20190908

Raid Extreme 2019

Published in Dinghy Cruising Journal 243

Friday 6 September

23 competitors registered for the 2019 Raid Extreme on 7th September 2019.
The weather forecasts predicted lots of wind and rain, which led to many cancellations. On 4th September, organiser Koos Winnips and his team cancelled the race.
Still, a small group of diehards came together at Omaho Beach on Friday. During the afternoon the wind forecast for the weekend moderated. We made a collective decision to sail as a group on Saturday, starting at 0800 and visit the token locations in clockwise order. This effectively turned the race into a raid. After the boats were made ready, the hardcore raiders had a good meal at the Raadsel van de Wadden (Dutch translation of 'Riddle of the Sands').

Saturday 7 September

After a rainy night, Saturday dawned with sunshine. We ran into Ingo Muller, who had arrived during the night. While Ingo was putting together his sailing kayak 'Käptn Blaubär' we had a quick breakfast and launched at 0800 hours. After the first stop at Hoek van de Bant we continued to the Booze Wijf. As we crossed the lake, we saw Wim and Joke returning to Oostmahorn on their Wet Bicycle catamaran. They were soaked by a continuous fountain of water spouting up between the Wet-Bicycle hulls. They badly needed a shower to get warm again.

The rest of us reached the Booze Wijf, parked our boats in the Museumhaven and went inside to have a coffee. During the coffee break, there was torrential rain outside, so we were not quick to leave. As we sailed out to the Oude Robbengat (christened 'Mai Tai Island' by the Bremer canoe team of 2018) we were joined by Ingo. Bert and crew Peter sailed around us on their racing catamaran. We stopped at Mai Tai island. After lunch we said goodbye to Bert and Peter who had other obligations.

The wind was now a manageable NW3. Note that the Ijsselmeer radio still gave warnings for 6 Beaufort at this time. The rest of the fleet now sailed on to Hunzegat marina. This was easy going as we were mostly running and broad reaching.
On the return trip we had to short-tack until we got to the main lake. This took a long time. When we got to the main lake, the wind dropped to a force 2-3. Only Wuptem made it to the Omaho Beach before 1700. The others were able to enjoy the sailing trip for just a little bit longer. In the evening we all assembled in the Raadsel van de Wadden for dinner.
Koos and Hubert performed the prize giving ceremony. First prize went to Hans and Margreet in the Wuptem. They collected 4 virtual tokens and got back before 1700 hours. Second prize went to Wim and Joke who 'collected' one token with their Wet Bicycle cat. No prizes for the rest of the fleet since they all arrived after 1700 hours. Luckily we had brought several silly prizes for the best looking boat (Onno and Anneke) and a traveller trophy (Ingo). After the prize giving we sang shanties with Klarie's brother on his accordeon. This was a great success. We were soon joined by diners from other tables.

Sunday 8 September

On Sunday we decided to make a trip to Ezumazijl. We said goodbye to Hans and Margreet who had to go home. Wim and Karel sailed with Anneke and Onno on Gjoa. Once in the channel to Ezumazijl it was too narrow and shallow to sail so we started rowing.
After a while we reached the lock at Ezumazijl. It was very picturesque and we enjoyed the sunshine. Ingo decided to take apart his kayak to dry out in the sun. After this, he joined Anneke and Onno who sailed now with 5 people on their Caledonian Yawl.