon Europeans 2007. I was responsible for the daily reporting, both for national and international media. Photographer Pierrick Contin captured again all the action in great shots. On a perfect final day, the Frenchmen Christophe Renaud de Malet and Alban Rossollin from New Caledonia won the European Championship Hobie 16. ‘It was a real Hobie Day’, was the most quoted expression on the beach. Blue skies and a southwester force five made the competitors smile. The battle for gold was full on, as the top three pushed really hard. Le Gall and Obert (also from New Caledonia) took two bullets and moved up to the silver position, followed by Bader and Souquet from France. The three French teams were honoured and they proudly sang the national anthem. The German duo Detlef Mohr and Karen Wichardt won the Master Europeans and the Australian ladies Zanesco/Dobie, representing France, won the women’s championship.
The British Adam Butler and Gilly Sutcliffe became the Hobie Dragoon European Champions 2007. Although they dominated the competition, their victory was not taken for granted on the last morning. The combination of a wild surf and a light onshore wind caused some difficulties. In those conditions, the French team of Antoine Lauriot-Prevost and Alix Previer won the Hobie 16 with spinnaker Youth Europeans 2007. For more reports and pictures, please surf to http://hobiecateuropeans.com/2007hc16/.
420/470 Junior European Championships 2007
On Thursday August 16 2007, the Junior European Championships 420/470, sponsored by Valk Welding,ended quite windy on the IJsselmeer off Medemblik (NED). The west wind quickly picked up from about 15 to 30 knots in gusts. That caused many capsizes, especially on the 420 course. As a result of the strong conditions, the race committee decided to send the sailors ashore. The 470 Medal Race followed later in the afternoon. Although Justin Liu and Sherman Cheng (SIN) won the gold fleet, runners up Tom Gillard and Sam Breary (GBR) became the International 420 Class Men Junior European Champions 2007. Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke from Germany are the new International 420 Class Ladies Junior Champions. Last year’s winner Hannah Mills and her new crew Katrina Hughes (GBR) were now victorious in the 470. They became the 470 Class Women’s Junior European Champions 2007. Despite their capsize in the Medal Race, the Russians Artem Basalkin and Maxim Sheremetyev remained on top of the 470 leader board. They are the new 470 Class Junior European Champion.
On Thursday August 16 2007, the Junior European Championships 420/470, sponsored by Valk Welding,ended quite windy on the IJsselmeer off Medemblik (NED). The west wind quickly picked up from about 15 to 30 knots in gusts. That caused many capsizes, especially on the 420 course. As a result of the strong conditions, the race committee decided to send the sailors ashore. The 470 Medal Race followed later in the afternoon. Although Justin Liu and Sherman Cheng (SIN) won the gold fleet, runners up Tom Gillard and Sam Breary (GBR) became the International 420 Class Men Junior European Champions 2007. Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke from Germany are the new International 420 Class Ladies Junior Champions. Last year’s winner Hannah Mills and her new crew Katrina Hughes (GBR) were now victorious in the 470. They became the 470 Class Women’s Junior European Champions 2007. Despite their capsize in the Medal Race, the Russians Artem Basalkin and Maxim Sheremetyev remained on top of the 470 leader board. They are the new 470 Class Junior European Champion.
I was hired as event’s reporter and wrote the daily press releases in English and Dutch. Thom Touw took care of the photography. For all the images, written and video reports, have a look at http://www.420470jec.org/.
24 Hours Race and Start Transat 6,50
By the end of August, I reported on another beautiful 24 Hours Sailing Race (Delta Lloyd 24-Uurs Zeilrace) with 626 participating yachts. They all had to cover as many nautical miles as possible. The whole racing area of the IJsselmeer, Markermeer, Waddenzee and North Sea is divided into laps, but the competitors are only allowed to sail each lap twice. That makes it an interesting puzzle for navigators. This year, the northern routes paid. About two weeks later, I took the TGV to La Rochelle in France. T-Mobile, the employer and sponsor of solo sailor Lucas Schröder, hired me to report on the start of the Transat 6,50 (trans-Atlantic solo ocean race). That was scheduled on Sunday September 16th, but an upcoming deep depression with Gael force wind left the organization in doubt. On Saturday late in the afternoon, the decision was taken to postpone the start. In order to please the audience and sponsors, a prologue race was organized on Sunday. I was allowed to join Lucas and Gert-Jan Kos, a friend of his. That was exciting with about 80 Mini’s on the water, surrounded by hundreds of spectator boats. Despite the forecasts, the light breeze died completely and the race was cancelled after a few hours of floating. Three days later, the starting gun was fired. Lucas did an amazing job by ending up in 7th position overall, which is the best Dutch performance ever. I am very proud of him. Thanks to his enthusiastic pr approach, he ‘scored’ many interviews and publications. Well done!
By the end of August, I reported on another beautiful 24 Hours Sailing Race (Delta Lloyd 24-Uurs Zeilrace) with 626 participating yachts. They all had to cover as many nautical miles as possible. The whole racing area of the IJsselmeer, Markermeer, Waddenzee and North Sea is divided into laps, but the competitors are only allowed to sail each lap twice. That makes it an interesting puzzle for navigators. This year, the northern routes paid. About two weeks later, I took the TGV to La Rochelle in France. T-Mobile, the employer and sponsor of solo sailor Lucas Schröder, hired me to report on the start of the Transat 6,50 (trans-Atlantic solo ocean race). That was scheduled on Sunday September 16th, but an upcoming deep depression with Gael force wind left the organization in doubt. On Saturday late in the afternoon, the decision was taken to postpone the start. In order to please the audience and sponsors, a prologue race was organized on Sunday. I was allowed to join Lucas and Gert-Jan Kos, a friend of his. That was exciting with about 80 Mini’s on the water, surrounded by hundreds of spectator boats. Despite the forecasts, the light breeze died completely and the race was cancelled after a few hours of floating. Three days later, the starting gun was fired. Lucas did an amazing job by ending up in 7th position overall, which is the best Dutch performance ever. I am very proud of him. Thanks to his enthusiastic pr approach, he ‘scored’ many interviews and publications. Well done!
Bula from Fiji
I have written about the Hobie Way of Life so many times, but what is it exactly about? In order to answer that question, I think you have to experience a real Hobie 16 event by yourself. You need to breath, think, dream, talk and sing about Hobie. It is an unbelievable strong sense of brand experience. Since I needed a break from all the hard work, I decided to participate at the Hobie 16 Worlds on Fiji. I crewed for the all star Ingo Delius from Germany. Of course, my journalistic mind could not resist the nature’s beauty, the friendly and warm culture, the gorgeous islands and the Hobie Way of Life. That is why I wrote an extensive article about Fiji and Hobie sailing. It will be published in Zeilen in 2008. Ingo and I finished 5th at the Master Worlds and 20th at the Open Worlds. It was an unforgettable trip to the other side of the world.
Racing and writing on Aruba
Every November, a trip to the happy island of Aruba is on my agenda. For the fifth year in row, I was hired to write the daily press releases of the Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta. It became not only a special edition because of my jubilee, but also due to the awesome racing. I crewed for Stuart Gummer from the UK and after the sailing I went back to my hotel room and wrote the reports in English and Dutch. Since it was our first regatta ever as a team, we arrived a few days earlier for some training sessions. Sometimes I was exhausted after many spi sets and drops on a short course, but I enjoyed it so much. That was still my holiday…once the regatta had started, I was also on duty . The combination of reporting and competing worked out well. I found it easier to recall the battle on the water, so I was even quicker in my writing. Although we were in third position halfway the regatta, we dropped to the fifth place after an OCS and capsize.
On Thursday morning November 15th, three possible winning crews sailed off Palm Beach for the final race of the 17th Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta. After a long course with three sausages and two triangles, Eduard Zanen and Mischa Heemskerk (NED) took the bullet and the overall victory. Gunnar Larsen and Bastiaan Tentij (NED) managed to finish third just one spot ahead of Wouter Samama and Sam Frank (NED). Both teams are tied on points, but Larsen/Tentij became second overall on count back. Thomasch and Hankart (AUT) won in the small class of slower catamarans.
All week long, the atmosphere on the Caribbean Sea and onshore was fantastic. We had perfect conditions with a daily trade wind of force 4 tot 6. The competition was strong and the happy hours were great. My reports were widely published, Yacht Vision published an article of 8 pages and Zeilen published one page. For all the releases, images and video reports, please surf to http://www.arubaregatta.com/.
This was just a summary of the bigger events, but I have done so much more in between. It has been a very interesting season.
Happy New Year!
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