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The Coastal Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race and the Municipality of Medemblik are together on course for the sixtieth edition. The two parties have been partners for many years and this year they are once again pulling together. There have been fruitful discussions that have led to great ideas for the anniversary edition. This will take place in Medemblik on August 29 and 30, 2025.

“We have indeed had a very positive meeting with Alderman Gringhuis and an official,” responded Klaas Jan Kroon, chairman of the organizing committee of the 24 Hour Sail Race. “That resulted in a few agreements. For example, the Municipality of Medemblik will cover the costs of the mooring fees for the participating boats. And because it is the sixtieth edition, they also pay for the coffee and cake during the awards ceremony on Sunday morning at Radboud Castle. Furthermore, they are thinking along to really make the sixtieth 24 Hours a festive edition. More on that later.”

Alderman Gringhuis is pleased with the continuation of the long-term cooperation: “The 24 Uurs Zeilrace really belongs to Medemblik, with its beautiful harbors and rich sailing history. In economic, social and sporting terms, the event has a positive impact on Medemblik and the city of Medemblik in particular. We have supported the 24 Hour Sail Race for 59 years and are looking forward to this year’s anniversary edition.” That is exactly what Kroon experienced personally recently, about which he says, “I spoke to some entrepreneurs from Medemblik. All of them were happy that the 24 Hours is staying. I was actually impressed with how the event lives in Medemblik.”

Asked about how important it is to the Coast Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race that the event traditionally takes place in Medemblik again, Kroon replied, “Medemblik is an incredibly nice location anyway with good entry possibilities, after which the participants can party close to the boats in the evening and with Radboud Castle for the awards ceremony. For us, it is also not unimportant that Medemblik can accommodate the participating boats after the finish. And of course there is a mega history of the event. The first 24 Hours was already organized in Medemblik, so that’s where the origin lies. It’s great that after 59 times we can also organize the anniversary edition in Medemblik. I myself will not experience the following editions, which hopefully will also take place in Medemblik, as chairman, because after this year I will hand over my role as chairman to Jeroen Paardekooper. But first we are going to make it a festive anniversary.”

As of April 1, a month earlier than usual, registration for this anniversary edition is open. The organization hopes that many participants and also former participants will take up the challenge to cover as many miles as possible in 24 hours. To perhaps break the mileage record of 222.06 miles, which has been held by team Blacquiere with the Blacq Magic since 2021. On Friday evening, August 29, 2025, hundreds of boats will start from thirteen starting ports along the Marker and IJsselmeer and the Wadden Sea in three starting groups. Like last year, Den Helder is the starting place on the mud flats. A day later follows the festive welcome in Medemblik followed by an exuberant party on the quay. Online registration will open from April 1.

Klaas Jan Kroon, chairman of the 24 Hours committee, is enthusiastic about this anniversary edition: “The great thing is that this year you can win not only the sailing race. Each participating boat competes via a raffle for special prizes made available by companies. For example, a beautiful dinghy worth 1,600 euros can be won. In addition, all skippers will receive an anniversary shirt and a glossy magazine with interviews, results, photos and the history of the 24 hours. Crew members can also reorder the shirt and glossy.”

On the quay of the Oosterhaven in Medemblik there will be a Wall of Fame with portraits of people who have been decisive for sixty years of the Coast Sailors 24 Hours Sail Race. Kroon: “These are people of whom you think ‘when I think of the 24 Hours, I see that person in front of me’. Everyone knows them, with perhaps the Verkade family and Jacques Brakeboer as the most well-known. But also the person with the highest annual mark and the skipper with the most miles traveled in a monohull get a place of honor. These are icons that have made the sailing race what it is today.”

Klaas Jan Kroon is hoping for a record number of participants for this anniversary edition: “If you have ever sailed the Coast Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race once, this is the opportunity to sail it again. The combination of seamanship, navigation and endurance appeals to every sailor. Many (international) competitive sailors once started their careers in this race. It should appeal to them to take up the challenge again, especially if there are many former participants and competitors competing.”

Don’t miss this 60th edition and register now : The 24 hour sailing race – The biggest sailing event in the Netherlands – 24 hour sailing race

While the ice is still in the ditches and in some places you can actually skate, many people are already itching to sail again and to fill out the upcoming sailing calendar. Of course, the 60th edition of the Coastal Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race should not be missing, which will be sailed on August 29 & 30. With of course the finish on Saturday afternoon August 30 in familiar Medemblik and the award ceremony on Sunday morning August 31 at Radboud Castle.

To quickly secure a starting ticket, registration opens on April 1!

As an organization we are busy working out the program and preparing fun activities on the occasion of the 60th edition. Soon we will come with more news about this.

Last August 30 and 31 was already the ^59th 24 Hour Race of the Nederlandsche Vereeniging van Kustzeilers, held on the IJsselmeer, Markermeer, North Sea and Wadden Sea. The largest cabin sailboat event in the Netherlands. This year with 362 entries and 281 boats finished in regulation. Conditions were excellent with moderate to fairly strong constant northeast winds in the evening and overnight. Saturday during the day the wind turned a little more to the east and slowly changed to a nice wind force 5. It was dry and not at all cold at night. In other words, excellent conditions to sail the 24 Hours. An average of 148.95 nm was sailed per participant, with an average speed of 6.21kn over 24 hours. That is quite high and in the barge class there were even participants with sailed distances of over 200 nm!

Record for Carmagnole

So conditions were also excellent for the Carmagnole, resulting in a record of 149.7nm and over the actual miles sailed an average speed of 6.24kn. The Carmagnole was participating for the eighth time and we actually finished the race eight times, however twice we were unable to get the year mark. Once due to a 3-minute late finish and once due to having registered the wrong buoy. One learns by doing and fortunately this year we did get a new year mark (6), and so we finished the race in accordance with the regulations, registered and also won within the VKSJ class. The 24-hour is every year a highlight of the sailing events and we always sail this race with a more or less fixed crew, always including at least 2 good sailors and 2 deckhands. The year we did not register the race properly we sailed with three of them. It was extreme weather with hail and thunderstorms and we were so tired that we did not check the registration before handing it in to the race committee. In other words, 4 men/women is surely nice to successfully complete this race with the Carmagnole.

Tips

Since there are less and less entries in the VKSJ class and since we often sail a fair number of miles compared to other classics, I thought it would be fun to share our tactics on how we approach this race. Of course everyone does it their own way, which is also the charm of this race, but maybe it will help other members to improve their results next time as well. First of all, a few inside tips on the preparation: I always try to have the boat and equipment in order and preferably a week in advance so that we can focus on the weather forecast the days before the start to choose a good starting place and scenarios for sailing across the mud flats. We also try to sleep well the days before the start, because little sleep is part of the 24 Hours. Besides being well rested, we always meet at noon on Friday so that we have enough time to sail to a good starting place, catch up, discuss the race and have a good meal just before the actual start at 18:40.

Tactics

Then the tactics. What are we going to do; sail as many half-wind racks as possible with a startingrak on a higher shore, so that we also start with a spi-rak. Or do we take maximum current on the long stretches on the Wadden Sea and hope that everything can be sailed or with a single stroke here and there in the twists and turns of the channels. By far the majority of participants stay on the IJsselmeer and the Markermeer. The calculation programs often prescribe this and it offers a bit more security, especially for returning on time. We actually always choose the tidal flats and the North Sea except when too much wind is predicted and there is a chance of more than 5bft wind against current in the gullies and then cruising up. The steep waves that you can then get demolish your boat and are better avoided. Or there is too little wind predicted making it uncertain whether you can get back to Medemblik in time, also experienced…. But with more than a knot of current in the back, crossing a small channel is no problem, preferably with moderate wind. Besides taking advantage of the current, there is often more wind at sea and especially at night it is great sailing because you will encounter practically no oncoming traffic like at night on the IJsselmeer. So you can fully concentrate on boat speed in addition to navigating. With 360 participating boats at night on the IJsselmeer, you are busy avoiding the oncoming traffic which costs a lot of energy and boat speed. Busy buoy laps in the dead of night also cost extra time. Below are some routes across the Wadden Sea with some comments and pros and cons. 63nm From Kornwerderzand 1 hour after high tide Harlingen (HWH) via the Texel Stream through the Schulpengat and then at the turn of the tide all the way back. Lots of current with nice long stretches. Make sure you do not cross over on the narrow part along the Afsluitdijk. If there are any problems, you can shorten the course on the way back to the Ijsselmeer via Den Over. That is exactly what we did this edition. In addition we caught some 2 short racks at sea, because we were too early for the turnaround. 91.8nm From Kornwerderzand at HWH via the Texelstroom and Schulpengat into the Noorzee between Terschelling and Vlieland back in towards Harlingen and Kornwerderzand. The ultimate round trip with 14 hours to spare and an average current of knots. 1 hour after HWH you have to be at Harlingen and then you also have a bit of current with you to Kornwerderzand. If you can do this, you will have an average speed of 6.55 kn! So it is quite possible to have a cross course with all the current at your back. We have not done this round trip yet, but was on the planning this edition. However, the forecasts were 5 to 6 bft at sea and we had current against waves while crossing the Stortemelk. Unfortunately, had it been less windy, we would have done it. We have taken the Visjagersgaatje and Den Oever twice now during a 24 Hours and both times we lost quite some time here. The Visjagersgaatje is very narrow and crossing here is no fun, in addition, the lock at Den Oever is slow, much slower than Kornwerderzand and at night it is confusing to sail in from the Wadden Sea if you are not familiar with it. You get lock compensation, but the lock at Kornwerderzand just turns faster. Especially at night, you fly through the lock at Kornwerd in no time! Just make sure you have a life raft (mandatory) if you go out to sea and a plotter is nice at night on the Wadden Sea.

Last edition, despite a long cruising leg with the current at our backs, from the Schulpengat to Den Over, we achieved a higher average speed on the Wadden Sea than on the Ijsselmeer. Even though we spent almost half an hour virtually at a standstill in the Visjagersgatje while cruising up at around 5 a.m., we achieved a higher average speed. The mainsail would not go down when setting the first reef due to a stuck upper spinnaker. After 2 men pulling and hanging on the luff of the sail, the spinnaker finally ripped off the sail and we got the reef in, pff….

Enjoy

Then when you have pulled out all the stops to finish around the 18:40 mark and with 300+ boats all sailing at the finish line at Medemblik at the same time, it’s pure enjoyment. There is not much left to choose from and you just sail hard to the finish. But what a beautiful sight that gigantic field of sailboats from snow sliding barges and planing Mini 650’s to some nice sharp cut classics. And then the reception in Medemblik with music, beer, music, beer and beer until finally the adrenaline really wears off and you just look for your boat again to be at the castle the next morning in time for the awards ceremony! We hope for many more editions where we can also greet some more VKSJ-ers at the start. If not, our own VKSJ competition class at the 24 Hours will disappear (in case of less than 4 entries) Greetings and until the anniversary edition of the 24 Hours in 2025 (August 29 and 30, 2025)! Carmagnole and crew

View the preliminary results here: 24 Hours (sailingracemanagement.nl)