Round Texel Dutch Open has started and the F18’s are on fire! The British team with Simon Northrop and Sam Barker are taking the lead after five races. No less then the current F18 World Champion Gunnar Larsen is behind them in 2nd position on his Nacra 17. In 3rd position Dutch F18 sailors Oscar Zeekant and Charlie Begemann are close. Everything can change on the final day tomorrow in medium conditions.
Northrop: “We had five good races, the wind was all over the place and it was a day for keeping your head out of the boat and adapting to the variable conditions. In the f18 we could change modes quickly and keep on top of the shifts and just stay consistent! Maybe the difference is in the sailmaker? We have another type of sail then the top 6”. The speed of changing modes Northrop is talking about is the Foiling 20’s. Because of the changing conditions there’s a lot of adjustment needed to keep up with the rest, in light weather conditions this doesn’t help to stay near the top 3. Also Begemann (3rd position) explains it was a pretty difficult day to sail. “A lot of shift and pretty gutsy, but the other teams did a really good job. Tomorrow will be exciting. The Nacra 17 is pretty fast in medium conditions, so we’ll see what happens.”
Top 5:
- Simon Northrop/Sam Barker – Formule 18 (GBR) 6 points
- Gunnar Larsen/James Melvin – Nacra 17 (NED) 9 points
- Oscar Zeekant/Karel Begemann – Formula 18 (NED) 12 points
- Grant Piggott/Adam Leeroy Kay – Nacra F20 (GBR) 13 points
- Xander Pols/Stefan Dubbeldam – Nacra F20 (NED) 17 points
Full results here.
More information on the 0fficial website .