Bundock and Ashby win 30th Texel

The 30th Round Texel Race took place in relatively light weather

On Saturday June 23 2007, the Nissan Pro Team of Bundock and Ashby won the 30th Zwitserleven Round Texel Race on handicap. The Aussies started with their F18 Hobie Tiger as the boat farthest to the right and immediately grabbed the lead on handicap.

The experimental Dutch M20’s of Pols and Veenstra and Dercksen and Mcintosh battled for the line honours. Thanks to the bigger sail plan of Performance Sails, Xander Pols and Tjiddo Veenstra had a speed advantage. They were a significant distance ahead when they crossed the finish line after 3 hours, 16 minutes and 34 seconds. The jubilee edition was sailed in favourable conditions with a south-westerly force three and a calm sea. At 13:00 hours local time, the fleet put up a great show with a spinnaker start. It was unexpectedly sunny and thousands of visitors enjoyed the spectacle.

“Finally, a dream comes true”, said a happy Xander Pols after hitting the beach. “I have finished second twice and now we succeeded.” At the light house in the north of the island, the Repeat M20 of Jean-Louis Flier and Peter van Deventer was leading the pack. “They started low on the line and could sail straight to the gate at the light house. We had to jibe once, but Jean-Louis missed the second gate and had to sail back. That is where we caught up a little on them,” explained Pols.

The front runners reached the Wadden Sea too early. Due to the shallow water, their rudders came up a couple of times. The Zwitserleven VX20 of Dercksen and Mcintosh were sixth at the light house. “We had a slow start, because of a bad spinnaker hoist. We fought our way to the top and closed the gap with Xander several times,” commented Mcintosh. That happened for the first time at the VC-mark before Oudeschild. At that point, the difference was only eight seconds. In the end, Pols and Veenstra extended their lead to six minutes. “The wind decreased on the Wadden Sea, so we could extend our lead on Herbert,” said Pols.

After the first celebrations on the Texel beach, Veenstra’s face beamed. “My first Round Texel Race was fifteen years ago. We had a collision and did not finish. This time we took the line honours,” he said. The 20-foot Eagle of Jaap Straakenbroek and Menno Vercouteren finished third.

The three Hobie Tiger Nissan Pro Teams showed a spectacular spinnaker start at the right side of the course, close to the shore. They smoked to the light house, with Bundock and Ashby in the lead. The red Yamaha - Boskalis Nacra Infusion of Heemskerk and Tentij found a gap just above them. Fate hit Team ZwitserLeven Booth and Nieuwenhuis seconds after the start. While hoisting the spinnaker the halyard got jammed at the top of the mast. “Our only option was to capsize the boat, meaning that our Round Texel was finished after 30 seconds already” explained Booth.

Bundock, overall winner in 2003, and Ashby arrived second at the lighthouse. “We won the race at the start, after that it was a matter of defending from the other F18’s. We did not want them to get closer to the island, because there was more breeze. In the meantime, we were able to increase our lead,” explained Bundock. They convincingly took the overall victory on handicap, the first one for Ashby. “It is great to win this challenging race. Many good sailors participated, so I am really pleased to have won,” he commented.

According to Bastiaan Tentij they lacked a little speed on the Wadden Sea, to catch up with the Aussies. At Oudeschild, Mourniac passed them as well. The French Nissan team Mourniac and Citeau made their first appearance this year in the ZwitserLeven Round Texel. In the last leg to the finish, the French lost their position to Heemskerk and Tentij. Mourniac and Citeau finished third overall. “We are very pleased with our result. On the Wadden Sea, we run aground twice, which cost us three or four places. We were able to recover this on the way to ‘Oudeschild’, but in the end, Mischa had more speed," said Mourniac. Eventually, the F18s occupied the first seven positions of the overall rating.

In the meantime, all competitors arrived back at ‘Paal 17’ and the preparations for the festive prize-giving ceremony had already started. Race Director Jaap Tirion was delighted about the jubilee race. “I am very pleased with the beautiful sailing conditions of today. Because of this, we can leave the sometimes stormy Rounds, with a lot of damage, behind us. The tone is set for the coming thirty years,” he commented. From the 503 catamarans, 492 made it across the finish line.

Darren Bundock comented, “It’s a real pleasure for us to win this race. Particularly, because a lot of guys want to win it and everybody knows this race. The weather was not easy, because we did not have a lot of wind and sometimes the sun disappeared. But finally we arrived first which is a good thing for the team and for us."

Results to follow.