Update Europeans F16 Lake Como

First news from the Europeans at Lake Como. After taking some time to arrange the internet connection at the club we finally managed to get the connection. Helen Goodall will do some reports the coming days and i also will try to keep everybody as updated as possible.
The checking of the boats has started Friday and there were some full measurements of boats and the normal checking on weights and sail area from boats who already had the documents fixed before coming over. There were no strange things happening and it looks that the people who are competing know exactly what is needed and how it works. I did take photo’s about the procedure how things should run for future events and there will be guiding put together to explain a lot of things.
All boats did meet to stay inside the weight limit of 104/107 kg, the lightest was 106,3 kg and the heaviest was around 129,8 kg , the rest was between this.
At the moment of this writing not everybody has arrived but we have now 2 aqua Raptors, 2 Blades, 7 Viper , 2 Stealth’s, 3 Falcons , but the are probably more Blades and Vipers coming and 1 or 2 Bim.
The weather is good from Wednesday with temperatures going from 35 C to 42 C with a good thunder storm at Saturday night cooling down the whole bit to normal temperatures like 29 to 32 C. The wind condition where medium winds the last days and the forecast is that there will be medium winds for the whole week.
The Viper teams did bring in a high level of competitors with Bundy, Carolijn and Brett and Jason going for the title. These people are really fast and well trained.
The series starts Monday morning at around 13.00 and I will try to update everybody every evening and this together with pictures.
I will do the resizing of the photo’s so far tonight and put this on the forum.

Best regards,
Hans Klok

Thanks Hans, and good luck to all!

Cheers!

Report on the Formula 16 website

Personal report on our blog

Nice report Gil and good luck. My best to everyone.

The sailors are all preparing themselves for the first heats. The wind is still quite light, but should build.

There are 16 boats registered, with sailors from 7 Countries - UK, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, New Zealand and Australia.

The fleet is very mixed -
5 Uni & 11 Sloop
10 females - (4 at the helm)
Large number of youth (under 20 years.)

Check out the press release on 2B Sailing. Darren and Carolijn are really supporting the sailors of tomorrow, and females in sailing... Well done!!
2B's press release for F16 Euros

I may not get all reports onto this forum, however, I will be attempting to keep the following links up to date:
TWITTER – (AHPC_live)
FACEBOOK – (AHPC (Australian High Performance Catamarans)
WEBSITE – www.ahpc.com.au

And, yes, I will apologies in advance for any AHPC slant on my reporting!!!

Boats have left the beach.

Wind is very light (0 - 5 knots) but is from the southerly direction. So should build. They are predicting 15 knots.

3 races scheduled today.

Thanks Helen.

First race has finished.

I am on the beach and cannot see the racing. Greg is out on one of the official boats and is sending small bits of info back.

Places in first race...
1st - Carolijn & Liz,
2nd - Froukje Feenstra & Bundy,
3rd - Thijs Visser & Diemer Feenstra

+1 !

Wouter

Wouter, do you know any more about the ladies on the first two boats- excluding Bundy of course!

We should promote them, girls are good for the class!

Lara & Sylvia Siccouri are the daughters of a very well known F18 sailor - Pierre.

Pierre purchased one of the very first Vipers into Europe and they are sailing this boat.

Pierre sadly passed away some 18 months ago, but I am sure he would be very proud of his daughters.

Any links to pictures and the like? Anyone? I'll repost to SA.

Full list of competitors below... (Sorry that I cannot complete all the boat types):

GBR 207 ? warren paul & anne powter
AUS 189 VIPER christa van helden & brett goodall
NED 194 VIPER froukje fenstra & darren bundock
NED 193 VIPER this visser & diemer feenstra
ITA 1 ? riccardo ceriani & elia mazzucchi
GBR 8 VIPER chris sproat & jury rosanna
BEL 666 FALCON gill de bruyene & kathleen vandenbulcke
ITA 700 VIPER silvia sicouri & lara sicouri
AUS 192 VIPER jason waterhouse & lisa darmanin
BEL 888 VIPER caroljin brouwer & liz wardley
ITA 111 BLADE federico farina & luca bertani
FRA 515 ? eric noyau
NED 111 AQUARAPTOR hans klok
GBR 555 STEALTH mark pressdee
NZL 202 FALCON daniel todd
NED 1 BLADE geert ruesink

Photos will happen later.... Cameras are on the water.

Any word on Geert? He's gotta get an A for effort.

Second race - Winds have increased to around 10 - 12 knots.
They are coming around the marks faster than Greg can type on his blackberry.

Top mark for the last time:
Aus192 - Jason & Lisa
Ned193 - This & Diemer
Aus194 - Froukje & Bundy

More like an A+. I met him last night, and was very impressed!

Second race is finished... Note these are very UNOFFICIAL results.

Aus192 - Jason & Lisa
Ned193 - This & Diemer
Ita700 - Lara & Sylvia
Aus189 - Christa & Brett
Aus194 - Froukje & Bundy (Capsized. 50m from finish and lost 2 places)
Bel888 - Carolijn & Liz
Ita111 - Federico & Luca
Gbr207 - Paul & Ann
Gbr8 - Chris & Rosanna
Bel666 - Gill & Kathleen
Ita1 - Ricdcardo & Elia

3rd race has started - 14 knots.

At the end 1st lap
193 - This & Diemer,
888 - Carolijn & Liz,
192 - Jason & Lisa,
666 - Gill & Kathleen
189 - Christa & Brett
700 - Silvia & Lara

At the end of 2nd lap
193 - This & Diemer,
192 - Jason & Lisa,
888 - Carolijn & Liz,
189 - Christa & Brett
700 - Silvia & Lara
666 - Gill & Kathleen
111 - Hans Klok
194 - Froukje & Bundy

Race 3 completed.... Vipers take top 6 places (Sorry - AHPC slant showing!!)
193 - This & Diemer
192 - Jason & Lisa
888 - Carolijn & Liz
189 - Christa & Brett
700 - Lara & Silvia
194 - Froukje & Bundy

This is a great start - 3 races, 3 different winners and 3 different combinations.
1st race - All girls team
2nd race - Mixed team
3rd race - All boys team

The next picture show ITA 111 to be an Aquaraptor.

http://www.formula16.net/content/view/102/1/lang,en/

So I guess ITA 1 is a Blade F16

ITA 1 Blade F16 riccardo ceriani & elia mazzucchi
ITA 111 Aquaraptor F16 federico farina & luca bertani


Paul Warren en Anne Powter own a Falcon F16 and I expect them to have brung that boat with them

FRA 515 of eric noyau is probably a Stealth F16 as they are basically the only boats with numbers in that range. There were a handful of Blades with 500 numbers but that soon changed to the 700 series. His boat with red and white sails is in the pictures and his hulls do appear to be Stealth like, however his boat is hidden from view mostly.

Wouter

Hellen,

When you see Geert, please tell him he is my hero !

What a spirit to just get out there and fill the ranks when he is sailing singlehanded with only his teeth to sheet the spinnaker.

As Pete says : He earns one big A+ for effort and spirit.

Wouter

Hey, if there is success to be celebrated then I for one am not asking for muted emotions !

Maybe I would have written "Viper CREWS take top 6 places" but that would be nitpicking I guess !

Congrats to the crews and indeed really nice to see such a nice mix of crew make-ups.

Again, many thanks to you and Greg for providing the updates. Rest assured that I'm checking in often during my small breaks !

Wouter

Sailors are back on the beach..... They are all sharing their war stories.

Bundy went swimming.... TWICE!!

So too, did a few of the others!!

Results after Day 1 (These should be available on the website shortly)

NED 193 VIPER this visser & diemer feenstra 3 2 2 = 7
AUS 192 VIPER jason waterhouse & lisa darmanin 6 1 1 = 8
BEL 888 VIPER caroljin brouwer & liz wardley 1 6 3 = 10
AUS 189 VIPER christa van helden & brett goodall 4 4 4 = 12
NED 194 VIPER froukje fenstra & darren bundock 2 5 6 = 13
ITA 700 VIPER silvia sicouri & lara sicouri 5 3 5 = 13
ITA 111 BLADE federico farina & luca bertani 10 7 7 = 24
GBR 8 VIPER chris sproat & jury rosanna 8 9 9 = 26
GBR 207 ? warren paul & anne powter 9 8 10 = 27
BEL 666 FALCON gill de bruyene & kathleen vandenbulcke 7 17 8 = 32
NED 111 AQUARAPTOR hans klok 17 11 11 = 39
ITA 1 ? riccardo ceriani & elia mazzucchi 17 10 17 = 44
GBR 555 STEALTH mark pressdee 11 17 17 = 45
NZL 202 FALCON daniel todd 12 17 17 = 46
FRA 515 ? eric noyau 17 17 17 = 51
NED 9 BLADE geert ruesink 17 17 17 = 51

Following on from the results, many of the "17's" were scored as the boats did not finish in the time limit. 15 minutes after 1st place.

This is being extended to 30 minutes for future races.

Wow, 15 minutes can be really tight if the wind lets up.

Report after the first day.
There was a light start of the day with not much wind and during the start the wind was still building and it was shown that you needed to know how it works here because Riccardo on the Blade went to the right and the rest of the fleet went to the left. The right was the way to go on the first beat and Riccardo was first at the mark. The Viper pro ‘s where following him and passed him during the downwind leg. In the mean time the wind was building and the single handers had no change at all anymore because the wind was increasing to 17/18 knots and there where spots where it reached the 20knts. It was a 2 hander wind and the same is expected today.
After the first race the Vipers where in front with Federico & Luca following close on the aquaRaptor but they missed the gate so they had a DNF.
The new aquaRaptor is performing well but you see that there is sailing time on the boats needed to get them quick. I personally found out that I did not sailed enough on the boat so far, there is increasing of the speed going thru the races yesterday and I am getting back the feeling. Let you know more about it later on.
In the 2nd and third race the wind was still around the 17 knts and the single handers where work very hard to keep the boats going and where fighting in the back of the field. The special attention needed to go to Geert because he did 2 races as the only real single hander. It was very impressive to see him going up wind with one hand and handle the wind and gusts and even more impressive to see him go with the spinnaker , the pulling up and bringing down with 1 arm is a difficult and I must say
GO GEERT GO.
The races for today are scheduled to start at 13.00 again with 3 races to go.
The classification after today ( with modification made after writing errors )
1. Visser/Feenstra 7 pnt
2. Waterrhouse/Darmanin 8 pnt
3. Brouwer/Wardley 10 pnt
4. Van Helden/Goodall 12 pnt
5. Feenstra/Bundock 13 pnt
6. Sicouri/Sicouri 13 pnt
7. De Bruyne/Vandenbulcke 25 pnt
8. Sproat/Jury 26 pnt
9. Warren/Powter 27 pnt
10. Farina/Bertani 31 pnt
11. Klok 33 pnt
12. Ceriani/Mazzucchi 45 pnt
13. Pressdee 45 pnt
14. Todd 46 pnt
15. Noyau 51 pnt
16. Ruesink 51 pnt
The finishing limit time is changed to 30 minutes instead of 15 minutes because the single handers had to much problems in getting on time at the finish.
There are made a lot of photo’s and there are probably a few at the websites and there will be more coming soon.


Ciao,
Hans

Good morning all.... And another great day here at Lago Como.

Check out the reports on Catamaran Racing, News & Designs

Ok... I have bitten.

There has been reference of the "Viper Pros" on more than one report about these F16 Euros and I thought it was only fair to put my 2 bits in here.

Yes, there is Bundy, Carolijn and Brett who have a financial interest in these boats, but NO-ONE is being paid to sail a VIPER.....

2B Sailing, Fun in the Sun and AHPC are all committed to supporting youth sailors - Especially CATAMARAN SAILORS. With this in mind, boats were offered to youth teams - Two offers were accepted - Jason & Lisa from Australia, and Thijs & Diemer from Netherlands. (PS Taylor & Matt were also offered a boat but could not make it from US!)

As well as these teams, Bundy has taken to crewing with Froukje from the Netherlands, and wow, what an experience for this 17 year old.

Chris Sproat has also joined in the spirit and left Georgina at home and taken on a youth crew - Rosanna 18yrs. (Sorry Georgina, would have loved to meet you.)

Also, Silvia and Lara - They are sailing on a 2 year old boat... and yes, they are still very competitive. They had a few issues with their spinnaker yesterday, but this has hopefully been sorted so watch out for more GIRL POWER!!

Formula 16 website updated: F16 website


Blog updated:
http://bladef16.blogspot.com/2010/07/f16-europeans-day-1.html

It was a great day, we learned alot and we still have 4 days to go, yeah!

As the "Paparazzi" we are trying something new today. I am going out on the boat to take photos.

We will have a Blackberry out there and will be posting directly onto the AHPC_live Twitter.

This you will be able to read from AHPC website

Thanks Helen, looking forward to the photos.

Personally, I'm very glad to see the depth of talent on the Viper team. It's good for the class and good for the sport, imo.

Good luck all!

All for it if Bundy and the likes help develop and give the opportunity for young helms to participate in events like this, sponsorship of this form doesn't come cheap and promotion of this form can only help strengthen our class.

Good luck everyone, particularly the GB sailors.

Lots of activity today.... Jason & Lisa capsized 2 minutes before the last race started. Bundy capsized 2 minutes before the finish of the last race and went from 1st to about 7th!!!

Brett was hit and sank.... Not sure about the full story, but will get that to you shortly. They are still attempting to bring the Viper back to shore.

A number of protests are to be heard as one of the "gate" bouys was moved and there was some confusion re the rounding rule.

But the highlight for me was that Sylvia and Lara Sicouri are going SOOOO fast!!!! I think they got 2 seconds today... but still waiting to see the results. GO GIRL POWER!!!

Sorry I have not been able to get info out to you like yesterday.

Good job Helen, thanks again.

Wayne, I keep hoping Spithill, Smyth and some more of that F40 bunch will hop on a F16 Uni!

Go Geert Go!

PROVISIONAL RESULTS (Places with one drop):

NAT NO Boat total Nett
NED 193 VIPER this visser & diemer feenstra 3 2 2 2 4 1 = 14 , 10
AUS 192 VIPER jason waterhouse & lisa darmanin 6 1 1 6 1 7 = 22 , 15
ITA 700 VIPER silvia sicouri & lara sicouri 5 3 5 5 2 2 = 22 , 17
BEL 888 VIPER caroljin brouwer & liz wardley 1 6 3 4 6 OCS = 37 , 20
NED 194 VIPER froukje fenstra & darren bundock 2 5 6 1 OCS 8 = 39 , 22
AUS 189 VIPER christa van helden & brett goodall 4 4 4 3 10 DNF = 42 , 25
GBR 207 ? warren paul & anne powter 9 8 10 8 3 3 = 41 , 31
ITA 111 BLADE federico farina & luca bertani 10 7 7 7 9 6 = 46 , 36
BEL 666 FALCON gill de bruyene & kathleen vandenbulcke 7 17 8 10 7 4 = 53 , 36
GBR 8 VIPER chris sproat & jury rosanna 8 9 9 9 5 9 = 49 , 40
NED 111 AQUARAPTOR hans klok 10 12 11 11 11 10 = 65 , 53
ITA 1 ? riccardo ceriani & elia mazzucchi 17 11 17 RAF 8 5 = 58 , 58
GBR 555 STEALTH mark pressdee 11 17 17 14 13 11 = 83 , 66
NZL 202 FALCON daniel todd 12 17 17 13 12 17 = 88 , 71
FRA 515 ? eric noyau 17 17 17 12 17 17 = 97 , 80
NED 9 BLADE geert ruesink 17 17 17 15 14 17 = 97 , 80

Update is on the Formula 16 website: results and photos (thanks for the pics Helen!)

Some more photos
Carolijn & Liz
The Sicouri Sisters
The Sicouri Sisters Part 2
Froukje & Bundy
Christa & Brett
Thijs & Diemer - The Dutch all boys team
The Kids from Downunder

On the 2nd photo, have a look at the mast

I would hazard the guess that Christa is the Biscuits... because Brett is absolutely Crackers.

Holy crooked mast BATMAN!!!!!!!

You know what's amazing, that the only way these masts have broken is from the mainsheet coming uncleated downwind in a breeze with the spinnaker or the spreader arms were knocked out of whack from a capsize or something.


Mike

Take a look at the cross section next time you see the inside of the extrusion. There are four longitudinal ribs (vs two in the F18 extrusion). Those masts are surprisingly tough.

Hee Hee.... SO TRUE!!!

Some Great reports on Catamaran Racing, News & Design

For me this picture some it up quite nicely

(especially with the latter races where the some of the other crews have found their footing as well).


Three F16 crews on different boat makes in a single picture and battling it out on the water (rather then on the forums ! that's joke !)

From foreground to background.

Frederico and Luca (Aquaraptor F16)
Gill and Kathleen (Falcon F16)
Silva and Lara (Viper F16)

A nice spread in gender and ages as well !

Simply brilliant !

Update F16 Lake Como.

The 2nd day raced in a lot of wind and again single handers are again not in favor. Today it is going to look a bit less wind. We willsee at the end of the day.

Ciao,

Hans

I'm a bit surprised myself, but here I am cheering Hans on !

I know him to be a skilled catamaran racer and it just isn't right to see such a person anywhere but near the top of the board.

From what I've seen, the Aquaraptor F16 design on which Hans has spend so much time developing (instead of training), is deserving of some high placings and some of the spot light.

So :

Go Hans Go !

Wouter

And how is the food and wine at the local lake side pub ?

Great day at the Office for the Viper Crews AND THE GIRLS....

Race 7 - Carolijn & Liz, Christa & Brett, Jason & Lisa, Froukje & Bundy, Silvia & Lara.

Race 8 - GO GIRL POWER 1st & 2nd - Silvia & Lara, Carolijn & Liz, Froukje & Bundy... Not sure after that was too busy celebrating the GIRLS wins!

Race 9 - VIPERS 1 to 6 -Jason & Lisa, Froukje & Bundy, Thijs & Diemer, Silvia & Lara, Carolijn & Liz, Christa & Brett.....

I wish I had a Viper......

AND WERE HERE!!!!!

The food, wine, scenery, sailing and weather are all Bellissimo!!!

Some great photos on Marco's photos

There are MORE to come. And feel free - Marco has said it is OK to download them. Thanks Marco.

I wonder who came in behind 4th in race 7, after 3rd in race 8 and after 6th in race 9.

I'm guessing they weren't Viper crews, but that isn't telling much as I'm more interested in the persons anyway.


I'm also interested in the mano-a-mano in singlehanded land. Some of those guys must be working their butts off in 15-20 knots of wind considering that Bundy is twittering that being in front is hard work !

It is also good to see Paul Warren and Ann Powter finding their footing and moving up the ranks since race 5 and 6 (two 3rd places). I really wonder if they are able to sustain this trend today in races 7, 8 and 9.

There simply must be a great human interest story there.

Wouter

Don't bet on that Wouter..... I was too busy taking photos to "twit" and keep up with the placings.

Here are the full results!!! Results after Day 3

..

It was a bit lighter today but still very exciting racing. Paul & Ann and we are in a draw for 7th place right now, wow that will be awesome tomorrow :-) There is still alot possible with the top 5 points being very close to each other and places 7 to 10 are also close. This is how it should always be, exciting to the end.

The Formula 16 website has been updated with the top 10 results.

We'll write a story on our blog tonight. But first: we have a dinner offered by the club, looking forward to that. After every race they also treat us to some food and drinks (pasta or fruit, beer and sodas), and that's really nice.

Fantastic wind, scenic location, great club amenities (pasta after racing, yeah!) what else do you need... Well icould use a new boat, my old stealth has problems following the pace. But then it's probably the sailor more than the boat. Anyway i have the honor of holding the last place since the first race, go me!.

Then in the mean time I'll repost some of the reports that have appeared else where on the internet.


******************** Report race day 1 ******************

Source : http://catsailingnews.blogspot.com/search/label/F16%20Europeans

Race Update – F16 Euro Challenge – Day 1
Date: 19 July 2010 Location: AVAL-CDV Centro Vela Alto Lario - Gravedona, Lake Como, Italy

Race 1.
Race one of the F16 Euro Challenge on Lake Como got underway in the building southerly breeze which started off in 8knots and steadily build to 14knots by the end of the first lap.
The fleet came out of the start and headed for the eastern shore except one lone Italian boat (local) that went hard right and led the fleet easily around the first mark. This set the trend for the rest of the day with more pressure on the western shore.
The battle in the front was between Sojasun – Carolijn Brouwer and Liz Wardley with superior down wind speed and Froukje Feenstra and Darren Bundock. Both boats cleared from the rest of the fleet as the breeze increased in a intense battle with less than a boat length separating the two at each mark rounding. Brouwer/Wardley gained the upper hand claiming buoy room on the last mark to the finish.

Race 2.
The breeze had set in at a constant 15knots with the fight for the right hand side saw the young guns come to the fore with the battle between the youngest team, Jason Waterhouse/Lisa Darmanin and Thijs Visser/Diemer Feenstra. Froukje Fenstra chasing 3rd. Waterhouse showed great upwind speed to breakaway leaving the battle for second in the Feenstra family until Froukje and Bundy capcised just meters from the finish.

Race 3.
Race 3 saw the Sicouri sisters led to the first mark after great tactics timing the layline to perfection and squeezing around in first only to have problems to hoist the spinnaker and handing over the lead to Thijs Visser but it was Jason Waterhouse that was on the charge after being 5th around the first mark to take the lead on the final downwind to the finish.
Jason Waterhouse AUS “We are really enjoying the boat and are adapting quickly, it just smokes downwind in the flat water. Glamour sailing conditions”

Froukje Feenstra NED “I was so pleased after the first race to battle it out all the way to the finish with Carolijn and Liz, it was so close.” I am now getting called the capcise kid after two capcises today. The first one right on the finish but I really wanted to beat my brother for second.
Darren Bundock AUS “ I had so much fun out there today, Just perfect sailing conditions with the building southerly breeze and very close racing. I am amazed at how hard these kids are pushing the boats and getting the most out of the them."


Great overall performance for the 2BSailing/AHPC team. 2009 F18 World Champion, Thijs Visser, leading the fleet.


Darren Bundock adds via twitter

- Super cool boat, where was this boat when I was young?

- Had a awesome day sailing today! magic conditions! Enjoying crewing for Froukje. Gee she is not shy pushing the boat..we are hammering but..

- Had 2 swims today!! race 2 and race 3. finished 2nd in race 1 after close battle for first. There are some great young sailors out there.


Carolijn Brouwer is not to be out done by Darren and sends in 3+1 tweets

- Cool to see the young kids pushing the Vipers hard. Really enjoying the close racing.

- Awesome sailing conditions and close racing at the first day of the F16 Euro Challenge on lake Como. What a great place to sail!

- Liz and I won the race 1 after an intense battle with Froukje& Bundy. They were a little quicker upwind but we were faster downwind.

- We struggled in race 2 when the southerly breeze built to about 15-17kn. in race 3 we hung in well and finished 3rd. Currently 3rd overall



Wouter

************* Report Race day 2 ******************

Source : http://catsailingnews.blogspot.com/search/label/F16%20Europeans

Race 4.

The southerly breeze was in early and the fleet got underway in a steady 15 knots. It was Froukje Feenstra and Bundy that hit the right hand side hard first and led the fleet around the first mark. Just when everyone was comfortable that it was a right hand track but it was Carolijn Brouwer and Liz Wardley that confused the fleet on the second down wind moving from 4th to first after venturing to the other side. Feenstra and Bundock persisted with the right hand side upwind and regained the lead. At the finish it was Froukje Feenstra/ Darren BundockBundock first closely followed by series leaders Thijs Visser/Diemer Feenstra.


Race 5.

The fleet was eager to get started and many boats broke the line. Brouwer/Wardley, Visser/Feenstra, Van Helden/Goodall returned to clear themselves. Froukje Feenstra/Darren Bundock continued only to find they were OCS after finishing 3rd. Race 5 was great as it was not a one way track with the leader coming from the left hand side of the course. It was Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin that took the lead but had to defend off the Sicouri sisters that were sailing extremely well and showed outstanding speed in the stronger breeze and pushed Waterhouse all the way for a photo finish but Waterhouse prevailed. There was a bit of controversy after the right hand bottom gate mark came adrift and the race committee pulled it out of the water after the first 4 boats rounded the gate. It was Thijs Visser in 5th that paid the penalty and was disqualified rounding the remaining mark to starboard where as the sailing instructions state that if there was a single mark it must be rounded to port.


Race 6.

The left hand side was working with a nice lift up the eastern shore and the breeze had settled in at 18 knots. Thijs Visser/Diemer Feenstra had the peddle down upwind in the breeze and led the fleet for 2 laps with Froukje Feenstra/Darren Bundock and the sicouri sisters in chase. Feenstra/Bundock crossed for the lead on the last down wind with only one gybe to go for the finish and with a rush of adrenaline rolled it over and lost 7 places and handed the lead to Thijs Visser/Diemer Feenstra. The Sicouri sisters slid into second.


Good for the class to see some mixed results in the top today, Paul Warren with two 3rds and Gill with his best result yet with a 4th , both with Falcon.
Report by Gill de Bruyne: "Day 2 is over and it was perfect. A bit more wind than yesterday for all 3 races. Very close rasing, closer than yesterday. It was very exciting. And the downwind races were so fast, whow! We loved it. But now I (Kathleen) am totally knackered. I feel my arms!
We managed to get in the top 5 today with our last race, a 4!! Paul and Ann were flying on their Falcon, they scored an 8, a 3 and another 3, great!
Our final scores for today: 10, 7 and 4, getting better yet again :-)
There were some protests and some OCS, so could be the scoring changes a bit. We had again 3 races, but the course was a bit smaller, so it all went a bit faster. Our downwind speed was great and we were overtaking boats, sailing deeper and faster.
Upwind was another story, we had great laps, but also not so great laps. Paul and Ann were able to point higher and they were faster. So we will have a talk to them I guess :-)
Now off to eat something, bon appetito!" <Gill de Bruyne>


Wouter

Darren started the day with a tweet

- Feeling a bit sore this morning after a big day on the water yesterday, bloody hard work on the front. Won a race, OCS & only 1 capsize.


**** Short article on the maiden voyage (with respect to racing) of a new F16 design *******

Source : http://catsailingnews.blogspot.com/search/label/F16%20Europeans

First good picture of the new Aqua Raptor F16, designed and developed by Hans Klok in Netherlands. Clean shape with good volume, a standard feature of all new performance beachcats and this one equiped with Landys. Right now two AquaRaptors are racing the F16 Europeans: Federico Farina´s ITA 111 currently 8th even with Gill de Bryune on his Falcon and Hans Klok's NED 111 who is racing solo-
Till now high winds races were held, and these conditions are not the best for solo F16 racers as they have to manage the downwind spi holding three controls: Tiller, Main Sheet/Traveller and Spi sheet. Although the main is cleated while sailing downwind it is not an easy task in 18knots, imagine that A-Class sailors doesn´t even have to worry about it and they have some of the top solo sailors around.
With low winds the solo racers should have an advantage due to less weight.
So the F16 Class now have several designs to choose from, this is key for their success as its been proved with the F18, and the 2B/Ahpc team giving full extra exposure will do no harm...

Congrats to Hans on this new project, designing and building a new racing boat is not an easy task, you may have experience and knowhow but if you are not a big company like Nacra or Hobie is always harder, but the rewards are also sweeter, building, sailing and racing your own design ... is one of the best feelings a sailor can have.
More info on the AquaRaptor at www.catamaranparts.nl


And now for some boat porn !!!


Photo: Helen Sharrock

Hey Eric,




But then again, you are there while many others like myself are over here working for a pay check.

Makes you better man then all of us !

I say enjoy the sailing, the scenery, food and drink as well as the company for all that it is worth.

Best of luck and enjoyment for the next days !

Wouter

Pepin...how many of these teams you are sailing against are professionals? I think that information is necessary to get a proper picture of what is really happening. A weekend warrior is at a distinct disadvantage to pro sailors on many levels...

Regards,
Bob

Helen has already answered your question dude.

I'll just add that there is no such thing as a pro f16 sailor. No one could even vaugely make money out of sailing one. Quite the opposite.

Everyone there is doing it for fun and it sure looks like great fun to me. Super jealous.

Hey Pepin, I should have come down and then you would not have been last
Finally went sailing last night, only the fourth time this year, family problems and most business problems solved so now for a bit of R & R.

Technically I am a professional, Carolijn is as well, Gill de Bruyne is as well, Hans is. But I would be surprised if anyone was getting paid to be here... This is F16 not X40 or Americas cup.

You are dreaming if you think there is enough money in F16 to pay anyone to be here. Its costing us all to be here, plenty.

Our focus here is promoting F16 and Viper but my main focus is promoting youth.
The young Aussies Jas and Lisa are both 18yrs
My helm Froukje is 17
Thijs Visser is 20, Diemer Feenstra is 17
Chris Sproats crew Rossanna Jury is 18.

These "kids" (now I feel old) are kicking butt. These are names of the future.
and there are chicks sailing F16.. the Lara and Silvia Sicouri are sailing so well (my pick to win)...

They are all loving the boats and having fun.. is time for the next generation. i know everyone doesnt like me refering to F16 as a feeder class but if it gets youth into Catsailing and they hang around 3-4 yrs before they move on.. perfect.

The amount of press that has come out of this week has out done the recent A-Class worlds, F-18 Worlds and Extreme 40 Worlds. Everyone has done well and it can only benefit F16.

well done to all.. think the real winner was the F16 class..

Hey guys and girls, we shouldn't undermine the efforts of AHPC in promoting the Viper as well as the F16 class and the use of pro sailors, that is the real world of sailing and selling boats. Good on them and I hope they sell plenty of boats.

To be fair on the single handers this year, high winds suits the larger volume and heavier boats such as the Viper, but it still takes the nut on the tiller to make the best of that advantage.

Another GLORIOUS day here in sunny Italy... Weather is GREAT - 30 degrees.... GREAT Italian food and hospitality.... Just Bellissimo!!!! (Hope I got the spelling correct)

Boats have left the shore... But the winds are very very light at the moment. Races will probably be postponed until some more wind kicks in.

Hopefully I will manage to get results to you via our Twitter which is accessible by all on our website - www.ahpc.com.au

But I have no problems if anyone wants to copy these back onto here.

Bye for now.... Off to enjoy the scenery!!!

I will go on record in saying that AHPC and 2Bsailing are doing excellent things in getting youths started on multihulls and by extention promoting the F16 class. We all know the youths are not really the ones with the big wallets so neither is getting rich of it.

In response to Darren's comment *being : "I know everyone doesnt like me refering to F16 as a feeder class ... ") I can only say that the "everyone" who is being referred to is actually the one who in error. The F16 class has always been vocal from the very beginning that it sees herself as a partner in comparison to the big other classes like the A's, F18's and the youth boat of the moment (currently sl16). If Darren says that he sees the F16 class as a feeder class then he is spot on in that respect. It is a boat that dad buys and sails singlehanded, maybe taking mom along on nice days and is available to the kids to work themselves up to the big league that is without a doubt the F18's. So if anything, his view is shared by the F16 class founders. That must say something.

Additionally, there is absolutely no shame in being a feeder class and rather I would say that there is in fact alot of honour in it. Take a look at the youths on the Vipers in this Europeans; simply brilliant isn't it ! Who doesn't want to be involved with such enthousiastic people ?


On the other hand I also understand where seeker is coming from. There is a significant difference in experience between various crews. For example both Christa and Brett have attended and done well in more then one F18 worlds. Darren, Carolijn and Liz are also sailors of world renown with trophy chests to proof it. But of course so is Sproat and he is holding a modest placing in the rankings. Come to think of it, these crews that some call professional are not at all having a free ride by "non-professionals" like for example the Sicouri sisters.

So yes, I think Seeker has a point somewhere, afterall put the future European champ on a different make of F16 and I still expect them to be in the top 3. The same applies to the last place finisher with respect to his placings. But more importantly I also feel that it is not worth fretting over. There will always be large differences in crew skills when taken over the whole fleet. Maybe it is better to refer to "talented crews" and "regular crews" rather then "professional" and "non-professional". Other then that, these talented crews are a gift from heaven. If we play our cards right then they may well be our final rocket stage that propels the F16 class to undeniable success.

For that I'm personally very thankful.

In the end we all benefit.


Hopefully, we don't forget to enjoy ourself in the mean time as well !


Wouter

(most definately a "regular crew" myself and not getting any younger either !)

Again, thanks for your effort Hellen, and thank Marco once more for his pictures. There is only one reason why there is more news coming out of the F16 Europeans than the A-worlds, F18-worlds and Extreme-40 worlds and that is the group of volunteers like you, Marco, Gill, Darren and many others who take the time and pains to go the extra distance and write up a report, do a twitter and shoot a picture or two.

All free of charge or restrictive copyright stipulations.

Lets remain "amateurs" in this respect !

Wouter

Newest twitter flashes.



Source : http://www.ahpc.com.au/ (Hellen Sharrock)

First race underway. Top mark second lap

1st #193 Thijs
2nd #700 Silvia
3rd #194 Froukje
4th #189 Christa
5th #888 Carolijn
6th #192 Jason
7th #9 GEERT!
8th #207 Paul,

Go GEERT!


Race 10 complete - winds are 8 to 12 knots. Big left hand shift on last downwind. ITA 111 - Frederico Farina.WON..... Well done!!!


Carolijn Brouwer on yesterday evening

source : http://twitter.com/CarolijnBrouwer

Sojasun Viper scored a 1st, 2nd and 5th in today's racing which moved us into 3rd overall. It's very close on points between the top 5 boats.



Darren Bundock on yesterday evening

source : http://twitter.com/DarrenBundock

Slightly lighter day today 8-12knts scored 4,3,2 and no capcizes!!!! Top 5 overall are within 6 points. Still 2 days (6 races) to go.


Brett Goodall is also on twitter :

source : http://twitter.com/Brett_Goodall

Great Italian eat up at the F16 Europeans at como... still have to try the wine

started the day well... should have won but Caroline pippped us with 200m.... damn!! finnished with a 4 and 6... we're sailing well though.



Gill and Kathleen wrote last night

source : http://twitter.com/TheBoatShopBE

We are in a draw with Paul&Ann for 7th place after todays races! That'll be exciting tomorrow.Daniel is also getting the hang of his Falcon!



Liz Wardley (crew for Carolijn) can be followed here :

http://twitter.com/LizWardley

Race 10 finish:

1st 111 Frederico Farina & Luca Bertani
2nd 192 Jason Waterhouse & Lisa Darmanin
3rd 193 Thijs Visser & Diemer Feenstra
4th 194 Froukje Feenstra & Darren Bundock
5th 700 Silva Sicouri & Lara Sicouri
6th 008 Chris Sproat & Jury Rosanna
7th ??? Carolijn Brouwer & Liz Wardley (who hit the gate bouy before finishing, were in 2nd place)

(Hellen Sharrock)

I'm just glad you're there! Good on ya dude! Bringing top rated sailors to a F16 regatta can only be good for the sport and for the class. Now, if I could only get you to show up at Racine, sailing Uni...

Seeker: I grew up in Sebring and remember the excitement when the Ferrari team drove into the middle of town for technical inspection, prior to the 12 Hour; the place went wild! At the same time, there were small private teams operating on a shoe string, and one guy who was there all by himself, driving a Morgan iirc! Very few of us ever make the Ferrari team but the excitement they create encourages others to participate at their own level.

I'm just glad there is some excitement. Not long ago it seems everyting was negative. This is very, very positive.

http://catsailingnews.blogspot.com/2010/07/f16-europeans-day-3.html

Everyone is back on the beach, and it appears the two most eventful issues today were:

1. First race won by a BLADE.... Well done to Riccardo & Elia (ITA 111). They were so excited about this finish that they then OSC in the second race....

2. Second race - 3 x OSC. These were ITA 111, BEL 888, and AUS 189.

There are a couple of protests, one about the OSC so they are frantically downloading video footage of the start to see if they can prove anything.

I will post the provisional results shortly, but the Aussie kids have extended their lead!

Sounds like you are all having a ball!

Be good to see a few Single handed Vipers out in the future! (Anyone want to lend me one :-) )

Wish I was there too!

PROVISIONAL RESULTS ONLY.... Provisional Results after Race 12

Carolijn & Christa are protesting OCS. Video footage shows that they are not be over.... But it will be interesting to see if the protest committee take this as evidence!

And here the PROVISIONAL overall results of the first 10 teams after race day 4. There is tight racing in several sectors of the scoring listing. Especially for 2nd to 4th place and 7th to 9th place. All these places can easily go into any direction due to the near equal overall points.

Hi,

Please keep us informed on the protest .... was the video taken from a race committee boat????

And ....

As the person that asked the question ... could the "Hobie Youths" be allowed to compete in the Junior Olympics at RHYC and thereby compete in a US Sailing Junior Olympics "officially" for the first time representing the "multihull's". I have to thank the "multihull community" for all their support including "Fun in the Sun/Jill Nickerson who arranged for JC to come north and attend several local Jr events, "showcasing" the Viper Club F16 ....

I have recieved personally many compliments from coachs and sailors of the other classes that it was great to see catamarans competing w/ youth teams.

But please note that I didn't do it alone ... but had support from all from all over the multihull community .... Fun in the Sun/Jill/JC, HCA-NA/Chris W/Matt B, Hobie Div11 members, "Past Hobie Champions" Wally, Jimmie Glanden, Sue and Tom Korz, and Geoff Becker(Lightening 2007)... and many others ...

So everyone ... help organize an event locally ... for the youths .... for the future of our sport ....


Pic's can be viewed at www.rockhallyachtclub.org
Harry

Hi all.... Update from COMO. Weather is ... Rainy - Stormy. Locals are predicting either NO WIND or 30 knots.

Re the protest - The video was taken from the "buoy" end, not the committee boat. The protest has been delayed as the Race Officer was on the protest committee, and now they need to find a third person for the committee.

It will be interesting to see if they accept the video evidence!

They are having their own little race among themselves and are in this event a little hidden behind the 2-up crews at the top of the leader board. We are talking about the singlehanders in this event and the Formula 16 class website has taken the initiative of setting this right with a special photoseries dedicated to them; the mano-a-mano guys.

http://www.formula16.net/content/view/107/1/lang,en/

With of course Geert Ruesink on top. Well deserved by his "can-do" mentality.

Then Daniel Todd who has recovered sufficiently from a seriously injured shoulder to participate in this years Euro's

The one of the regulars of the F16 international events since the very beginnin ; Mark Pressdee. Ik remember him making the Stealth T-foils look soooooooo good in the big wind and waves of the Global Challenge 2007 (were I swam about 5 times in a single day and he didn't tip it even once)

Then we see Hans Klok in a pose that is so characteristic of him as in each Global challenge he participated in he was photographed in exactly the same manner. Here he is riding high, but at the GC2007 his body was still almost touching the waves like that.

Concluding the series is Eric Noyau with a first edition Stealth F16; the very first commercially available series build F16. Still going strong after 8 years.


My hat off to all of them !

Wouter

And how is this for a picture ?!

Photo: Marco Iazzetta

Hat off +1

The last race day is ending and we're working up to the conclusion of the 2010 F16 European Championships. Soon the winner will be declared but first some news and photo's that characterize this event.

We start off with the large female contingent that was present at this event. By name we saw :

Lisa Darmanin AUS
Froukje Feenstra NED
Silva Sicouri ITA
Lara Sicouri ITA
Carolijn Brouwer NED
Liz Wardley AUS
Christa van Helden NED
Anne Powter GBR
Jury Rosanna GBR
Kathleen van den Bulcke BEL


10 gorgeous sporty women in a group of 27 participants !

That fact alone makes this event a great success.

Wouter

(Kathleen and Anne are sadly missing in the group photo)

F16 European Championships

Tight starts :

Tight racing :

Some drama !

But after 12 individual races in mixed fleets :

We have winners !

In 3rd place overall


Silvia and Lara Sicouri (ITA)

We have 2nd place winners

Froukje Feenstra (helm, NED) and Darren Bundock (crew, AUS)

And we have winners !

1st place overall goes to

Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin (AUS)

Both 18 and looking sharp !

Congratulations from all of us

And here our winners again (on the first day of racing)

congrats to all..

Indeed; Looks like us single handers have some work to do!

Thanks Wouter for filling in for my lack of internet on the last day. A thunderstorm wiped out connection at the club, but Bundy was still able to get connection later.

Re the protests - They were thrown out. Apparently the photographic evidence was insufficient.

Greg and I have immensely enjoyed spending time watching this event, but I must say, Greg is a painful observer .... however he was keen to pass on coaching tips to the young sailors!!!

To the young sailors on the water - It has been a real pleasure to watch and spend the week with them.

And to Mother and Father Viper (Bundy and Carolijn) WELL DONE!! They have worked hard to get the young kids there.

Also note that the photograph of the female sailors in a previous post by Wouter, was downloaded from our website and was in fact, the Female VIPER sailors. Ann & Kathleen were both sailing on Falcons at the regatta and did extremely well. Well done to ALL the girls.... I was sooooo jealous!!!

I'm sorry, it is the end of the week and I'm tired, but what exactly are you trying to say there ?

I do appologize if I have done anyhing to vex you. I never intended to do anything wrong.

Wouter

Chances are you will STILL be beaten by a bunch of girls!

No, you have not done anything wrong, Wouter.

I just felt it needed to be noted that the photo was from our website, and to acknowledge Kathleen and Ann.

Okay, thanks.

Please forward my congrats and best wishes to the winners and all the participants of this event. I really would have loved to be there, but just couldn't make it. Great work by 2Bsailing and you guys at AHPC in getting the youths out. A big thank you to the others who made the trip and the expenses to fill the ranks and support this event.

I wish the best enjoyment to all during the final party tonight !


What event is next ? : The NAM-REM race at Zandvoort NL aug 21 en 22 maybe ? (90+ boats expected + offical F18 class race but with a shared start. Good for the kids to measure themselves up to the best)

http://namremrace.web-log.nl/

Some five F16's have hinted that they'll be there, more would be better !

Wouter

Hi all,

congratulations to all involved. Hopefully the numbers build from here, certainly puts some pressure on for the next worlds venue.

Good to see the Aussies come out on top, often thought Bundy looked with interest at my F16 when sailing the Tornado with Glenn at the Victorian Catamaran Championships. No doubt that Bundy and Carolyn's cred has helped get some of these top young sailors into F16, just hope we see them continue to sail F16 and in OZ as well.

My dream is still to see Glenn race F16 one up, then we would really see what a one up can do. In fact Glenn versus Bundy on one up F16's, the ultimate match race? I would pay to watch that . Will have to talk to Glenn at the Mosquito training weekend in October.

I was absolutely beaten by a girl at a world titles.. Fact is she beat every guy at that series!!

Girls have shown what the logic behind the class has worked beautifully.. The class would be fantastic as the combo class in the Olympics.. Not that I would advocate the F16 being an Olympic class!!!

Actually apart from strength and perhaps weight/height. Women should compete head on with "lower" powered classes like the F16

Anyone have the full list of the final scores/races for everyone? Looks like great fun was had by all. Wish I could of come, hope to next time

Mark dropped me back home yesterday evening after the long trip back. I'm glad the return journey was less exciting that the trip up: No traffic, no blown up tyre, no crazy mountain pass.

Now I have to rebuild my boat as it was slightly disassembled for the trip and I have a race on Wednesday!

As for the event, I'm just going to quote what Hans nicely told me: "you brought a 1980 Ferrari to a F1 event"! In combination with my rubbish sailing skills that means I finished last in each and every races except the first one (but DNF anyway for finishing more than 15 minutes after the winners). But I had fun, learned a lot and enjoyed the location and the company.

Congrats to the winners, with hat off and special mention for Geert's "First Real Single Handler" prize.

These are the results from the AVAL CDV website, there was no sailing on day 5.

http://www.avalcdv.com/images/stories/Upload_AVAL/f16hp-results.htm

What a place to sail!

Eric - no blowouts on the way back? What route did you take?

Well done to everyone that made the trip... well done to the winners who really showed that kids and cats mix better than rum and coke... well done to the uni rigs who missed the top places this time, I can't imagine how hard it is to do what we struggle to do with two crew... and geert, the only true single hander, you are my hero and an absolute inspiration to me, keep sailing!!

Now, now Brett, thats a very long bow to draw.....hahahaa

Journey home was really boring. Left Como at 05:45 arrived at Eric's 23:45 and I got home the next day at 08:15. However, I wont for get the Splugen Pass for a long time. Driving down this road with a van and big boat trailer was
entertaining.

A very big boat trailer that was!

We got back home yesterday, luckily no traffic jams this time.
Lake Como was a great venue, probably the best sailing I ever had for 4 days in a row.

So tell me Mark, what were your thoughts when you turned off the main road and headed for the Splugen only to notice that the road was getting slightly narrow....and then quite steep, with quite a few hairpins, getting narrower......getting steeper....more hairpins so tight you start thinking about three point turns.....
We had the same thoughts in May but with the added benefit of snow, lots of....wasn't really the place to show sports bikes off in their best light!
Pleased you all seemed to have had a great time even if you did miss the Thornbury Regatta....

The first ever F16 Euro’s at Lake Como can best seen as a very successful event with great sailing , socializing and an example how F16 regatta’s must be for the future.
From the start of the event to the end of the event it was just a big sailing party with excellent conditions for everybody. Sun, wind and good food and the location.
During the event there was a lot of good internet coverage from several sailors and volunteers as we hoped.

A little story of my experience during the event.

We had measuring/checking starting on Friday with continuation on Saturday and a possibility on Sunday morning before the start of the practice race. Piet was the chief measuring and did a good job by giving explanation on how things should be done and answering questions form the sailors why things are done in a certain way. I think he made a lot of things clear on this topic and there will be a booklet put to getter with pictures on the whole procedure. Lucky for him he could during the complete event be on the water in a rubber duck and take people with him who are able to take photo’s, which could be placed on the internet during the event.
On Friday evening there was a positive surprise for all the sailors, an event was sailed at the club next to AVAL-CDV and all F16’s where invited to join in this regatta with out costs and a good price giving afterwards wind food and drinks. This means that we had a series of 5 races extra. This was great.
Thijs Visser did win this small pre Europeans. Well done.

On Monday the event really started and after a short skippers meeting the boats ( 11 sloop rigged and 5 cat rigged )where send out to the racing area. There was a schedule of 3 races that day and under really perfect conditions ( 30 degrees and 12 to 14 knots ) the race committee had put a 1 mile course put in the water which gave the sailors a good day. Per race we had between 55 to 1h15 sailing and when we came back ashore everybody was smiling from ear to ear. The AVAL-CDV had organized a pasta meal for all and some drinks so the war stories could be told.

Tuesday conditions where similar to Monday only we had a bit more wind ( 30 degrees and 18 /20 knots ) . Again the boats where send out around 12 to be on time at the racing area. The scheduled start time was 13.00 and this was not a problem. The only thing changed was the spare time to have after the first finishers. This was increased from 15 to 30 minutes. The most respect must be given to Geert who was sailing real singlehanded in the 18 knots of wind and with flying his spin, this was a really amazing achievement and he is the evidence that the F16 is the boat to be on. GO GEERT GO.

Wednesday and Thursday we had again the same conditions as Monday and we did see only people smiling after these days of sailing, the race course was perfect, the race committee was perfect and the club AVAL-CDV is a great and active club with a lot of hospitality .

Friday we had the first bad day of weather with thunderstorms , rain and a lot of wind , so there was no sailing possible at all. The day was canceled and the price giving was at 17.00.
Jason Waterhouse and crew where the best and constant during the whole series and crowned to the new and first European champions F16.

We can say that the AVAL-CDV did a great job and we thank them and all the volunteers and the sponsor Ferrari champagne who made this possible and personally I cannot wait till the next big F16 event .

Best regards,
Hans Klok
Chairman F16 Governing Council

We arrived home yesterday.
Thanks all for such a brilliant event! We were so lucky to have 4 days of near perfect conditions - the weather only allowed Paul and I one afternoon of good sailing last week (and one attempt in terribly gusty conditions).
It was great to have such good company and exciting racing. Highlights for me would be the very close finishes - the good ones being beating Chris and Rosanna on the line and when we finished amongst the top sailors, and the bad ones would be being beaten by Hans on the line after a terrible tactical decision left us with a lack of wind and losing lots of places! And losing to Gill and Kathleen on the line in the last race after being ahead at the previous mark! All great fun. Looking forward to next time already.
Thanks to those who have posted photos so far - looking forward to seeing more soon.
Now back to the washing and unpacking...

Ann