Beautiful conditions in the 59th Coast Sailors 24 Hour Sail Race

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 all 2024 edition photos here