The first match of the Dutch J/70 Sailing League was sailed in Roermond. Under difficult conditions with little wind, Watersportvereniging Uitdam performed the most consistently to win the weekend event after sailing just six races for each of the 15 sailing club teams on Saturday.
Day One: The sailors from WV Uitdam immediately took the lead in the rankings on the first day. Under the guidance of their new skipper Guido Buwalda, they reached a point total of only 8 points after five flights.
Day Two: On Saturday, WV Uitdam took the only victory in the only race they sailed. A first place in the sixth flight turned out to be the key to win the regatta. After that flight of races, the wind died completely for the rest of the day.
Day Three: An attempt was made to run two races in the early morning breeze of up to 7 knots. However, it was impossible to complete the full flight before the wind died off completely. As a result, WV Uitdam was declared victor of Act II. Second was the RR&ZV Maas & Roer team, followed by the VW De Twee Provincien club in third. Team WV Uitdam had a completely new team optimized for the light wind conditions. “On Friday, we chose to attack with our flyweight crew and immediately took the lead. On Saturday, we had to sail against a number of our direct competitors in the first race and therefore opted for more conservative tactics,” said skipper Jan van Wengerden. “It’s nice to surprise everyone again. Sometimes, we are not so good at an event, and we do not perform well. But, if we do, we are really good enough to compete for victory. We think we had one of the lightest crews this weekend, every downwind run we would gain a few critical meters for tactical advantage at mark roundings. Honestly, if there were over 15 knots of wind, we probably would not have won here.” As they had in Almere Centraal, the Maas & Roer team again took second place. Thanks to their consistent results, they now took over the overall series lead with a 2-2 tally. They now lead the reigning national champion WV Almere Centraal that has posted a 1-8. Third overall are Jachtclub Scheveningen with a 3-5. For more Dutch J/70 Sailing League information, visit http://eredivisiezeilen.nl/.