Bundock and Van Leeuwen take out Texel Dutch Open

The Texel Dutch Open and World Championships Nacra Infusion came to an early end on Friday June 8th because of strong southwesterly wind. Thus the results of the second day of both championships also mean the final results. With seven races both championships are valid and the winners are crowned. Darren Bundock (AUS) and Jeroen van Leeuwen (NED) win the Texel Dutch Open in class I in a field of 47 competitors.

With a minimal difference, they defeated title defenders Mischa Heemskerk and Bastiaan Tentij. Oscar Zeekant and Charles Begemann take third place. In the Open class II Hans Primowees won.

If the races today had been continued, it would have been an exciting battle. Heemskerk and Tentij got into their game more and more yesterday and won the last two races. They were just five points short of the final victory, but are happy being runner-ups. Heemskerk, "Our goal was to get the boat speed back. We haven't been training that much this year, but during the event our sailing was getting better.

"Yesterday it went great, so maybe we would have gotten more out of it if we had been able to race today. But that's sailing for you. Anything can happen, even cancelling races. We just as well could have lost today. Darren and Jeroen have sailed very well and just did make fewer mistakes then we did. It is an open championship, so even an Australian can be the Dutch champion. May the best one win."

Fresh Dutch champion catamaran sailing Bundock is happy with his victory and laudatory about the event, "I'm participating since 1998 and have missed only twice or three times. That's why I'm so pleased that I, even as an Australian, became first. Despite the bad forecasts for this week we have been lucky, but today. That is always a disappointment, in the end we come to sail. Yesterday we sailed better than Wednesday. Then we sailed a fourth place, we can do better than that. Unfortunately yesterday we broke the spinnaker halyard. That twelfth place was our worst result."

In the Open II class Hans Primowees with his Prindle 15 wins with force majeure in a field of seven catamarans. With only first and second places and a third (discard) he was the best. Martin Maat (Nacra F17) becomes second, Dirk Pool (Dart 18) third.

Texel Dutch Open after seven races

1 Darren Bundock/Jeroen van Leeuwen (12 pnt)

2 Mischa Heemskerk/Bastiaan Tentij (17 pnt)

3 Oscar Zeekant/Karel Begemann (18 pnt)

4 Xander Pols/Stefan Dubbeldam (23,5 pnt)

5 Carolijn Brouwer/Wouter Samama (32 pnt)

Texel Dutch Open klasse I after seven races

1 Hans Primowees (8 pnt)

2 Martin Maat (13 pnt)

3 Dirk Pool (15 pnt)

Full results can be found at Texel Dutch Open

- Zwitserleven Zeilweek Media