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Raid Extreme 2024:Canoes Rule!

Final version will be submitted to Dinghy Cruising Journal

This years 'Raid Extreme' was sailed in extremely light winds, proving that the name of the event was well chosen. Twenty-four boats from France, Belgium, Germany, Czechia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands lined up at dawn on 'Omaho beach' at the shore of the Lauwersmeer.
The weather forecast was for very light winds which made it a challenge to visit all GPS checkpoints before 1700 hours. Despite the suggestion of fierce competition the weekend was really a meeting of like-minded souls with a passion for sailing open boats.
The well-deserved winners were Bert Muller and Koos Winnips paddling 'Kayak' to victory.

Friday 6 September

Most of the participants launched their boats during the day. After the briefing a large group went to 'Itery bij de Mune' for an enjoyable meal while a few stragglers were still driving towards Oostmahorn.

Saturday 7 September

Hubert and Koos wanted to recite Edward Lear's famous poem 'The Junblies' to start the Raid Exreme at dawn but were running out of time. After the countdown to 0703 hours the competitors rushed to get afloat while bystanders assisted by returning the abandoned trailers and trolleys to the boat park.
Most boats took advantage of the light SE2 and took the northerly route towards the Hoek van de Bant and the Booze Wijf.
On Hatseflats we helped others with their boats and started around 0745 hours on the northerly route. While we were heading towards the Booze Wijf we passed Bart with his sailing yacht 'Famke', an Optimist dinghy converted for cruising with a cuddy and an off-center daggerboard. 'Famke' was not travelling fast but Bart was in good spirits helped by the heavy metal music on his on-board stereo.
We encountered Marcel and his Streaker and some other boats returning from the Booze Wijf. When we got back on open water we wanted to sail to Gin and Tonic island. But the wind had died down and we had to row. To row faster I should have lowered the rig but I was naive and hoped that the breeze would return. It didn't happen. We changed our destination to Ezumazijl hoping to find more wind there.
When the breeze picked up a little we abandoned Ezumazijl and reverted to Gin and Tonic island. We reached Gin and Tonic at 1139 hours and continued to Hunzegat at the entrance to Zoutkamp. Ladia and his Goat Island Skiff were in front and we saw other boats returning from Hunzegat so we couldn't hope to win the Dutch Cow Award for the first boat to reach Zoutkamp. We got to Hunzegat at 1329 hours. With three and a half hours left we decided there was no time to sail to the checkpoint at Lunegat. The best we could do was to add Ezumazijl and score a creditable 5 checkpoints.
On our way back from Hunzegat the wind died again. This made it risky to get to Ezumazijl and return to Omaho Beach in time. We decided to play it safe and skipped Ezumazijl as well. The wind died again and the heat became oppressive. We were glad to finish at Omaho Beach at 1549 despite our meagre 4 points.
Meanwhile the overall winners had already long finished their quest.
Bert Muller and Koos Winnips had each brought their own boats but joined forces to race together in Berts kayak. This clearly paid off since they paddled around all 6 GPS checkpoints in just six hours. Last years' winner Ralf-Peter Stumme arrived only 7 minutes later. A stunning achievement since he rowed his gig singlehandedly around the course. What a sportsman!
More than an hour later, the father and daughter team of Gerben and Geke Talsma with their Nacra Infusion were the first sailboat to finish. Only 7 boats scored the maximum 6 points to earn a 'gold' medal. Another 6 boats earned silver with 5 points and the remaining boats earned bronze with 1-4 points.

After sailing in solitude for much of the day it was the prize giving and barbecue which brought the sailors together again. Hubert and Koos were on good form and the silly prizes and speeches were sometimes hilarious.
Hubert, Koos and others had brought barbecues so that everyone could grill their own food. Emmanuel had brought excellent wine and Marten Jan cooked delicious pizza slices as a side dish.
There was much talking about new boats. Former Moth sailor Burkhard Staabs picked the brains of Emmanuel and tried out Ladia Blaha's Goat Island Skiff to validate his idea to build a high-tech CLC Skerry with a Goat Island Skiff rig for raid events like the Raid Extreme and Baltic Sea Challenge.
By 2200 hours I was very sleepy and went back to Hatseflats to sleep.

Sunday 8 September

On Hatseflats we slept until 0700 hours. The new boat tent provided enough space to get rid of all the clutter and kept us dry and warm. I went to the harbour masters office to overlook the Lauwersmeer and bumped into Emmanuel, Marco and Pierre who were making breakfast under the awning of the restaurant.
On my way to Omaho Beach I met Peter and Simon who complimented Koos and me with the heart-warming prize giving. At the club house Klarie, Koos and the others were having a lazy breakfast.
The weather looked nice. After we had taken the party tents down and most of us joined the film-shoot in honour of retired sailmaker Frank van Zoest. For the last 30 years Frank had been the go-to guy for lug sails and traditional rigs for the dinghy cruising community. Last year Marten Jan Giesing has started a new sailmaking business in Dokkum to take over where Frank left off.
The film-shoot provided a nice end to the Raid Extreme weekend. Afterwards I joined the 'borrel' (drinks) at the Raadsel van de Wadden where Frank's sailmaking career was being celebrated. A fitting end to a very enjoyable weekend!