EAORA Week 2024 in the Netherlands
by Paul Wood 19 Jul 09:13 PDT
8-12 July 2024
EAORA Week 2024 in the Netherlands © Paul Wood
The second part of the week found us racing in the calm waters on the Veerse Meer, Oosterschelde and Grevelingenmeer and is still a hidden secret for so many. But this year six yachts enjoyed everything that the Netherlands had to offer.
It was noted by one owner skipper, MYC's Andrew Baker on his Beneteau First 31.7 X-Ray who has attended most race weeks since the late 1990's said, "it was so nice to meet up with old friends and meet new ones". With just under 30 people going from club to club it wasn't long before everyone was on first name terms.
My boat Windrunner (the committee boat) was up and running again since its tow into Ostend by the Coast Guard with blocked fuel pipes. It was one big party throughout the week and the washboards were out most evenings to welcome onboard anybody who fancied rum and didn't want to go back to their boats too early.
Although a smaller fleet for the week than normal, sadly three entries who due to the gale warnings and unsettled weather forecast decided to cancel their week, quite understandable with 50 knots forecast for the race over to Ostend in the RORC East Coast race on Saturday, some of the other boats came across Saturday night and met us in Middleburg.
Chairman Claire Scott with many months of planning wasn't going to shelve the week and hopped onto the committee boat for the week as historically the people who get there, rave about it for years, and we are an Offshore Racing Organisation after all.
The committee were thrown a slight curve ball mid-week as the bridge over the Krammerslizen was shut for repairs and four of our yachts with over 18 meters of air draft couldn't go north to Willemstad and Hellevoetsluis. It was decided that we would regroup outside Sint Annaland at buoy KT28 and our race officer Andy Wise quickly set a perfect course on the Oosterschelde for a finish at Wemeldinge. A fast fetch up to the Zierikzee bridge followed by a broad reach, and a spinnaker run to the finish line.
Wemeldinge were contacted and having welcomed EAORA previous years, had no problem accommodating the yachts there for Thursday evening.
Friday, once through the lock a course was set for the last race of the week on the Veerse Meer, starting at buoy VM17 just off Kortgene & De Zandkreek. There was steady rain in the morning from Wemeldinge to the Veerse Meer, but as the boats started it brightened up and it was a powerful reach for many down to the turning buoy VM67.
It was great to see X ray (class 3) ahead of the class 1 boats for the mad dash to the finish line, it was looking like line honours for X Ray, but with gusts of 20 knots and a crash tack, Cassiopeia our German friends Julia & Dominic just pinched everyone to the line with big smiles all round.
The prize-giving was in the Veere Yacht Club, again this club is a stalwart EAORA supporter, run by three sisters who go back many years who can always remember some of the faces of EAORA from the 1990s. The music played on until about 1.30 and as always, the committee boat was open for business and kept people out until after 3am - what a fantastic week.
A special thanks go to all the competitors. Mark Lyons with his team of five, including his son onboard Martinique, a new boat this year to EAORA.
Stephen Hendry with Flying Fish and his global crew, (never met anyone from Luxemburg before) Sam, nice man and keen to learn, as well as Andrew age 16 from the UK who we thought was going to explode with so much enthusiasm.
Team Brillig, Steve Beard, cool and calm, the crew have all been sailing together for years, great to have Ben's daughter Josie on board helping to bring down the average age of the fleet.
Arcadia of Harwich, another new boat to the fleet, owned by Penny & Mark Gillet, with only three persons onboard, they completed every race, as a small crew they did so well on a 40 ft Arcona.
Cassiopeia a Fast 42, again with only three persons onboard, one Belgium and two Germans, based in Ostend, made it part of an international fleet.
Xray, owned by Andrew Baker, his friend Lee and a few others who have all raced Holland week before, had a blast and didn't want to leave.
EAORA long week results including the RORC East Coast Race & Cannonball Race:
1st Martinque
2nd X Ray
3rd Flying Fish
4rd Brillig
5th Arcadia of Harwich
6th Cassiopeia
7th Spirit
EAORA Short Week:
1st Xray
2nd Martinque
3rd Flying Fish
4th Brillig
5th Cassiopeia
6th Arcadia of Harwich