2012 Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta Brings Peak Sailing An Outstanding Victory!

Last weekend the annual Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta was sailed of the coast of the Hague in the Netherlands. The challenging location on the North Sea coast with tidal waters make it a special event for every sailor. With the upcoming Europeans in 2013 to be held in Medemblik there has been a growing interest in the Melges 24 class in the Netherlands. New members to the class have joined with good track records in other classes such as the j-22, j-24 , x-35 and IRC owners. Crews from Estonia, Liechenstein and Great Britain joined to be part of one of the best organised races available in the Netherlands. This  event has a very high reputation for organizing things on the water and also onshore there has always been a great social calender with live music and artists to enjoy for crews and friends.

The weather had been very fortunate to the Melges sailors as the racing kicked off on Friday 25th of May with 26 degrees and 15 knots building to 25 knots in the afternoon. Perfect racing for the Melges 24 and the crew of Peak sailing took the lead with straight bullets. This crew has been working very hard since coming into the class and is a regular visitor of the Italian Volvo Cup series.

Saterday was an early harbour start but with a keen race committee and well laid courses it was again close racing with 10 - 12 knots of breeze and again Peak Sailing led the way for the other 17 boats. Behind Peak Sailing there was a fierce battle for 2nd overall with Alice in Waterland, Nic Bol's Quantum racing and John den Engelsman. Every race was very close with a pack of 12 boats fighting for the top spots.

The racing on Sunday promised tricky conditions with light airs and tidal waters which made tactics an very challenging element. The breeze started off at 5 knots, but gradually built with the seabreeze. The consisent series of Peak sailing gace them a secure 1st place, Alice in Waterland had a firm grip on 2nd overall. The battle between 3rd and 4th still had to happen on the last day. Monday's racing however got cancelled due to heavy fog, so all Melges sailors where held onshore only to be left to haul the boat out.

The next event prior to the Worlds for the Dutch fleet will be "Delta Week" with racing held on the southern home waters of Carlo Vroon. After that a majority of the fleet intends to race in the Melges 24 World Championship in Lake Garda.

Results can be found at http://content.nsr.nl/results/2012/FRD04___.HTM

pictures can be found at http://www.nsr.nl/gallery/gallery.asp