From F18 European Tour OA
Hellevoetsluis (Netherlands), 26 September 2026 – Days 1 & 2
The Tour finale is under way
Thirty-five crews have gathered on the Hellecat waters in Hellevoetsluis for the fourth and final round of the F18 European Tour, the act that will crown the circuit’s first annual champions this weekend. The fleet turned out in force for the season finale: a strong contingent of Dutch sailors racing on home waters is joined by crews from Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and France, all gathered for three days of racing on the Haringvliet. After two days and eight races, the Franco-Swedish pairing of SWE 111 is firmly in control.
Friday: fine-tuning in light airs
The opening day put tactics front and centre. A southerly breeze of 5 to 8 knots, occasionally building to 10, blew across a sheltered, perfectly flat stretch of water: a racetrack with nowhere to hide. In such shifty airs, picking the favoured side of the course was a challenge in itself, and the race committee completed three clean races under bright autumn sunshine. Jacob Lundqvist and David Fanouillère (SWE 111) read the racecourse to perfection with two race wins, ending the day tied on five points with Editha Wendeborn and Jesse Lindstädt (GER 26), winners of race three. The day was not kind to everyone: Hans and Marius Van Dam (NED 77), winners of Act 1 in Barcelona, broke their spinnaker pole in race two, a DNF that could prove expensive by Sunday evening.
Saturday: a five-race marathon
The northerly breeze delivered as promised, and the race committee made the most of it: five more races, bringing the series to eight, with a first discard now applied. At the front, the leaders held their nerve: another race win and a string of top results give Lundqvist and Fanouillère a three-point cushion over the ever-present Germans. The revelation of the day came from the home fleet: Kathelijn de Bruijne and Sander de Boer (NED 50) claimed two race wins on their home waters and climb to third overall, leading female helm of the event. Just behind, Patrick Demesmaeker and Gilles Tas (BEL 1) keep stacking up top-five scores with their trademark consistency, while the Van Dams answered Friday’s setback in style, taking a race win of their own to climb back to fifth.
Provisional standings after 8 races (1 discard)
- 🇸🇪 Jacob Lundqvist / David Fanouillère (SWE 111), 15 pts
- 🇩🇪 Editha Wendeborn / Jesse Lindstädt (GER 26), 18 pts
- 🇳🇱 Kathelijn de Bruijne / Sander de Boer (NED 50), 25 pts
- 🇧🇪 Patrick Demesmaeker / Gilles Tas (BEL 1), 32 pts
- 🇳🇱 Hans van Dam / Marius van Dam (NED 77), 45 pts
- 🇫🇷 Manu Boulogne / Bastiaan Tentij (FRA 901), 47 pts
- 🇫🇷 Vincent Blin / Raphaël Presle (FRA 18), 49 pts
👉 Full live results on manage2sail
A welcome worthy of the event
Ashore, the Hellecat club has delivered flawless organisation and given competitors a warm welcome: food truck and relaxed evenings on Friday, the traditional crew dinner on Saturday. The F18 spirit, from the water to the beach.
Tomorrow: the title day
Everything comes down to Sunday, with lighter airs forecast: the kind of conditions that reward calm heads and sharp eyes. The Act 4 title is now a three-way fight between Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. And tomorrow evening, at the end of Act 4, we will publish the final Act 4 results together with the definitive 2026 overall standings of the F18 European Tour: the first champions in the history of the circuit will be crowned on Quackstrand beach.
📷 PHOTO 5: the sunset over the Haringvliet (wind turbines).Caption: Evening glow over the Haringvliet: the stage is set for the title day · © Olivier Bovyn / F18 European Tour
⏪ Missed the European Championship? 👉 Read the full Act 3 report from Lake Como
Circuit organisation
- Email: contact@f18europeantour.com
- Website: www.f18europeantour.com
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