The DeltaLloyd regatta has come to an end. We really enjoyed being part of a professionally run event. The results you can see on www.deltalloydregatta.org, one of the highlights for us was todays Womens Match Racing final in very strong winds (the highest gust measured was 39 Knots!). On one of the downwind legs, the Dutch finalist nosedived and 2 of the crew were washed overboard!. Anyway, it was very exiting and the Dutch eventually won, which was reason to celebrate! We are seriously considering doing it again next year. So different from regattas in South Africa: getting the results out to 'the public at large' is a big thing, so we (I was part of the communications team) made sure that within 5 minutes of a class finishing, the (provisional) results were on the website. Also continuous updates via Twitter and Facebook (we had two dedicated 'Twitterboys'). In addition, the medal races (between the top 10, counting double and not discardable) were streamed live on the Internet. We got reactions from as far as Australia from people who were watching our medal races and womens match race finals from their bed live as they happened. This is how to make sailing more accessible and interesting to the public.
Anyway, now that all this is over, we move to Workum tomorrow (the weather forecast is good, although at this very moment there is at least 30 Knots of wind). We have offered to our services as volunteers to the Dutch Youth Regatta, with over 700 boats, 450 of which are Optimists. That starts on Wednesday with registrations and Thursday (Ascension day) with sailing.
Will keep you informed!
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