Belgian Nationals: Behind the Scenes

One of the most interesting aspects of the recent Belgian Nationals is that Jan Peeters and Nathalie Janssens—a tight-knit team and a couple in real life—won the championship sailing a boat they recently purchased, re-rigged, and meticulously prepared down to the smallest detail.

The twist is that this very boat, built in Denmark in December 2002—and please excuse a brief personal note here—used to belong to me, before I sold it to Belgium in August 2005.

Jan bought the boat from the previous owner earlier this year and restored it with obsessive care, keeping me updated on the “work in progress” every step of the way. Kudos to Jan and Nathalie who, besides being excellent sailors, did an outstanding job with the boat preparation. I’m sure it was a double satisfaction for them to win the Belgian Nationals ahead of brand-new boats and professional crews.

More broadly, the lesson to be learned from this story is that if you sail well and prepare your boat thoroughly, you can be highly competitive and win a major championship. And that is exactly what makes the Snipe Class so special.

[Hull# 30073, original name “Fantasma”, renamed “Smooth Operator“ – Sail# 31912]