20240908

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 was well chosen. Twenty-four boats from France, Belgium,Germany, Czechia, United Kingdom and the Netherlands lined up at dawn on 'Omaho beach' at the shores of the Lauweersmeer.
The weather forecast was for very light winds which made it a challenge to visit all GPS checkpoints. Despite the suggestion of a competitive event 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 grpup 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 start the Raid Exreme at dawn by reciting Edward Lear's famous poem 'The Junblies' but were running out of time. After the countdown to 0703 hours the competitors rushed to get afloat while bystanders assisted by returning their 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 started late and took 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 quite good spirits helped by heavy metal music blaring from his on-board stereo.
We encountered Marcel and his Streaker and some other boats returning from the Booze Wijf. When got back on open water we planned to go to Gin and Tonic island. The wind had died down so we had to row. I should have lowered the rig but I kept hoping for a breeze. We temporarily changed our destination to Ezumazijl hoping to find more wind there.
Indeed the breeze picked up a little and we decided again to go to Gin and Tonic island which we reached at 1139 hours. From there we continued to Hunzegat near the lock at Zoutkamp. We encountered 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 and realized that we could not reach Lunegat in time. We hoped it would still be possible to add the chackpoint at Ezumazijl and score a creditable 5 checkpoints.
As we headed north the wind died again so getting to Ezumazijl and returning to Omaho Beach would be risky. We decided to play it safe and skipped Ezumazijl as well. With the wind down the heat became oppressive so 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 decided not to sail individually but joined forces and race as an impromptu team. This clearly paid off since They paddled Berts canoe 'Kayak' 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 sailing a Nacra Infusion were the first sailboat to finish. Only 7 boats were able to score 6 points and 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 subsequent 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 kept us dry and provided enough space to get rid of all the clutter. 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 cleaned up many of us joined the film-shoot in honour of retired sailmaker Frank van Zoest. Frank had been the go-to guy for lug sails and traditional rigs for the last 30 years for the dinghy cruising community. 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!