Booth and Nieuwenhuis maintain lead

There was a lot of waiting on day three of the Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta

Mitch Booth and Pim Nieuwenhuis extended their lead at the Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta today, Monday. The Dutchmen took both bullets in more tricky sailing conditions on the Caribbean Sea. Pols and De Waard and Zanen and Heemskerk are tied on ten points, with Pols and De Waard still in second position. It was old style racing today, as the race committee decided to go for a triangle course.

This morning, big black clouds hubg over the southern point of Aruba. As the fleet sailed out for the first race, it started raining and the wind was very gusty. By the time thunder and lightning came closer, all boats were sent back to the beach. That allowed the sailors to adjust some settings on the boat, to have a chat with others or to just have a siesta nap. During lunchtime the sky cleared up and the variable breeze filled in (10-12 knots). Finally, the Setar and Martinair Races could be sailed.

“Well, it is the other way around”, said Mitch Booth about sailing the former Olympic course. “This afternoon, we went clockwise and it used to be anti-clockwise in the old days. It has been a long time since I rounded the marks to starboard.” The competitors had to do two triangles and a sausage. “It was a fun and small course with interesting tactics. The conditions were tricky, which you can expect from easterly trade winds at the leeside of an island. There was so much to gain and lose on the downwind along the coast.” Booth and Nieuwenhuis had a big lead at the first top mark in race one, but stayed a bit too long close to the shore. Pols and De Waard and Zanen and Heemskerk closed the gap by choosing the seaside. However, Booth and Nieuwenhuis maintained their winning position.

Despite sailing a 2005 Hobie Tiger, Team Zwitserleven is still competitive. “It is a 15 year old design, but it goes alrigh,” Booth says. However, the pair are part of the design team for the new Hobie F18. “We are spending a lot of time to get all the details perfectly right. There are some good guys involved, such as Bundy, Ashby, Mourniac and Citeau. Pretty much everything is new and there are no compromises, since it might last for another fifteen years,” he explains. This summer, the Olympic duo caused heavy discussions by introducing the Code Zero to the Tornado class. However, this sail won’t appear on the new F18. Booth laughs: “It is not allowed by the rules.”

During the first three days of close competition, Xander Pols and Frank de Waard showed a consistent performance with only top four results. Today’s score is a fourth and second, which keeps them in second position overall. Former overall winner Pols said: “I like the changeable weather at the moment. I think the experience with Aruba and the sailing pays in these circumstances. It feels good to battle with top sailors as Mitch and Mischa. Coming back from a fifth to a second place in the last race is fantastic. We never teamed up before, so I am very pleased with our performance.” Pols and De Waard are about 20kg heavier than their competitors, which is an advantage going upwind. “We are slower downwind though, but the beat takes twice as long, so that is good,” Pols conculdes.

The small class with six slower catamarans is dominated by the local kids. Father Martin and daughter Nicole van der Velden started the series with a disqualification, but took revenge by winning all following races. The Grijpma brothers and helmsman Henk-Johan Hankart are in a comfortable second position. Sil Grijpma (11) said of his adventure today: “The nose dived into the water and I flew around the forestay. That had never happened before.” Amanda Westera, crewing for Manfred Thomasch (AUT), is third overall: “My mom replaces me in the mornings, while I am at school.” Both youngsters will participate at the Dart 18 Worlds 2009 on their home island Aruba.

Results:

1-NED – Booth and Nieuwenhuis, F18 Hobie Tiger, 4 points
2-NED – Pols and De Waard, F18 Nacra Infusion, 10 points
3-NED – Zanen and Heemskerk, F18 Hobie Tiger, 10 points
4-GBR – Sunnuck and Farren, F18 Nacra Infusion, 17 points
5-GBR – Gummer and Bogaards, F18 Capricorn, 19 points

The Aruba Catamaran Regatta is sponsored by Heineken, Aruba (ATA), Martinair, Hapag Lloyd, Holiday Inn, Setar, AWA, Coca Cola, TNG, Does & Cadushi, Aruba Aloe, Palmtours, Aruba Watersports Center, Atlantis, Pelican Nest, Moomba Beach, Zwitserleven and Alfons de Letter.