Who the heck are these Dutch guys anyway? Between them they have several F18 Worlds Titles and their sailing during the F18 North Americans showed everyone exactly why. These guys are fast!

A few years back, Aaron Worrall and Worstie from Australlia came to out Hobie 16 NAs in Alameda, CA and proceeded to school our highly pedigreed 16 fleet. Sometimes these guys bettered our best by a leg. I remember being dumfounded as to how these two made the same boat go so much faster than anyone else.

That’s how I felt at the beginning of this week while watching Coen and Thijs utterly school the rest of a pretty good fleet with a bunch of bullets. Today, Friday, things started to unravel slightly for the pair with three 3rd palces and a 10th. Still pretty good, right? Their team mates Gunnar and Jeroen, who started off the week with a 7th, a couple of 4ths and 6th, came alive today with 3 bullets and a 2nd!

Watch out though, Greg Thomas and Jacques tweaked a few things and finished with a bullet and three 2nds today, putting them in a solid 3rd overall. Just saying.

Every Dutch guy I’ve ever met has been super laid back, which I’ve always attributed to the fact that their capitol is Amsterdam, and Gunnar, Jeroen, Coen and Thijs are no different. Clear all of that junk off the couch guys, I’m coming to visit for a while! Here’s what they had to say about the state of F18 affairs:

JL: What are some of the major differences between F18 sailing here in the States and what you guys are doing in Europe?

CK: You guys are going slower. (everyone laughs)

GL: This (Long Beach) is a nice place to sail really. I’ve been in two places in the U.S., Miami and here and both are awesome, great circumstances, great climate, and really fun sailing.

JL: How is the fleet different here in the U.S.?

CK: The fleets in Europe in the f18 class are a little bit larger. The first F18 North Americans I sailed was in Michigan in 2001. Compared to 2001 and now the level of the American F18 sailors has gone up a lot. It’s a very big difference. It’s good because the class gets bigger and bigger worldwide, which is a good thing. The reason we came all the way here to Long Beach was to achieve a good performance, but also to help the Formula 18 class grow.

TV: In Holland it’s growing and I think you guys are following us here.

JL: Where do you think F18 sailing is headed? Worldwide, but especially here in the States.

CK: It’s definitely growing. There are signals coming from anywhere and everywhere worldwide of Formula 18s picking up, and there are many new class associations starting every year. South America is adopting the F18. They used to have Prindle 19 and Prindle 18-2 fleet, but now it’s being converted to F18. It has everything to do with that it is possible for people to come to our worlds and compete on our boats, maybe not on the same level, but they can actually train at home.

JL:I hear that you guys learned that there are some cultural differences between how Americans take off their wet-gear and how the Dutch do it? Let’s hear about your little incident in the parking lot.

(Everyone laughs)

CK: Yes, Thijs was swinging his two-pounder in the parking lot and some girls couldn’t take it anymore. Now they’re ruined for life. In the Netherlands everyone gets naked on the beach and no one really cares, and I guess here you’re more modest.

(Everyone laughs)

JL: Right on. Well, it’s really nice to have you guys here to up the level of competition for this event. Hope to see you soon.

There are over 20 different Hobie classes.

Maybe in Europe, but not in the U.S.

There were approximately 1,750 attendees at HCA sanctioned events in 2009.

How many events? (Just wondering what the average attendance was.)