Last weekend saw the Dutch Open at Hellecat with a 27 boat turnout and in the blazing September sun. The 2024 event was somewhat short of numbers as Thijs Visser decided to get married and most of the A-Cat Glitterati went to get messy at that instead. But they all came back in force again this year and all enjoyed to excellent racing in some unexpectedly exciting conditions.
Hellecat is an idyllic place to sail for any cat. Protected by a windmill festooned dyke, built in the 1960’s as part of the Deltawerken plan, following massive flooding of the area in a 1953 storm when the nearby town of Hellevoetsluis, standing a dizzying 2m above sea level was inundated. This dyke capped the Northwest end of the Haringvliet and it created a sort of tideless and largely currentless freshwater lake, with big ship locks at the end, allowing the Rhien delta water to reach the sea in a controlled manner. The Hellecat cat club is situated right in the North corner of this Fleet, nestling in the sand dunes. A wide sandy beach, gently shelving off makes it even more appealing. However, NW/SE orientation of the water can result in surprisingly short courses if a Sou’westerly is blowing and the far shore arrives rather fast.
But the committee had ordered a Sou’easterly for this weekend. During Friday night, the wind backed some 100 or so degrees and was nicely orientated along the long axis. It was also blowing about 2-4 kts more than forecast, which was a rather nice surprise, as the forecast was SE 8-9 kts on Saturday. They told me that from that direction, the wind, coming from inland, was prone to be gusty and shifty. As a result, it had a distinctly lake-like feel, and many sailors felt at home in those conditions.
With the committee boat in position and marks lain, they quickly got racing underway. The first race was a mass start, with the fleet doing 2 laps. The conditions were ideal, with a nice 10-12 kts, not too many waves, and the upwind foiling experts on the Open class soon pulled ahead of the rest and the fleet spread out. Mischa Heemskerk NED007 led Thomas Paasch DEN 2 and Thijs Visser NED 33. In the classics, Sjoerd Hoekstra NED 3, firmly back in the saddle after a bit of a layoff, on his new DNA F1x, had found the fast modes and was uncatchable. Chasing him was Eric Bernard FRA 436, Exploder AD3 and Jan Verlinde BEL 20, Scheurer G6 (?), one of a party of 6 keen Belgian sailors.
Race two the PRO decided was to be separate starts, with 2 laps for Classics, 3 for the Opens. The Classics were off first, although this correspondent hadn’t realised this change in flag colour, and as his watch was running the time down, was stupidly wondering why half the fleet weren’t bothering as he aimed for the pin end this time, only to realise that only the red dot sail boats were about to start in 15 seconds, an thus inadvertently started in a great position by accident. The line was rather pin end biased by now, so much so that a few actually had to tack to make the line. Again Sjoerd (Pronounced ‘Shoort’ for the non-Dutch amongst us – don’t say you never learn anything here!) shot off to the top mark with Eric in pursuit. Further down the field, little battles took place and places gained/lost. This time it was Marc Van Cutsem BEL 331 arriving in 3rd. The Belgian lads are very competitive, many do seem to sail all the time and it shows! The Open fleet race was pretty much a rerun of race 1 with Mischa getting the bullet, but the 2/3 lap configuration had worked a treat. We all finished within a reasonable time frame and race 3 was started within 15 mins.
Races 3 and 4 were settling into a pattern on the classic fleet. The course didn’t really favour any one side, so it was essentially about boat speed, something that Sjoerd had in spades! He got the other two bullets, Eric the 2nds and Marc the 3rds. The Open fleet had a little hiccup in proceedings though in race 3. Thomas Paasch snatched the bullet from Mischa, something fell off or snapped on Thijs’s boat rendering him a DNF, and Rutger Krijger got the 3rd. Race 4 for them saw the old order re-established, but with Rutger beating Thijs into 3rd again.
A good fun day’s racing had by all. Nothing scary or dangerous, assuming you ignore the Open lads screaming downwind towards the bottom mark at exactly the same angle as the Classics were sailing uphill. The sight of Thijs’ purple nail varnish painted DNA F1X head on, with a closing speed of some 35-40 knots whistling past, lives in the memory. But all returned to shore safe for the club homemade Chinese/Indonesian delicious supper.
The next day though, dawned with a different vibe. Promising to be blisteringly hot, and with the potential of scary and dangerous action very much on the cards. An 18-19 kt breeze, with over class limits gusts was forecast, and an 11am start. 7 sailors opted for discretion over valour that morning, remaining in the boat park and not arrayed along the shoreline. Caroline Van Beelen and Rutger couldn’t sail the full weekend, and Caroline in particular, definitely chose the best day off for her.
In these sorts of conditions, I find it get worse the more you look at it, so don’t look at it! Put your head down and just go with the others. Most of the time, it’s not actually as bad as you fear. Those who have newly acquired boats are the most scared. This can be new territory for the sailors, as the boat can take it in its stride. But pushing envelopes is what it is sometimes all about. It is essentially Type 2 fun.
The early sailors out were using the extra time to get their new high-end modes sorted. Mischa was particularly acidulous in this, making sure he was about to foil or skim in the big winds and, by now, 1m high waves. Others were seen doing the same. Testing the angles, seeing if that much downhaul would actually snap the mast or burst the sail. Or in my case, just to see what happens when a 2008 Marstrom M5 with a sailor, a stone and a half over-weight on the wire, tries to go upwind. The answer, it seems, is the thing turns into a total battleship, blasting through waves and wondering why its sailor isn’t making it go even faster. That first experience will live with me forever. At least until the sail detached from the mast track at the foot end and proving impossible to fix in the wind and wave, so meant game over before it started for me. Lesson learned, not that much outhaul next time.
Anyhow, the fleets assembled and got away at the gun. In the Classic fleet, the gun must have hit Owen Cox’s little lower trapeze fixing, because just as he got out on the wire at the line, it went bang, dumping him in and instantly capsizing his AD3. So that was the two Brits dealt with and out of the way then!
The rest shot off as usual towards the top mark. All were seen to sail quite some distance beyond the spreader before attempting to gybe. That area was slightly in the lee of a low peninsular, so was less rough in the waves. It also helped them shoot the layline to the bottom marks without possibly needing another high-risk high wind gybe experience. All made it successfully. At the blue flag, it was Marc who managed to get the better of Sjoerd this time, and Walter Gonzales BEL 87 got his best finish in 3rd.
The Open sailors in these conditions were in skim mode both up and downhill. Keeping these things in contact with the earth, in those conditions, requires great skill and energy. They were blasting. Again, Mischa’s prep got him the bullet, Thijs, back on form, got 2nd, and Gert-Jan Kos got a great 3rd.
The final race was set up. A few had dropped out and scurried back to shore and safety before something on their boats let go. Then it was the off again. 24kt gusts were recorded on the nearby lock towers. A similar style of survival sailing saw Sjoerd win again, Marc 2nd and Jan back into 3rd. The Open fleet skimmed around and saw Mischa, Thijs and Thomas finish in that order, before back to shore for tea and medals
This event was much fun for all who entered, enjoying the sunny weather, sandy beach and relaxed Hellecat vibe, a trademark of the place. Next year, 4-6th Sept will be the 4 Nations Championships. The NED, BEL, GER and GBR associations are holding their Nationals all together here. This promised to be a great event and should produce a good size fleet. Obviously, all other nationals are invited to join the party too. 3 days of racing, and maybe a special event race on the Thursday before as well.
Thanks to the Hellecat team, the race committee and all those, such as Wim, who made it happen. Back next year….
