ROUND TEXEL WORLD RECORD BROKEN AFTER 7 YEARSThe world record time for a catamaran sailing around the Dutch island Texel ( 42 NM) has always been a challenge for many catsailors. The old record was set 22 years ago and has never been beaten by anyone. Then in 1999 the Beach cat club Westerslag forbid the old route due to a change of the low water areas in the north of the island and environmental reasons on the Vlakte of the Kerken.The new route was 9 miles longer and Olympic sailors Ron van Teylingen and Paul Manuel on a Tornado put the new record on the timetables in 1997.For 7 years all kinds of cats have tried to beat the record of 2 hours 30 minutes and 36 seconds. Some came very close but nobody beat them. Yesterday Hans Bouscholte and Ruurd van Wieren pushed their Tornado Sport of the beach for the second time this week and they did it. "27 seconds" Hans Bouscholte shouted to his crew. The new record of 2 hours 30 minutes and 9 seconds will stand at least until April next year when the new record season is opened. Maybe during the famous Round Texel race in June it will fall.

Source: http://www.bouscholte.nl/#

Hello Rob,
I thought the Round Texel Race was last June. How does one set a race record when there is no official race? Race records are set during real races. Look at the Olympics. In real Texel races there is traffic from 500+ other boats and the wind is often less than perfect and the current is less than ideal. These are real race conditions. To sail the Texel race course with ideal wind direction and strength and ideal current with no other boat traffic sounds a little empty. Also in many kinds of vehicle racing, cars for example, a new worlds record must beat the old worlds record by some significant amount like 1% for example. This new record beat the old record by 27 seconds out of 9036 seconds which is 0.3%. Is this really significant?
I applaud the effort made by this team but it seems like a Worlds Record Race at anything needs some ground rules and guide lines. If a record is an official Round Texel Race Record, then surely it occurrs during an official Round Texel Race.
What is the record low elapsed time that has occurred during an official, real, Round Texel Race with 500 to 1000 boats on the starting line?
Good Sailing,
Bill

[img] http://www.bouscholte.nl/data/BOUSpeed.jpeg [/img]



For some time now I have sat on the following information in order to not embarash you but you stick to your arguments about why record outside the Texel race itself are not real records.

We all know you are very proud of the old record that stood for 22 years and which was set using a Super cat 20.

I'm sure , Bill, that you aware that this record was set in the month August itself ! It was actually a pay-back towards another crew that won the Texel race that year at the expense of the Wop Rienks and his crew who later set the Round Texel record.

So from the very beginning the Round Texel records were set both during and outside the race. So either your Supercat never held the record or all other record set outside of teh Texel race are valid just as much as the Supercat record was.

I've talked to Wop and he was pretty clear about the fact that they waited for the perfect conditions as well; as all other record attempts have done.

Than you car example. What a BS. I can name many more records that don't have such a 1 % rule (swimming, athelitics, cirquit records F1, etc) . As long as the time equipment can be expected to be accurate then every second sailed off the record is enough to produce a new record. We're not measuring the time in milli seconds if you are to note.

>>This new record beat the old record by 27 seconds out of 9036 seconds which is 0.3%. Is this really significant?

Yes, it is ! You are not one of those guys that don't allow the new record holders to joy of breaking a record that they have tried to break for many times.

>>If a record is an official Round Texel Race Record, then surely it occurrs during an official Round Texel Race.

NO it does not. It didn;t for the Supercat and it is still not required for new attempts.

You don't have any additional rules for the fastest crossing of the atlantic or other distance sailing records do they. There is no rule that specifies that you can only break the 24 hour distance record in the southern Ice sea or another individual body of water ? They all can choose their platform even build there own and choose the conditions they feel will allow them to break the record. Nor do car speeds records have to be broken at Bonneville USA ? If one can do it in the Gobi desert of China than that it fine with the record officials.

>>What is the record low elapsed time that has occurred during an official, real, Round Texel Race with 500 to 1000 boats on the starting line?

Actually this record is only 2 or 3 minutes away from teh current record if my memory serves me right. During the Texel race the lead boats sail very fast. I also seem to remember that the (now) former record was set during the Texel race.

With kind regards,

Wouter

Hi Bill,

The record attempts can be done from April until September.
However the most attempts are being made the week prior to the Race. and not in the race itself.

For futher info see Wouters reply above..

Congratulations to the new recordholders from switzerland!!

the 27 seconds, show only how fast the previous recordholders were and and how hard it is, to beat the record. 27 seconds when doing 20kn. will still result in a 100 m. lead...

If I'm right the previous recordholders sailed the classic tornado (I guess without spi), so then the wind was blowing that day!

Once again congratulations!

Perhaps Bill, what is muddying the waters is that the record is being refered to by the same name as the event. Perhaps it should be "The Record for sailing around Texel Island" was just broken. While "Round Texel" (i.e. The actual race) record would be a different thing that could only be bettered on race day. I think all this is just being lost somewhere in the translation.

Hi Wouter,
I did not know that the record being discussed was previously held by a SC20 for 22 years. It was my understanding that the low ET record was held by a Tornado with spinnaker. The sailors of any boat deserve the credit for excellence, not the boat. The only Texel Race record that I know the details of are the Texel record that I set sailing a SC20 during a real race in extreme conditions. I'm sure that record has been broken long ago.
I know none of the details you are talking about relative to the old SC20 record and August and shortcuts etc. As I remember on the shallow end of the island, there were bouys to go around which kept us away from the sandy shallows and shoreline on that end of the island. Records are set to be broken so, as equipment improves and sailors try harder, records do get broken. That is real life. Here in the US distance sailing records for beach cats are set during races. Attempting to brake a race record at anytime other than during a race is a foreign concept here. I would not think of attempting to sail the Miami to Key Largo Race or the Mug Race or the RTI Race or the Hogsbreath on a non race day for the purpose of setting a new low ET record.
In the Olympics where the contest is athlete vs athlete vs the elements and no machine is used, certainly the way to measure record times is to the small fraction of a second and fractions count.
On the other hand where an athlete operates a vehicle, like a race car driver, some records for top speed, for example, have to be broken by a small margin to be declared a new official World Record.
As to ET records for crossing the Atlantic Ocean all I can say is " a beach cat is no Platstation".
Wouter, what I have said above is what I am familiar with; it is the way we do it here in the US. The way youall do it in Europe and the Netherlands is different to me and my experience so it seems strange.
Cheers,
Bill

Howdy Bill,
Why not send someone out on one of the big RC boats such as the 27 or 22? The Tornado sport is an impressive piece of work, but I think some real good sailors on a bigger boat could beat it. Is there a boat size limit?

David Ho
TheMightyHobie18 1067

Andreas, you're not actually saying that Hans Bouscholte and Ruurd van Wieren have the swiss nationality ?

I know Hans Bouscholte is born Belgian and the name of Ruud van Wieren suggest he is a descendend of a Dutch speaking group like the Vlamings or Dutch ?

Wouter

Actually each year a RC 27 and a SC 20 do participate in the Round Texel race.

There is no size limit for the race around texel as long as you can launch the boat from the beach.

Wouter

You are right, Jake, that is a big part of it.
Bill

Hi David,
I would really like to do that. All it takes is money, $$$$$. I would like to go to more races here in the US. The sailors in the Midwest and California have never seen an RC27/30. All it takes is money, $$$$.
Bill

Wouter,
I do not understand where this 9NM shortcut is in the Texel race.
As I remember back to ~1980, I think it was, the race starts on the ocean side and goes to the right. I think that is in the North direction. Then you go around the lighthouse end of the island and turn right. Then you cross the end of the island to race course bouy and turn right again and sail down the bay side of the island. I think now you are sailing South. At the end of this leg you round a red channel marker which is far out from the South shoreline of the island and looking back at the island, many sandbars can be seen. The current is very strong here against you. Then you sail across the South end of the island to a large black and white seabouy out in the ocean. Turn right again and sail up the oceanside of the island to the finish line which was the starting line.
Where is this place where a 9NM shortcut can be taken?
Bill

I don't know since when but for some years now you have to sail away from the Island after the lighthouse and end of the island to what is called the VC bouy and than turn right towards the south west and the Island again. This little triangle is about 9 nm and in the earlier time you were allowed to hug the bay side of the Island . The Nothern part of this old route is now a small nature reserve (Vlakte van Kerken)

Wouter

No, spelling has it's own ...

when I read the sentence above, it is for sure missleading..

Congratulations, to the new recordholders, from switzerland!!