At 8:00 hours on Saturday morning 11 June, race director Jaap Tirion wished all sailors a safe and good race. The north-north-west wind was force 5 to 6 and the waves were high. Participants prepared themselves for a tough challenge. Spectators got ready for an unprecedented spectacle. It was like an exciting show. Xander Pols and Sven de Laaf were the first drop-outs among the favourites. Their M20 with brand new carbon sails capsized in the surf Surf #Surf , after which the mast broke immediately. Gerard Loos, Rikkert Graat and Daan Koene followed. Mitch Booth and Herbert Dercksen had bad luck as well. Although they were able to start again, the frames inside their carbon Hobie Concept hulls were cracked, which forced them to give up. Sailors were assisting each other to save masts of capsized catamarans. For others it was too late and they needed help to rescue their equipment. Wouter Samama and Jeroen van Leeuwen were also in troubles. Samama : “I thought it would not be too difficult, but I fell off the boat and we broke the tiller and we damaged the bow. Fortunately, we could repair the damage on the water.”

Heavy first leg

As usual, the helicopter gave the starting signal at 10:00 hours AM. The fleet went off reaching with a rough North Sea and strong wind. Team Samama/Van Leeuwen took the lead and was first to set spinnaker after the light house. Samama : “We hit the ground before the VC-mark and damaged our rudder. We fixed it with a rope and continued.” According to Willem Geijssen, who finished third overall, this part of the race was the most exciting. “The water was so shallow that many teams capsized or their rudders went up. Gunnar Larsen damaged his bow and was out of competition for the victory. Jacco Salman broke his rudder and had to give up.” The race committee did not expect the fleet to be that fast, so the participants entered the Wadden Sea a little bit too early. Remko Kenbeek and Paul Brouwer flipped over after the VC-mark. They were heading directly to Oudeschild, as Heemskerk/De Boer choose for a course closer to the shore. Repeat Team Geijssen and Van Capelle followed them. Geijssen : “We wanted to stay close to the leader of the F18’s. In case he would capsize, we could take over the first position, but it turned out to be a wrong decision. Kenbeek and Brouwer had more wind and passed us.” Meanwhile, Heemskerk and De Boer extended their lead and passed the second Tornado of Eduard Zanen and Willem Houwing, who finished third. Wouter Samama and Jeroen van Leeuwen flew after 2 hours, 11 minutes and 11 seconds over the finishline. An absolute record Record #sailingrecord . Samama : “I think this one will remain a while.” The winners of the 1997 Round Texel Race needed 2 hours, 30 minutes and 36 seconds. Hans Bouscholte and Ruurd van Wieren were 11 seconds faster in September 2003, but that is all history now.

The battle for the second and third F18 (also on handicap) was still going on. At the Razende Bol in the south, Kenbeek and Brouwer capsized again and Geijssen/Van Capelle almost. Geijssen : “At that point I really thought that we would beat Remko, but he just got us.”

Close finish

The French Nissan team Mourniac/Citeau and Repeat Team Huntelman/Van der Kamp fought for the fifth and sixth position overall. Herwin van der Kamp : “We were fast beating upwind at the southern point, but a wave knocked us off the hull. It was very exctining as we were heading towards the finishline with three boats : Mourniac/Citeau, Flier/Krijthe (NED) and us. The gap between Mourniac and us was only six seconds, but he won.” Jean-Louis Flier and Chris Krijthe were disqualified, due of a early start. The same happened to Hans Bouscholte and Ruurd van Wieren, winners of the line-honours in 2004. But most of the 120 disqualifications were caused by a wrong passage of the gate at the light house in the north.

Sportive women competition

There was another battle going on, because two F18 female teams were aiming at the Women’s Cup. Wampe van der Poel and Marieke Engelsman sailed out first, but capsized in the surf Surf #Surf . They came back safely and did not want to go out anymore. Until they saw the other girls leaving. Van der Poel : “We decided to try again and we made it.” Kathelijn de Bruijne reached the light house as first female crew. After the VC-mark the female Repeat Team flipped over and Van der Poel/Engelsman passed them. At Oudeschild both teams were knocked down by a huge gust of wind. De Bruijne took over the lead and finished as first women team, but they were also on the dsq list. De Bruijne : “We passed the mark and went back to sail through the gate, but we could not convince the jury.” As a result, Van der Poel and Engelsman won the Women’s Cup, but they did not accept that. At the prize giving ceremony, they gave their Cup away to the team of De Bruijne. Van der Poel : “We do not like to win a race this way. The girls sailed correctly and we will beat them next year.”

Winners’ party

The prize giving ceremony became a great celebration. All winners were honoured on stage. Champaign flew plentifully, TNG Swiss Watches were handed over and flowers were thrown into the crowd. Heemskerk and De Boer won on handicap, followed by Kenbeek/Brouwer and Geijssen/Van Capelle. All F18-teams. The Zwitserleven Round Texel 2005 event ended with a fantastic sailor’s party on the Texel Beach. There was more good news, because title sponsor Zwitserleven announced a prolongation of the sponsor contract with two more years.

• Top five (on handicap) Zwitserleven Round Texel Race 2005

 1. NED - F18 - Heemskerk / De Boer, 2:16:35 hours
 2. NED - F18 - Kenbeek / Brouwer, 2:20:57 hours
 3. NED - F18 - Geijssen / Van Capelle, 2:21:46 hours
 4. NED - Tornado Spi - Samama / Van Leeuwen, 2:11:11 hours
 5. FRA - F18 - Mourniac / Citeau, 2:23:13 hours