Open Belgian Championship – Final

Grevelingenmeer, August 24-25, 2013. Full results and report by Andy Gibson Jostein Grodem and Mai Kristin Hansen Borgen from Norway won the Belgian Snipe National Championship on Grevelingermeer this weekend, with Jan Peeters and Nathalie Janssens the first Belgian boat. A forecast for non-stop rain, no wind and world class mussels and chips was enough to tempt 27 boats to Scharendijke village. ...

Open Belgian Championship – Final Image

Grevelingenmeer, August 24-25, 2013. Full results and report by Andy Gibson

Jostein Grodem and Mai Kristin Hansen Borgen from Norway won the Belgian Snipe National Championship on Grevelingermeer this weekend, with Jan Peeters and Nathalie Janssens the first Belgian boat.

A forecast for non-stop rain, no wind and world class mussels and chips was enough to tempt 27 boats to Scharendijke village.

2 UK boats , one Norwegian, one Brazilian and one French boat joined the large Belgian fleet beating 4 miles upwind from the marina to the race area in a dying easterly breeze and torrential rain. After two hours it looked as though the weather would defeat the Royal Yacht Club of Belgium race teams attempts to run a race but then the rain eased and an unexpected easterly breeze filled in to give two great races with tightly packed fleets. Jostein Grodem dialled straight into the conditions to record two first places on day 1.

Sponsors Duval ‘8%’ beer and a great Italian karaoke kept the mussels party swinging until late on Saturday night..boats hit the water again at 0930 on Sunday in bright sunshine to sail upwind to the course again and this time 2 races were run like clockwork before the breeze started to shift under some black clouds and die giving lots of starting practice before the third race finally got underway…

3 different boats won the 3 races on Sunday including two of the oldest boats in the fleet reflecting some challenging wind conditions and a very competitive fleet..one very noticeable participant was the wooden snipe built as a school project and sailed by Jo Voss. Jo started to find the way to sail the boat fast by the end of Sunday and it was great to see this beautiful craft fighting its way through the middle of the fleet.

A great event, great atmosphere, serious racing.

 

Final Results

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