Lining up for Medemblik

Holland Regatta for the Olympic classes sets sail in two weeks

Two weeks prior to the Delta Lloyd Regatta 2011, the Dutch World Cup for Olympic and Paralympic sailing in Medemblik, the organisation has received 603 entries, including six winners from 2010 and a new record of 61 nationalities. Registration for the Paralympic Sonar is taking a little longer, meanwhile, the women's match racing crews continue training on the IJsselmeer.

'We obviously followed the ISAF Mid Year Meeting in St. Petersburg with great interest,' said Arjen Rahusen, Chairman of the Organising Committee. 'We look forward to the return of the catamarans and to even more high performance spectacle with skiff sailors. On the other hand, we regret the loss of the keel boats. As an organisation we will miss the audience-friendly action of the match racing.'

This week, the Olympic Dutch match racing squad trains in front of the Regatta Center Medemblik. Coach Mikael Lundh commented: "The decision by the ISAF Council does not change anything for my team. They can be competitive in anything. We are focusing on this Olympic program and we already had all variations on the program, as that makes you a better sailor. This means that a few girls will compete in the Round Texel Race and Annemiek Bekkering, reigning European Champion in the 29er and 29er XX, will do the Kieler Woche in the 29er."

Lundh also believes that investment in the four Dutch Elliots certainly remains important for the future: "They can continue to sail those in the commercial market in the context of corporate events, as well as training boats. There is now a small shift towards high performance, but keelboat sailing should remain part of the Dutch federation." Next week, the Dutch match racing teams will line up against their Australian sparring partners in Medemblik.

The current list of participants includes many big names, including Brazilian Star helmsmen, Torben Grael and Robert Scheidt. They will compete against the winners of last year, Norwegian duo Melleby and Pedersen. The other defending champions are Australians Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page in the 470 Men, their fellow countrymen Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen in the 49er, Croatian Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic in the Finn, Tom Slingsby (AUS) in the Laser and Marit Bouwmeester (NED) in the Laser Radial.

The final weekend of 28-29 May all the Medal Races will be broadcast live, both by direct television images as well as tracking and expert commentry. The system follows the positions of the boats and shows them on a map on the Delta Lloyd Regatta website in both 2D and 3D using GPS technology. Not only the position is shown on the website but also speed, placing, routings, buoy times and distance.

This year will be the first time the Delta Lloyd Regatta is situated in a central location next to the regatta office where sailors, crew and public can meet. This is the perfect location for sailors to have a drink and grab a bite, prior, between and after the races. Furthermore, free WIFI will be offered to all laptop users as well as o-going news and updates concerning the progress in all the classes. The highlight of this week will be 'Super Friday' 27 May with live performances on stage.

On Saturday May 28, the Delta Lloyd Regatta will be part of Medemblik Nautiek, which combines water recreation and International sail-boat racing. During that day it is possible to take part in various activities spread around the city. There is a boat show exhibiting new and used boats, a nautical market, water-games for children and live music the whole day. In short: International water sports combined with attractive and exciting water inspired entertainment situated in a historical city.