Report from TooPhat

A race report from the smallest boat in the fleet, by Hubert Bakker:

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It is still dark. I am just waking up in our trailer tent. Klarie is still sleeping. Outside I can hear people talking in low voices while preparing for the race. It is nearly 6am. Time to put on some clothes and rig my boat. I wake Klarie to get up as well. She was talked into crewing for the big sailing canoe from Bremen. With my head lamp I look for my clothes. I put provision into a container: muesli bars, water bottles and egg cakes. Outside I see more headlamps. Most of the sailors are up now.

 

At the dinghy park a few boats are already waiting with their rigs up. The catamaran rigs tower over the smaller boats. A Solway Dory is ready for action. Closer to the water, Joost and Viola are rigging their Goat Island Skiff on the trailer. Koos left his sailing canoe fully rigged on its side. Next is TooPhatt, my 11 foot dinghy with a Topper rig. After putting the provisions on board I unrol the sail. Then I tie the sail to the boom. It is getting lighter now.

 

0620 AM. Time for breakfast. Marion and Benjamin prepared a breakfast buffet in the club house at Omaho Beach. I put some muesli and yoghurt in a carton cup and pour myself a coffee. It is quiet. Some sailors already had breakfast and are now preparing themselves for the race. Others rigged up their boats and are now quietly munching away, pondering if they are finally ready for the event.

 

Koos looks a bit like Rupert the reindeer with his illuminated horns. At 0650 he wants to make a move to the assembly point at the harbour office. In a silent procession we follow. We join the sailors who already assembled at the red-white pole in front of the harbour office. We will have a standing start when the horn is sounded. We wait for daybreak. Then Koos nods to Marions daughter. The horn is sounded. The group dissolves. Everybody hurries to their boats.

 

I quickly get into my wet suit and realize that Klarie is on the German canoe with my sunglasses in her bag. Not good at all. I run back to the harbour and see them paddling away. No sunglases today. Lets hope that it remains cloudy all day. I walk back to Omaho Beach. Most boats are already in the water. I slide my boat into the water and paddle away from the shore. Then I sail on a downwind course towards 'het Booze Wijf' at the other side of the Lauwersmeer. In the distance I see the sails of other competitors. Somewhere to the right the big red sailing canoe with Klarie is disappearing in the direction of Ezumazijl. I am running at 1.6 knots. Then a puff of wind: 2.3 knots. Still not fast. Behind me I see a red and white spinnaker approaching. It is a Sailhorse keelboat. After a quarter of an hour they are in front of me. I am sailing at 3 knots now. As I get closer to the Booze Wijf, the first boats are already coming back. Alex seems to be leading, Koos is there too sailing his canoe. The crew of the Sailhorse also have collected their token. In front of me Frank van Zoest is steering his yawl into the harbour. At 8 AM I fasten to a mooring at the outside of the harbour and make my way to the reception. There I find a box. The tokens are paper weights with a quote from the Canoe Boys: "The sea wants to know, how big is your heart". When I walk back, Frank is still looking for the box.

 

After eating an egg cake I cast off in search of the Zuidelijke Ballastplaat. As I am navigating the small channel between Het Booze Wijf and the main lake I am tacking every 50 meters. Once outside the buoys I run aground. I quickly raise the centerboard and tack. Frank is close behind. Once out of the channel, Frank continues to the windsurfing beach. Far in front of me I can see the OK dinghy of Felix. I decide not to follow Frank and continue along the shipping channel in the direction of the Zuidelijke Ballastplaat.

 

I see a rib waving at me. That must be Oscar patrolling on the Lauwersmeer. No panic today. After a while the shipping channel bends to the south and we are on a reaching course. The wind has picked up a little and I record 7.7 knots. Even then it is a long trip. The shipping channel bends again and we are running downwind towards the sun. I miss my sun glasses. Then I see an opening in the shore line. No buoys to mark the depth. So it is probably too shallow. I continue along the shipping channel. Then another opening, this time marked with buoys. This is the channel to the island at the Zuidelijke Ballastplaat. I luff up and see another boat approaching the jetty. It is the big gaff-rigged dinghy of Benjamin and Fred. I tie up to the jetty and make my way to the box. It contains sunglasses. Lucky me! I put the sunglasses over my spectacles. It may look odd but it does the trick. Benjamin and Fred are already gone while I am eating another egg cake and drink a few sips from my bottle.

 

Now on to the next stop at Hunzegat, a small harbour before the locks at Zoutkamp. We are running downwind. The lake narrows to a channel winding towards Zoutkamp. Before me are Benjamin and Fred. Koos is already returning from Hunzegat, tacking in front of me. Once more I stick to the shipping channel. On the river banks, cows are standing in the water. It is a beautiful day. I am closing in on Benjamin and Fred, then a puff of wind puts me in front of them. At Hunzegat I tie TooPhat at a jetty and walk to the shop. There a little girl hands me a toy watch from the box. Hans en Hans are drinking coffee outside the shop. I would like some coffee too but there is no time. I walk back to the jetty. Benjamin and Fred are already on their way. In the distance I see Joost and Viola tying up their GIS skiff. As I leave the harbour entrance I cross big red 'Gargantua'. Klarie waves. I wave back. In front of me Benjamin and Fred are short-tacking up the channel. With each tack I am closing in and finally I can overtake them. Then onto the lake and from there to Lunegat for my fourth token. I forgot to set a new waypointand have overlooked the channel to Lunegat. In the distance I see Oostmahorn. Benjamin and Fred are nowhere to be seen. No other raid boats in sight.

 

We are reaching to Lunegat. I recognize an optimist sail at a jetty. It belongs to one of the German canoes. Its owner is probably tired of the trip back from Lunegat. The channel bends and we are sailing upwind. It is still wide enough to make good progress. There is one of the folding canoes. It is Eckhard returning from Lunegat. The channel is getting narrower and narrower and I am spending more time tacking than sailing. Then we are at the jetty outside the harbour. A lady helps me tie TooPhat to the jetty.

 

The box is outside the harbour masters office. The prize: two glass marbles with statuettes of animals inside. When I return from the toilets I bump into Benjamin and Fred again. They decided that this is their last stop. As it is 1430 they don't expect to make it to Ezumazijl and then finish in time. Good point. I cast off to return to the Lauwersmeer. It is easy sailing: a bit of running, a bit of reaching.

 

When I reach the entrance of the channel to Ezumazijl I decide to take a risk and go for the fifth token. It takes some time to shift from sailing to rowing mode. A tug from 'Bosman' seems to think I am in trouble. I wave that I am OK. Then I start rowing to Ezumazijl. After a while I run into Eckhard who is just returning from Ezumazijl. It is still 600m to Ezumazijl. At last I reach a little harbour. I walk to the bench at the lock and put my fifth token in the box. A lolly this time. It is 1553. I must hurry to get back to Oostmahorn in time. We are running downwind through the channel. I reckon the wind has gone down to a force 3. We get to the Lauwersmeer. Now it is upwind to Oostmahorn. A little more wind would be welcome. I am tired and in a hurry. I make some bad tacks, must be nerves or tiredness. It is now 1659. No chance to get to the beach in time. Eventually I make it to Omaho Beach at 1712 hours. I drag the boat onto the beach and run to the club house. I get to sound the gas horn as I am the last finisher.

 

Koos congratulates me with being the smallest boat in the event. People talk about their day on the water. Everyone has enjoyed the event. My back hurts. I lower myself into a chair holding a cold beer in my hands. Life is good.