Today the ‘A’ Class Catamaran World Championships in Medemblik, Holland,  finally started after the first day’s wind was ruled out of class limits.  Monday was 19 gusting 31kts.  A boat with 150sqft of sail, that weighs a mere 75kg, is going to be rather lively at those speeds and, as the new generation of foiling boats has arrived, just keeping them simply in touch with the water would be a struggle no matter how much you yourself weigh.

The 'A' class pits area is starting to fill up now at Medemblik, the attractive little town on the Dutch Ijsselmeer, the huge enclosed area of water at the heart of the Netherlands.  It has the characteristics of both a lake and the sea, fresh(ish) water and a shore all around with no tides, but, as the sea is only over the other side of the wall, it is subject to exactly the same wind conditions.  This makes it a very interesting place to sail.  The wind over the last few days has been rather hit and miss.

The following has been announced by the Medemblik event organisers - 

Official tamperproof sticker placement at the 2016 Worlds. - see here

Also, make sure that if your boat was built AFTER 1/1/2010, it must have an official ISAF blue sticker on the stbd transom. If yours is missing, say, as the result of a respray following a repair, your association will have the official form to get a replacement - there is a fee to pay also.

In about 4 weeks time, the 2016 ‘A’ Class World Championships will start in the picturesque Dutch town of Medemblik, on the Western shore of the IJselmeer.

After the recent Swiss nationals, Mischa Heemskerk has offered a few quick comments and observations on the new DNA F1 from his current posting in Rio, where he is coaching the Olympic team and flew straight there from the last race in Maccagno.

At the 2017 Worlds venue in Sopot, on the Baltic coats in Poland, Exploder's home stadium, the new AD3 is showing it's class.  

Polish Ace, Jacek Noetzel, gives us a quick report.

The first regatta in Denmark of 2016, the Sailextreme in Kerteminde, together with 400 other dinghies.

10 'A' cats on the starting line, all Danish, so the highest turnout ever, but no Germans, so hopefully they will show up at other Danish regattas.

7 flying boats, Nikita's, DNA’s and Exploders, all with various foil setups.

How many sailors obsessively check numerous weather forecasting websites, five days in advance, in the vain hope that they might find one that promises them the winds they hope for and actually believe it?  And then, when the real weather arrives, comment that this was not what was forecast?

Italian boss Marco Gaeti wins the latest round of the Italian National A Class regatta, at the Centro Vela Sunset.

So it ends the third stage of the National Calendar of A Cat Italia, with success from president, Marco Gaeti, who was able to handle the 29 crews registered at the regatta.