Hugh Styles reports

Nacra Infusion agent shares his take on the Texel Dutch Open and Round Texel races

The 2009 Texel Dutch Open and Round Texel race have been very successful yet again for Nacra Europe and the F18 Infusion, with first and second in the Dutch Open and third overall in the round Texel race on Saturday.

The Nacra Infusion has again proved its outstanding pedigree with excellent speed through the whole range of wind and wave conditions, which resulted in a majority of race wins.

The regatta experienced a whole range of conditions, from being too windy to launch on the first few days, to a wind less Thursday, then the cobwebs being blown away on Friday and finally Saturday dawned a windless affair for the race round Texel.

Wednesday started with a good wind and a fleet of 90 boats in the Open 1 class, which incorporated anything faster than Formula 16 catamarans. The week got off to a good start for the Infusion teams of Hugh Styles and crew Ferdinand Van West, who lead from fellow Infusion racers Koen De Koning and Tyse Visser, with third overall Mischa Heemskerk and Bastian Tentij. The racing had been good with medium winds and a strong tide across the course which continually tested teams lay line judgements.

Thursday and day two saw a delay for the start of racing as the swell was too big to get off the beach. William Sunnucks and Simon Farren in their extra wide M20 was the days star performer, with Styles and Van West sailing a steadily and holding second overall behind Sunnucks and then De Koning in third.

Friday another two races were held after another delay for the north westerly swell to subside. The delay was welcomed by the competitors, as all were apprehensive about getting out past the aggressive surf crashing onto the beach. The racing was close fought again and at the front of the fleet the M20 and the Nacra Infusions were having a great ding-dong for individual race wins.

Styles and Van West were on fire posting first in both of the races only to find out later that they had been scored OCS in the last race, when they thought they were well back on the line. This left de Koning as winner of the last race instead and Sunnucks and farren with an average day, still maintaining their overall lead, Styles and Van West in 2nd and De Koning and Tyse in 3rd.

This year the round Texel regatta was incorporated into the overall Dutch Open championships, with a double points score for the race, and for it to be non discardable. The race started at 1000 and no wind but plenty of tide going to the north and pushing everyone over the line. The M20 of Xander Pols held a slender lead at the light house with the Darren Bundock and Glen Ashby in close contact.

The wind stayed extremely light and variable and the fleet parked close to the VC turning mark, this was a critical stage in the race for the pack at the front containing Styles and Van West, Bundock and Ashby and Heemskerk; who all drifted into a sand back and allowed the fleet charging in on wind from behind to pass them with ease. The lead on corrected time was taken up by Toby Orpin and Lewis Crawford F18, who led till near to the southern corner of the island before being passed by Rob Wilson and Marcus Lynch F18.

By this stage the M20s were pressing hard, closing in fast on the finish line, where the M20 of Sunnucks and Farren clinched line honours from Xander Pols and Tito Veenstra in second also in a M20 and third Haeger and Webber in another M20. In the battle for the handicap vitory, it was a battle between the F18s of Rob Wilson closely pursued by the Nacra Infusion of Koen De Koning and the Prindle 15 of Dirk Pool, it ended, 1st Wilson, 2nd Pool, 3rd De Koning.

The regatta ended with a prize giving set to a background of a brilliantly clear sunset off the Texel coast. And the winners of the Dutch Open De Koning and Visser, from Styles and Van West, with Wilson and Lynch in third.

Worthing in the UK is the venue for the next F18 regatta next weekend, the last F18 regatta chance to practice before the F18 Worlds in Belgium in three weeks time.

A big thanks to Towergate Mardon, Gill, Marlow, Holt, and Tacktick for their great support for Team Styles. Were now looking forward to the worlds in a few weeks time, plans have gone well so far and our team is improving all of the time, so were really looking forward to the opportunity to test ourselves against the worlds best.