The Kustzeilers 24 Uurs Zeilrace has been a household name within sailing Holland since time immemorial.

What started in 1950 as a trial and was issued in 1965 as the first official 24-hour ‘crusade’ has grown into the largest event for cabin sailing yachts in the Netherlands. An event that can no longer be ignored in patriotic sailing. Thus Henry Sleutel the former chairman wrote in 1989 at the 25 ste edition. It still applies now after so many years.

In 1950, the Coast Sailors organized the first 24 Hour Sail Race, initially only for its own members. Twenty-two yachts participated. Due to lack of wind, only two participants managed to finish in regulation order. C. Kaars Sijpensteijn won with the Starnakel, A. Conijn was second with the Femmy. Especially the fact that only two boats finished, made the board think. She felt that because of the windlessness there was too much of an element of chance and the board shelved a next edition. As an event, she actually felt it was a failure.

In subsequent years, there were occasional attempts to organize the race again, but it was not until 1965 that it became an annual event. De Kustzeilers sought cooperation with the local water sports association in Medemblik and to this day this IJsselmeer town is the finishing port.

In 1965 L. Weisfeld with the Salacia won the Radboutbeker, the overall prize in the RORC class. G. Jorritsma’s Spes Mostra won the 24 Hour Challenge Cup in the Round and Flatboat class.

International The idea for the 24 Hours came from Sweden. The Swenska Kryssarklubben organized 24 and 48 Hour Crusades with great success in 1947. The concept is the same; in 24 hours cover as many miles as possible between self-selected races. Each course can only be sailed twice. Those who finish late receive penalty miles. The skippers had to keep a journal of the marks they rounded, the forerunner of the on-line declaration. These crusades turned out to be good schools of seamanship, navigation, meteorology and getting to know the characteristics of crew and ship. England and Denmark adopted the idea in 1949 and the Netherlands followed a year later.

Enkhuizerzand The first official 24 Hours in 1965 had pleasant sailing weather, with moderate winds, but with a bit of a venom in the tail in the form of rain showers and strong winds. The start was Friday at midnight because in those years Saturday was still an official working day and only one day off had to be taken. The boats finished at midnight on Saturday in the middle of the harbor mouth of Medemblik. You can imagine that for safety reasons the finish line was later moved more outside. From the beginning, the 24 Hours was open to measured cabin yachts and round and flat-bottomed boats. Later, unit classes multihulls and unmeasured yachts were added. On the 1965 rake map, there is no dike between Enkhuizen and Lelystad yet and there are even rakes plotted across the Enkhuizerzand. There are only two starting places, Medemblik and Volendam.

The formula of the 24 Hours has not changed in all these years. The organization did expand the number of starting places to 14 and in the seventies there were also races on the Wadden and North Sea. The dike between Enkhuizen and Lelystad is permanently closed in 1975. For passing through the lock, participants receive compensation time. The 24 Hours quickly gained popularity and the number of participants grew each year. The peak was reached with more than 800 participants, after which there was a period of decline. Nowadays, duohanded sailors also sail in the ORC.

Sailing weather The 24 Hours is almost always sealed. In 2000 it was up against blowing off. It was a thick 8Bft, the Department of Public Works was already advising to cancel the event, but just in time the wind subsided and the participants could start as planned. During the Corona pandemic in 2020, it was not possible to organize the 24 Hours due to health risk. Over the course of nearly 60 years, participants have experienced all types of weather. Windlessness in 2006 and 2018 causing many not to reach the finish line on time, thunderstorms with gusts of wind, rain, sunshine, beautiful sailing weather. In 2012, it was a 24 Hours with extremes. Participants floated across the starting line on Friday evening with a lull in the wind. During the evening the wind picked up and 24 hours later the weather gods showed their worst side. Just before the finish, the wind picked up to gale force and rain lashed out at the already weary sailors. ‘A jacuzzi feeling,’ one of the sailors called it. ‘At least the water what warm. Safety requirements have been tightened over the years, as with all (inter)national races. The 24 Hour Sailing Race aligns its safety requirements with Word Sailing’s special regulations. And at the start with each competitor demonstrating that his boat is equipped with a three-color top light. No working light already means a DSQ at the start.

Finish Many cabin yacht sailors have participated for many years in this unique race that involves covering as many nautical miles as possible in a 24-hour period. Professional teams and occasional crews depart from various starting ports on Friday evening to battle the elements and each other. On Saturday evening, the many hundreds of yachts finish at Medemblik at nearly the same time. All those yachts then want to get to port as quickly as possible. On the harbor heads of Medemblik, many hundreds of people stand to cheer them on, weather or no weather. After all, everyone has made an achievement. The conglomeration of yachts at the narrow harbor entrance is a phenomenal sight for those competing for the first time. Yet there has never been a whimper.

Participants Participants include many recreational sailors who enjoy sailing a major performance tour for a change. For them, the 24 Hours is often on the bucket list and completing the trip is paramount. There are also the competition classes for both novice, duo and very experienced competition sailors, including a number of top sailors. For them, competing is also special because this event cannot be compared to other races.

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