For updated list of participant go to : http://www.geocities.com/f16hpclass/Dutch_coast_challenge_2004.html

The work is really starting to come down on us or rather me. Funny how there are always heaps of enthousiasts in the fun stages but when the real work starts you find yourself alone. No problem though this allows me to work more effectively !!! They other enthousiasts can now also be pay the full entry fee. But seriously :

Things ar looking good and a few difficulties have arisen but appear to be solvable.

However with this post I'm introducing a participation limit of 10 boats, (which is already to many). Imagine showing up with 20 sailors and 10 boats at one of the more remote and smaller clubs. Well, they will have to prepare for such a thing ! We are at 9 boats right now and at least 16 sailors. 6 crews from abroad and 3 from the Netherlands itself. That leaves us with just 1 boat slot open this we reach the limit and after that it is "next year !".

I have been succesful at contacting all but one cat club and they welcomed us with open arms. When I mention that 2 Australian, 4 British, 3 Dutch crews will arrive on their stretches of sand they were all very enthousiastic. They think it is cool and with in limits we may use all their facilities.

In particular the cat club **** immediately asked what we would do on our day of rest on the Island of Texel (staying at their club). I replied :"Do you have something in mind ?" . "Yes", he said :"you could do a sail around round the next Island of Vlieland, good fun !" It turns out that these guys do that sort of thing 10 times a year when they feel like it and the weather permits such a trip. We'd have to time it to coincide with high tide though; to get over the sandbars and mud flats but it sounds like a rest day attivity I would personally enjoy very much. One UK crew expressed a high desire to do so as well. They're collecting circumnavigation trips around islands with funny (sheep) names. If others are tired and want to rest than they can do so or explore the Island of Texel, if they want ? Nahhh ! In any case this round Vlieland will be an optional activity.

I'm currently also working out a cooking staff to supply us with something special each evening. I think I've just managed to arrange a former full time cook (a catsailor at my club !). We're thinking about doing a lot more each evening than just one plate of tucker. But of course we're somewhat limited by budget. That just means we have to be more creative, right ! It looks promising indeed.

John Pierce just contacted me and announced that a UK crew is willing to charter their Stealth R for the DCC and that they're asking 750 Euro's for it. They also have a Stealth F16 and will bring both boats to the DCC while sailing the F16 themselfs. The crew chartering needs to take out their own insureance.

Of course the last slot can also go a crew bringing their own boat.

I've just run the numbers on the costs of these 9 days of sailing and living. I'm leaning heavily towards a fee of 350 Euro's per person including everything except bar visits. So everything is included from toiletpaper to Westland regatta fee - from safety flares to small appetizers. We want it to be possible for a crew to fly in with his wetsuit and bouyancy aid and stap on a boat with vacant crew spot and only pay Flight + entry fee to cover the whole event. I think we are quite succesful in that.

Things add up and most of the cost is currently taken up by food, drink, lodging and safety so I don't expect significant reductions unless some-one can help us out in these area's in a major way. Maybe, someone in the club owns a wine store or has connections that he or she can work to get some good deals ?

To set an example I will donate a few bottles of liqour.

So entry fee will be 350 Euro.- per person for the trip.

The preliminary program looks like this :

Saterday 24 juli

Arrival of the participants where each boat is issued a bar card with credit as welcome. This to cover the drinks during the day and the Sateh evening. The whole cat club Zandvoort will be out for this annual social evening. Of course the food is payed for by the entry fee. For vegetarians there is an alternative meal. During the day we'll build up the boats, get to know eachother and do some test sailing to see is anybody forgot some important (boat)parts.

We'll stay the night at this catamaran club making use of the their facilities like W.C. and showers. Any stuff not needed during the stay will be stored at my home that is only some 8 km (5 miles away) near my home there is enough parking space for all cars and trailers.


Sunday

The first day of serious sailing.

Breakfast, showers at Zandvoort and then we're setting off north towards Den Helder. The longest leg of our 5 days of touring ; 65 km at 18 degrees North-North East. The sun on our backs, wind often as well; hopefully blasting along under spinnaker on a south-wester (predominant) or else beam reaching on a stable westerly wind or a gusty eastern thermal. In to the deep end but not to worry, sandy beaches all the way along a coastline speckled with cat clubs and lifeguard posts. We'll be looking at the people laying on the beaches getting baked while they will be looking back at us being COOL ! Sunglasses fixed, water in our hair, freeriding on the wind for hours. Sailing towards a sandy paradise. 10 high performance boats with colourfull spinnakers. Life doesn't get any better than this.

In the evening, on the beach overlooking the Texelstroom and seeing the island of Texel, our first dinner prepared by our **** staff and help from participants. Together with appetizers and a few pints and/or bottles of the red stuff. A day like this may not be concluded in any other way than this. The moon is growing into a full moon the next weekend. So with luck we may welcome a starry night with a big lamp in the sky lighting our camp with a soft blue light knowing this only gets better with each night !


Monday 26 juli

Breakfast at our camp, fixing up the car and trailor to catch the ferry to the island of Texel. Preparing the boats and leave Den Helder for the most nortern point of the Island of Texel. Sail 40 km north and make a sharp turn at the lighthouse on to the tidel flats and land in front of the catamaran club "De ****". Navigating between the sandbars and deep subsurface tide tenches. Timing our start to coincide with dead tide than onto the open sea with hundreds of miles strecht for the wind to gain speed. Wind and water in your hair and some sand in your eyes. . This is the same stretch of water that is sailed at the beginning and end of the Round Texel distance race. Don't underestimate the last 2 km of the way. There can be a strong current there. You can have a waterspeed of 15 km and get no closer to the lighthouse. Luckily thert is also a ramp on the sea side as well and with the car and trailer on the Island as well we can transport the boat over the last 2 km by trailer if we really have to.

In the evening we try to outdo the meal we had the day before and expect to see more stars because of less artificial lights coming of the mainland and Den Helder.


Tuesday 27 juli

Breakfast at camp. Deciding what to do on our day of rest. Exploring the Island of Texel, sleep in the sand, take a ferry and bike ride on the next island or hook up with some other sailors and attempt to round the Island of Vlieland that lies nearby.
Dinner at camp and fixing up camp so that we can leave quickly the next day to time our crossing of the TexelStroom at just the right time.


Wednesday 28 juli

Breakfast, warming ourselfs to the sun and getting ready. Another big day ahead.
Turning our bows south again, doing the first shy 50 km from the **** to Callantsoog including traversing the Texelstroom, the waterway between the mainland and the Island of Texel. Timing will be crucial here if we don't want to sail against the (strong) current. Depending on the water tables this may be an early rise and breaking up of camp.
Dinner at camp in Callantsoog, one of the more quite place on the mainland shoreline.

Thursday 29 juli

Our second leg towards the sun. Bring your sunglasses ! Covering 50 km from the cat club at Callantsoog to the start club of our tour Zandvoort. As promised at the beginning of this project. Old Beers and warm showers awaiting us here.

This leg will either be an uphill beat all the way or a screaming reach. In the summer one can either have a mild or strong south-west wind along the coastline or a little from the sea or a hot thermal micocirculation giving a gusty wind from the shore. No current to worry about of sandbar or tidal flats. Just put on some shades, hook on, hand the mainsheet to you crew and make darn good arrangements on who does what when the gusts hit. With luck we get the more stable south-western and can just ride the whole leg over one tack became very tanned all over the right side of our body while leaving the left side a little pale.

After the beers ; a dinner revolving around fish.


Friday 30 juli

Breakfast of course
Last day of the tour stages. We cover the last 50 km to the location of the Westland cup. This part will be new and we'll be passing the part of the Dutch coast line with the highest density of beach catamarans (largest has 250 boats). I personally expect to meet a few other boats sailing down to 's Gravenzande on the leg. Certainly a fleet of 9 boats passing these clubs will spread the news ahead of our arrival as well. We'll pass a few beach resorts and the residence city of The Hague. Sailing on to a location very close to the largest port in Europe (Rotterdam).


Saterday 31 juli

First day of the Westland Cup regatta. First day of bouy racing.
Breakfast at our own tent - dinner (BBQ) provided by the regatta organisation; together with the other participants.


Sunday 1 aug

Second day of the Westland Cup, more bouy racing
Breakfast either at our own tent or together with the nightguards of the party tent / boats
At the end of the day after the prize giving we'll have our farewell dinner in a restaurant.
Some of us will probably leave this sunday evening but it is expect that most will stay the night and pack things up on monday.



If you are interested and not listed yet than be sure to ask yourself wether the 10 th slot is for you and wether you need a charter vessel or will bring your own.

Till the next update

Wouter

Westland cup (end of week)

http://kzvg.nl/index.php3?main=westlandcup.txt&links=westlandcup.txt

And hosting club 's Gravenzande :

http://kzvg.nl/





Now clubs we pass on our trip (only a few of them and some sites are more interest then others)

http://www.wvz.vuurwerk.nl/ Zandvoort

http://www.kzbvbergen.nl/ Bergen

http://www.cat72.com/ Hargen

http://www.kzdh.nl/ : Den Helder

See here an airial photo of the cat club Den Helder (one of the smaller ones)

Notice the water both in front and to the back of the dunes. No shortage of water in Holland !



Wouter

And here some airial pics of Texelstroom, a narrow between the mainland and Island of Texel that we'll cross. In the middle of the pictures you'll see a 5 km long and 1.5 km wide. Sand Island that devides the ingoing and outgoing currents into two channels that are 15 and 34 meters deep = deeper than most of the north sea. Cool huh.

First picture shows the breaking surf in heavy weather. Notice how the route on the inside is sheltered. That's the one we're taking. The last picture shows the town and navy Base of Den Helder. The Sand Island (Called NoorderHaaks) is in the back towards the west.

Pic 1 : Noorderhaaks, with tip of Texel to the left and Den Helder to the right. Cat Club Den Helder is right in the middle of the land slip on the right (in the background) facing the noorderhaaks



Now taken from the other side (from Den Helder) On teh right the southern tip of the dune Island of Texel. That narrow opening between the two sand plates is where we're going through. Well Narrow; still over 1 km wide



Here one showing more of the dune island of Texel on the left (pic take from sea again looking east, Den Helder on the right)



And last a Picture of Den Helder and part of the Navy base. Noorderhaaks to the back and Texel just off the picture.




Anybody getting vibes yet ? Well I do. Good ones !

Wouter

And here probably the most FUN oriented club on our tour Hargen 7.2

http://www.cat72.com/default.asp?art_id=26

Klik on "foto's" and see much more

Wouter

And here "attached" the maritime maps of the Marsdiep (about the part I called TexelStroom in my earlier post by mistake), Texel itself and the Eierlandse Gap were we make a sharp turn around the lighthouse to arrive at Cat club ****.

Sadly this forum only allow 100 kb and smaller attachment so I can't get more details in.

But here are they any for the crews wanting to do some homework before they come out here.

Note that the hook of the Noorderhaaks is now curling the other way around. In the maps it is depicted as hooking south but currently it is hooking north as soon on picture in other posts. This sand island changes all the time. So I will buy the most update map right before we go out.

Enjoy !

Click on attachment

Click attachment

Re: Scan # 3 : rounding the lighthouse :Eierlandse grounds or Gap

Click attachment

Wouter

.

I'm so jealous.... I've never seen that many cat sail in one plaec at one time. We are lucky out here if 20 boats show up to a regatta......

That is so typical of sailors to want to go sailing on a rest day from sailing!!!

Looks like a great trip. Are we going to get a running commentary?

Rob.

>>I'm so jealous.... I've never seen that many cat sail in one plaec at one time. We are lucky out here if 20 boats show up to a regatta......


Ohh but we're really spoiled. We have to compare these things with Texel (600 sails) and Rondje Tiengemeente (150 sails) en events like F18 worlds (100 sails). With that our own club race series of 21 heats (10 days) of about 12 to 24 sails is small.

Many times we have to remind ourself not to compete with 150-600 sails but be happy with the average 17 sails.

Ohh you know what is almost unbearable to see ? Catclub katwijk. I used to lie at the club next door, some 3 miles to the south. We had 100 boats at the club and an embarashing 7-8 boat club race series. Than we'd look north and see 30-40 cats sail in the katwijk club series EVERY SUNDAY for 4 months on end ! That makes you feel small !

But Theo if you're interested, we may have a crew spot open for you ?

Wouter

>>That is so typical of sailors to want to go sailing on a rest day from sailing!!!

I ain't takin' no day o' rest from sailing my cat !

That day o' rest is for the sailors with a weaker complexion and to have some margin to get back when the weather forcasts deteriorate.


>>Looks like a great trip. Are we going to get a running commentary?

I'm not sure set. Will be difficult to take a laptop along let alone plug it in somewhere on the beach.

I'm hoping to get lots of photo's and some footage but somebody has to volunteer to do so as I'll be busy with the other stuff.

We'll see.

I'm at least informing some magazines and papers of the trip when all things have fallen in place. F16 promo !

Wouter