The organization of the Kustzeilers 24 Uurs Zeilrace wishes you a Merry Christmas and a very good and healthy 2025 with lots of sailing fun. We hope to see you at the start of the 60th 24 Hours on Friday, August 29. Let’s make it a great and fun sailing party together!
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
More wind than predicted in this edition The weather couldn’t fail in the 59th Coast Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race. For the first time in years there was not a drop of rain and there was enough wind to make many miles. The wind was even more than predicted and blew from the northeast to east. This made it a challenging edition for the sailors and navigators. Many miles were sailed. The overall winners were René Klaassen with his Dufour 425GL Mare in the ORC and Lucas Elderhorst with his Mini 650 Boatsje in the Tocht class. The winner of the doublehanded class sailed the most miles. Kai Herr Stuebane achieved 203.36 miles with his XP44 LaXXi. The wind was forecast to come from the north Friday night and turn east during the night. However, it was already east at the start and continued to blow from that angle for 24 hours. Many sailors had therefore chosen starting places in Friesland, in order to start with sailed stretches right away and to be able to make as many long stretches on the IJsselmeer as possible. For this wind, the racks from the Wieringen Vlaak to the Noordoostpolder and back and variations thereof were most favorable. During the night there were local differences in wind force, but in general the wind gauge did not drop below ten knots and the temperature did not drop below 13 degrees. Pleasant conditions therefore. Saturday during the day the wind picked up to 20 to 23 knots, more than anticipated. This meant that the sailors had to keep puzzling over whether and which stretches to sail towards the finish line. A spinnaker finish was out of the question; the wind was too easterly for that. Despite that, most boats sailed across the finish line with decent speed. The mileage record of 222.06 miles, held since 2021 by team Blacquire with the Blacq Magic, was not broken. There were few dropouts this edition. Most teams crossed the finish line, only a few too early or after the 25th hour. Saturday evening, while the sun finally showed itself, only happy sailors sailed into the harbor of Medemblik after 24 hours of non-stop sailing on the Markermeer, IJsselmeer and a few on the Wadden Sea, after which the party on the quay could break loose and continued until the wee hours.
IJsselmeer favorite
Most participants (238) started on the IJsselmeer and sailed their races there. On the Markermeer, 83 participants started. Of the final winners, eight started on the IJsselmeer, four in Stavoren, two in Den Oever, one in Hindeloopen and one in Medemblik. Three winners started on the Markermeer, one in Lelystad Zuid and two in Enkhuizen Zuid.
Doublehanded: ‘Little sleep, a lot of sailing’
German Kai Herr Stubane managed to set the mileage record of 2024 with the LaXXi, an XP44. And that in the doublehanded class! Together with buddy Jelle, he sailed 203.36 miles in 24 hours. Stubane: “We slept very little, just sailed, always trying to sail as fast as possible. Jelle mapped out a good route, which allowed us to sail good stretches all the time. We had calculated many options in advance, so we could switch quickly. In preparation, we cleaned the underwater hull very well. And we ate a lot along the way. Before the race another hot meal and after that just granola bars, chocolate, bananas and apples. And drank a lot of Coke and Red Bull.”
ORC1: ‘Next year we come to defend the title’
The second German winner, skipper Kurt Kreutz, had a slightly easier time with eight crew members. He was competing for the first time himself, but several crew members had sailed the Coast Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race more often. The Kreutz Ass sailed 186.83 miles total. Kreutz: “We started in Enkhuizen South and first did laps on the Markermeer. At 4 a.m. we moved to the IJsselmeer and sailed half-wind courses all day. We used the rake program, which we had prepared well and we could switch gears all the time. With eight people you can sleep a bit, some a bit more than the others. That makes it easier. Next year we will be there again, then we will come to defend the title!”
ORC 2 and overall winner: ‘Secret is that it clicks with the crew’
René Klaassen sailed with an occasional crew, but still put down 191 miles with his Dufour 425GL Mare. With that, he won the ORC2, but also overall in the ORC class. Klaassen: “Our secret is a good crew, that it clicks. And cleaning the underwater ship and of course knowing your boat. The wind was tremendously favorable and we had a fat Code 0 as a headsail. We started in Stavoren, were able to set the Code 0 and were off immediately. That’s good for morale on board. We have a top navigator who put the route together well. Every hour and every beat we adjusted tactics and navigation. The software helps you with that. Every hour we had a new weather forecast and if we rounded the buoy a minute too early or too late, we adjusted the choices again in subsequent rakes.”
Tour 1: ‘We were surfing towards a buoy at 11.5 knots’
Lucas Elderhorst put in a great performance with mate Florian in the Tocht class. They sailed a Mini 650, one of the smaller boats, 157.65 miles. Lucas just bought the boat and it is the first race he has sailed with it. They also hadn’t sailed a race together before. Elderhorst: “Last weekend we trained. But Florian has had his own Mini for four years, so he brings a lot of knowledge. We sailed almost nothing under spinnaker, but still managed an average of 7 to 8 knots. At the last buoy and finish we did take some more space, because this boat is not easy to maneuver. At the WV19 we took the outside turn. We had all the time, we were a little early. We assessed the waves and how hard we were surfing, at one point we were coming up to the buoy at 11.5 knots. But it’s not scary because we can estimate it well. My goal is to sail the Mini Transat and this is good practice.”
Record for jubilee SailWise
The catamaran Beatrix of the SailWise foundation sailed 106.11 miles in 24 hours, a record for the crew. This foundation for people with physical or sensory disabilities, intellectual disabilities or non-congenital brain injuries participated for the third time in a row. SailWise is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. At the awards ceremony, crew member Jacco Holthuis presented an anniversary book to Klaas Jan Kroon, chairman of the Coastal Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race. Holthuis: “SailWise has been making unlimited enjoyment of water sports possible for 50 years, which is why I have been sailing for many years. We had a lot of experience on board and because of that we were able to make 106 miles. I hope SailWise does this for many more years, because it makes water sports more accessible.”
Anniversary Edition 2025
The Coastal Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race will be organized for the 60th time in 2025. Many participants who indicated that they could not be there this year want to be there next year. Chairman Klaas Jan Kroon: “We are going to make it a nice special edition. Let’s hope that many former participants also want to sail this unique race again and that we get just as fantastic weather as this edition.”
Facts
Of the 365 boats entered, 281 crossed the line in regulation 24 hours later. Collectively, the sailors covered a whopping 41,854.53 miles compared to 35,028.32 in 2023. On average, they sailed 148.95 miles this year compared to 134.72 miles last year, with an average speed of 6.21 knots. Most popular starting place was Stavoren (62), second was Hindeloopen (48). Enkhuizen Noord (46) also had a respectable number. Only one competitor ventured the start on flowing water at the new starting place Den Helder, but this did not prove to lead to a victory.
Other winners
ORC 3: Rowdy-Dow, Dehler 36 DB, Douwe de Jong RPB: Danielle, Lemsteraak, W. Van Rootselaar Tocht 2: Comet, Van de Stadt 34, Aswin Bouwmeester Tocht 3: Flinke Jetser, 11 MOD, Mennard van Winkoop Tocht 4: Majic, J109, G. van Kooten Tocht 5: ZsaZsa, Grand Soleil 45, G. Maas VKSJ: Carmagnole, Vd Stadt Mahonie Marsdiep, G. Visch For full results go to Provisional Results – 24-hour sailing race.
Date 60th edition 2025
The date of the 60th Coast Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race in 2025 is Aug. 29 and 30.
About Coastal Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race
The Nederlandsche Vereeniging van Kustzeilers organized the Kustzeilers 24 Uurs Zeilrace for the 59th time. The sailing race is made possible by the following organizations, among others: Nationale Nederlanden, Municipality of Medemblik and Media partner Zeilen. photo: Laurens Morel
View the preliminary results here: 24 Hours (sailingracemanagement.nl)
“We are slowly getting a bit more tired this way with the final miles ahead of us,” Arnoud Luijten, skipper of the Vingilot De Ridder One Off 36, admits over the phone. Nevertheless, they are still pushing hard: “We are now on our way to the Sport A and then hope to get to the Sport B before we head for the finish line.” Meanwhile, the counter stands at over 154 miles. From starting point Den Oever, the crew opted for as many “horizontal raks” as possible, due to the north wind. “This is to keep racks open, which you can then sail again later. So we first went up and down to the LC1, then to the SB8 and then we crossed towards Urk and did some races there. When the wind was northeast, we started doing diagonal races. Now we sail a little more the north/south raks, because the wind is coming from the east. So we slowly go with the change in wind direction.” The crew consists of five people. They don’t have a real watch system, but they do sleep. “We have two people who steer and someone who does navigation, but we can all do ‘other things’ as well. We don’t have a stringent watch system. If someone is sleeping well, you let them lie down for a while. Or if one of us is tired and wants to lie down for a while, we can do that too. We’re pretty flexible.” The mood is also good: “It’s cozy on board. We have a regular group except for one guy this year. The 24 Hours is actually always a reunion of fellow students for us.”
From touring class to ORC
Two years ago, team Vingilot won in the touring class. “If we had entered in the touring class last year, we would have won it again. When we won, we switched to ORC. Otherwise we wouldn’t have thought it was so fair to the other tour sailors, who are a little less concerned with speed anyway.” At the time of calling, Vingilot is third in the ORC 2 rankings, but to Luijten this says little. “It depends on when you enter something (the rounded buoy) and a lot of people haven’t done anything yet. That’s a real shame, though. The game is most fun if everyone does fill in everything directly or if it is done automatically via AIS.”
Among the hundreds of yachts on the IJsselmeer is a very special yacht, the more than hundred-year-old Muschka Van Hacht 75m2 owned by skipper Ramon Van Leeuwen. ‘Spartan sailing, little comfort, but fast and cozy,’ as they put it in a message last year. And Spartan it certainly is this Coastal Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race for the six-man crew. Van Leeuwen: “In itself it’s going very well, but it’s bumpy.”
“We are on a kind of rocking horse,” he continues. “We are now sailing above Stavoren toward the Afsluitdijk. It’s bouncing in all directions here with high waves and thick winds, so it’s going fast. We see others in T-shirts on board while we are ready for submergence. We get buckets of water over us.” “We started in Medemblik. That wasn’t the most ideal starting spot, but it was for us in terms of logistics and planning. The trade-off was whether we were going to go to a lot of trouble to sail the boat to Stavoren, for example, or do we relax and have a nice dinner at our leisure. We chose the latter and just took that short cruising leg for granted.” The nighttime hours were dark, according to Van Leeuwen. “There was very little moonlight. It went fine. There was quite a thick wind, I think on average wind force four to five. There wasn’t a moment when the wind dropped. Maybe below the Frisian coast. We did go there, but it was still blowing hard. We sail with six men, three of whom steer and rotate about every hour. The sleepers have one tack and sometimes two when things slow down. It’s a little rougher at the moment than at night, so we take our rest where we can.”
Record?
The past two years, Muschka won in Tour 3 and recorded the best overall performance in the tour. “With that, we won the silver pennant from the Coastal Sailors, so we have something to defend,” Van Leeuwen said. “I don’t know if it’s going to work again, but at least it’s going fast and for us it looks like we’re going to set a record distance. That’s kind of nice. Our record now is 171 miles and we’re now on track for 174 miles.” The mood on board is fine and there is good reason for that. Van Leeuwen: “Everyone is smiling, we have been eating and drinking. We are sailing nicely. We know we are at record distance, so everyone is motivated to go for the last quarter.” Will Muschka manage to reach his ninth official finish with a record number of miles? At the time of writing (1:15 p.m.), the counter stands at 126 miles. Still a few hours to go…
“It’s going so particularly hard,” reports Volkert Zijlker of the Dazzling Dolphin, a Dehler 39 SQ, when I ask how things are going. “But everyone in the Tocht 5 class is going so hard, so we have to keep fighting to win.” Before the race, he still reported that he had hoped for a light-weather 24 hours because his mainsail is no longer in top shape. “It started blowing a little more than predicted. So trick 1 is to keep the mainsail whole, then the rest comes. We worked very hard last night and fortunately we kept the mainsail in one piece. Sometimes sailed a little conservatively and put in a reef quicker or took the pressure off the neck corner.” The Dazzling Dolphin is a “family affair” this year, as Volkert calls it. Son Tammo and girlfriend Anouk, daughter Lisanne and friend Marc are also on board. Completing the crew is Wim van Slooten. Wim has started six times in the Fastnet Race and finished four times. Lisanne sailed the Sydney Hobart in 2023. So a very experienced crew. And Volkert is competing for the 14th time in the Coast Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race and has sailed it thirteen times.
Few sail changes
They started in Hindeloopen, a tactical move with last night’s northeast wind. For now, they are now in first place in Tour 5. Volkert: “So far we have sailed a relaxed trip. With this northeast wind you can sail beautiful northwest-southeast laps. We actually sailed all night from the Wieringermeer to the Noordoostpolder and back again. Now we are making a second run from Enkhuizen to the Afsluitdijk and vice versa. I specially chose races of about fifteen miles, so everyone could take a break on those long races. That way there are few sail changes and few exciting buoy turns, where one boat has to jibe and the other has to tack. With this constant wind, it’s ‘picture perfect’ of course.” Volkert has been preoccupied for days before the 24 hours with the weather and the favorable courses and especially the starting location. “Beforehand I let the wind tell the story and I linked the racks to that,” he says. “That way we hopefully made it easier on ourselves. But because we sailed harder than anticipated, we are now starting to run out of racks. Our forecast was 180 miles in 24 hours, but when I see now we end up with 183.7 miles. Our record is 184.5, we’re probably not going to make that, but we’re doing our best.
I have a great team together, we all have a lot of experience. That helps to have peace of mind in the boat.”
“It’s going well. We’re comfortable,” says ocean sailor Jelmer van Beek enthusiastically when we call him around 9 a.m. Saturday morning. “Beautiful weather conditions with fifteen to twenty knots of wind. And yes, we are sailing nice half wind back and forth all the time. Just when you’re dry, another wave comes across the deck.” He laughs, “Pretty much, you know the drill.” He sails aboard the Spitfire J121 of skipper Frederic de Visser of Scheveningen. Beforehand, Van Beek let it be known that he and his team were definitely considering a start at sea, but it ended up being Enkhuizen-North. “Yes, the wind was not favorable and with the current we didn’t come out either. So now the plan is to sail all the rakes on the IJsselmeer. By 9 o’clock we had done almost 120 miles. My Scheveningen friends all think it’s a crazy race. It’s super fun to be out on the water at night with so many lights.”
What is it like for you to sail the 24 Hours again after ten years and so many experiences as a professional ocean sailor richer? “Yes nice, to consider in Enkhuizen with the other participants before and if you get wet, at least it’s fresh water. That’s a lot more pleasant and dries faster. Also the IJsselmeer waves are fun again. In the Optimist, of course, I sailed on that an awful lot.” After his training with Team Heiner’s youth program, Jelmer van Beek’s sailing career took off. For example, he sailed the Fastnet Race, Middle Sea Race, the Sydney Hobart and, as skipper of Team JAJO, he finished second in The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup. That the Coast Sailors 24 Hour Sailing Race is a different category of sailing competition may be obvious. But how different is this race compared to traditional sea sailing races. We asked Jelmer. “The unique thing about the 24 Uurs is that you have to turn the corner about every three quarters of an hour. You sail a lot from tack to tack. The funny thing is that you sail with and against everyone. You may be able to see the starting spot off each other, but otherwise you have little idea of how well you are doing relative to the other boats you encounter. This makes the game very different, because normally you are constantly watching each other. Now you do that to avoid sailing against each other.” Asked how the mood on board is, Van Beek replied, “It’s good. We just ate the buns with fried egg. Those were prepared. There were a few more freeze-dried meals in the cupboard, but I passed those by,” Jelmer admits with a laugh. “We have a watch schedule of two hours of sleep and five hours on deck,” he continues. “That goes just right. There are seven of us, so there are always two people downstairs and basically five upstairs. At the same time, we’re doing a lot of work on the Rak 24 program and getting weather reports in. We really do our best to get a good result.” At the time of calling, the wind gauge shows 20 knots. “We have a lot of boats around us. Some are sailing with a reef, some are not. We have a full mainsail and medium/heavy jib up. We have sailed Code zero a few times. We can do that very occasionally when we just have a slightly wider reach. And everybody waves to each other. You always do that on the water, but yes now you have a lot to wave to.” As we conclude, the Spitfire has covered 138.61 nautical miles. That puts the Scheveningen team in the lead in both ORC1 and the standings for most miles.
Over three hundred participants on the water to sail miles for 24 hours Medemblik, Aug. 30, 2024 – On Friday evening between 6:30 and 7 p.m., 324 of the 365 registered participants started in the Coast Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race. Under a thin sun and with a nice easterly wind around 10 and 15 knots, the participants left from the thirteen starting places. The next 24 hours will be spent puzzling over the favorable courses to cover as many miles as possible. According to the forecast, the wind was still blowing from the north on Friday night and would turn east during the night, where it would remain until Saturday night. With the wind already in the east on Friday night, it looks like the direction will remain constant and the competitors will have to recalculate which courses yield the most miles. A wind shift during the 24 hours is probably not in the cards. The wind will also continue through the night, which is favorable for mileage, increasing over the course of Saturday to about 17 to 23 knots in the evening. As it looks now, it will be a nice spinnaker finish off the coast of Medemblik after the participants in the tour and race have completed their final miles to the finish line under spinnaker. It won’t be cold for the participants of the Coast Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race, the mercury probably won’t go below 13 degrees at night. Saturday will be a sunny day. It looks like this edition can be sailed out without precipitation or strong winds. For the participants, these weather conditions are perfect for making a lot of miles. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that the mileage record that has stood in the name of team Blacquire with the Blacq Magic since 2021 will be broken. This team covered 222.06 miles in 24 hours. The 59th edition again has many newcomers, most of them in the draft classes. It shows that the Coast Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race is undiminished popular among various groups of sailors. Also, a number of participants have already sailed the 24 Hours more than 30 times in regulation, a tremendous achievement. Of the 324 participants who started, 238 started on the IJsselmeer, hoping to make the most miles there, compared to 83 on the Markermeer. With this easterly wind and unfavorable currents, the new starting place on flowing water, near Den Helder, was not popular. Only one participant started there.
Starting Places
Friday evening’s start in the twelve starting places around the Marker and IJssel Lake went quietly. Most popular starting place was Stavoren with 62 participants started, which is not surprising with the easterly wind. Hindeloopen was a close second with 48 boats crossing the starting line. Enkhuizen Noord (46) was also popular, as it is every year. In Lelystad Zuid and Den Oever, 33 participants started their 24 hours of sailing.
Sailwise
SailWise’s Beatrix catamaran is participating for the third time in the Coastal Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race. This foundation offers people with physical or sensory disabilities, intellectual disabilities or non-congenital brain injuries multi-day, challenging water sports activities and vacations.
Digital processing of results
Participants’ covered miles can be tracked in real time via the Coast Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race website. During the race, the participants have to enter the digital system immediately after each buoy lap. This is not only for themselves and the other participants, but also for the people at home and the followers. The processing of the results is completely digital. All participants complete the race declaration online, which saves the organization a lot of work after the finish. It is immediately visible how many miles a team has sailed and in which place they finished.
Following the race
Participants can be followed live at www.24uurszeilrace.nl. Facebook also allows home fans and participants to follow the Coast Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race closely. The organization has asked a dozen onboard reporters in various classes to blog live from the cockpit via Facebook about how their race is going and what they are up against. Through photos, videos and live updates, they will let everyone in on their tactical choices, life on board, fatigue and perseverance. In addition, two reporters on shore will cover the race for 24 hours through interviews with participants, videos and live updates via Facebook and the website.
Finish
Saturday evening between approximately 5:30 and 8:00 p.m., all participants will finish en masse off the coast of Medemblik, after which the party on the quay will erupt and last into the wee hours, especially with this beautiful weather. About Kustzeilers 24 Uurs Zeilrace
In 2024, the Nederlandsche Vereeniging van Kustzeilers will organize the Kustzeilers 24 Uurs Zeilrace for the 59th time. The combination of the art of navigation, 24 hours of consecutive sailing, sociability and endurance makes the event still unique and beloved among yacht sailors. The field of participants consists of touring and racing classes. All teams must cover as many nautical miles as possible in a 24-hour period. They may only sail the set courses on the IJsselmeer, Markermeer, Wadden Sea and North Sea twice, so navigation is essential. Besides seaworthiness and endurance of the entire crew, a good interpretation of the weather, sailing area and currents are important factors for the final result. Participation in the Coastal Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race is possible in the race classes ORC Club fullhanded and doublehanded, Round and Flat-bottomed yachts, VKSJ (classic) yachts, as well as in the trip with non-measured cabin sailing yachts. The vast majority of the fleet participates in the trip. The rest divide among the various racing classes. The Kustzeilers 24 Uurs Zeilrace is made possible in part by the following organizations: Nationale Nederlanden, Municipality of Medemblik and media partner Sailing. For more information, see www.24uurszeilrace.nl /// End
On Friday evening, August 30, the 24-Hour Sailing Race kicked off. Sailing organized another webinar prior to the race as a palaver, which you can watch back here. The speakers are race director Klaas Jan Kroon of the Coast Sailors, weatherman Henk Huizinga giving the weather forecast for the weekend and two race participants, Jelmer van Beek and Joost van Loon, talking about their tactics. You will also find helpful links in the link to the webinar for preparation and answers to the Q&A questions. Through the link below you can watch the recording of the webinar of August 28, 2024, 20:00 – 21:30: https://www.zeilen.nl/24uurs-webinar/