An incredible 68 Flying Dutchman graced the Royal Loosdrecht Yacht Club last weekend as part of the International Flying Dutchman 50th Anniversary Regatta. The regatta was one of the largest gatherings of the fleet in recent years and competitors came from a total of 12 countries for the series of 5 races that were to occur over the 3 days.

Day 1 was greeted with strong winds, sunshine and a lot of very enthusiastic sailors. The fleet had been split into 4 flights, all of whom would race each other over 3 races, 2 on the Friday and 1 on the Saturday. Tactics on the lakes are always interesting due to large islands and reed beds, which can cause very interesting wind shifts! However, this did not appear to affect Jorg/Jacob Boysen-M_ller(Denmark) who came through with two firsts from the day, Klaas Tistra/Adriaan Schmal(Netherlands) won another and the current world champions Szalbolcs Majtheny/Andras Domokos(Hungary) the last. Also in contention for the top spots were Bas/Mark van der Pol(Netherlands) and Toby Dale/James Cole(UK).

The second day was the beginning of the lightening winds and the flights sailed into a very shifty force 2-3. The Boysen-M_ller’s again proved their mastery of this technical class by creating an impressive lead over their flight to finish first while Tilstra/Schmal won the other race of the day.

During the afternoon, past and present champions of the class were invited to take part in a series of races. The Boysen-M_ller’s won, but only by a very narrow margin from multiple Olympic medal-winner, Rodney Pattisson. During the evening, spectators and sailors alike were bussed into Amsterdam and treated to an evening of dinner, music and lots of dancing. Many friendships were renewed and even more made.

The final day proved to be even lighter in wind than the previous day with the anemometer recording a force 1-2 in the cool and drizzly weather. The fleet had, on the results of the previous 2 days, been split into gold and silver fleets with awards for the top 5 in each. The shifty wind provided some interesting results but, all of the sailors remembered a salutary lesson when, due to the failing wind, the windward mark was moved and some missed the change. Positions changed, but not enough to prevent the Boysen-M_ller’s winning the event overall with Majtheny/Domokos hot in pursuit in second. Tistra/Schmal were the talented crew in third.

Dawn Barsley