West kirby 3

Perfect sailing weather. Four races today. Wim Bleeker was unbeatable with four times a number 1. See the results beneath. Sunday the last day of this perfect organised event. Another 2 races to go. 16:00hr price giving ceremoney with peter cockshott and jane rowe. Their grandfather was george cockshott, the designer of the 12foot dinghy in 1913.

West kirby 2

The first sailing day in West Kirby. Strong wind. Most dinghy sailors has choosen to sail with a crew. Number 1 Wim Bleeker with a 1 and a 2. But there is a protest. In that case Jeroen de Groot is number 1. Stephen Beresford has shown his  new dinghy made from spruce in the nice clubhouse of the west kirby sailing club. See the picture. A lot of publicity, see 12footdata. Also a new class organisation is launched. See www.12footcwc.org

West kirby 1

Hans Reijers with 3 dinghies, Jeroen de Groot with 6, Harm Ploeger and Pieter Bleeker each with 1. We are now on the ferry. In Ipswich we have booked a hotel and the next day we go to west kirby.

Albert Helder

Dinghy sailor of the month July: Albert Helder. At the age of 27 year he was the best sailor in the Netherlands. Two times Dutch champion in the strong 16m2 class and winner of the PIP: the champion of all class champions. After that he has stopped with sailing regatta's, till he became enthusiast about a classic dinghy in 2012. He is now almost 70 years old and still a very tactical sailor. You can met Albert in West Kirby end of july. The picture is taken in Portoroz, Slovenia in 2012 while we were making a fun trip to Piranha with the dinghy.

Writers blog 12footnews

Touring event IJsseltocht

With a 12footdinghy you can have fun in participating regattas. But also with touring events. Every year three touring events are organised in the Netherlands by the Twaalfvoetsjollenclub. One of them is the IJsseltocht on a river with the name IJssel.
Have a look at the ijsseltocht pictures, taken by the Dutch champion 2012 Bob van der Pol.

Kaag movie Youtube

A beautiful movie about the Kaag event is available on youtube. In 2 minutes you get a live impression. It is made by the watersportjournalist Eric van Staten and his wife the professional photographer Yvonne Ransijn.

Youtube movie 100 jaar 12voetsjol zeilen in Nederland

In 2014 the 12footdinghy exist 100 year in the Netherlands. A committee is organizing a big event june 2014, where 100 classic wooden dinghies are expected. Another committee is working hard writing a book about 100 year dinghies in the Netherlands and in the world.
See the website of the twaalfvoetsjollenclub jubileumboek. The price will be 39,50 euro if you can decide quick: order 12foot dinghy book.

The movie on youtube is for promotion. The final movie on CD will contain much more: the West Kirby event, the history of the dinghy, interviews with famous dinghy sailors and boat builders and of course important events as the dutch championship 2013 on the Loosdrechte plassen. The price of the movie on CD is not known yet. Read it later in 12footnews.

Kaag 2013

45 classic wooden dinghies at the start line. Participants from Japan, England, Germany and of course a lot of Dutchman. Overall winner Wim Bleeker was without any doubt the best sailor with a 1, 2, 1 and 1. The German 12footdinghy sailor Reinhard Schröder is sailing every time better and finished as number 2. The former Laser sailor Roger Harrison from England has sailed for the first time in his dutch dinghy 706 and was very satisfied about his results and the atmosphere. As usual there was also a delegation from Japan, helmsman Takefumi Tani (see the picture above). For more pictures, see Kaag 2013, taken by Geja van Ommen.

The official results are published on the website of the twaalfvoetsjollenclub. See results Kaag 2013

brrrrrr koud he

Bert en Willy Bos at their boat during the "openings wedstrijden Sneekermeer". The temperature could be better. That's way "Brrr Koud he"

dinghy pictures Sneekermeer taken by Reinhard Schröder.

Hans Nieuwland

Dinghy sailor of the month: Hans Nieuwland on his way to the starting line at the Sneekermeer in his dinghy NED468, named Piraat and built in 1943 by the boatyard van de Stadt. Hans don't like any modernization of the Dutch dinghy and was glad that the meeting in January has given clearness about the classic course of the Twaalfvoetsjollenclub. He is one of the best sailors in the region West and also in the Netherlands. Every month from now on, a blog item with the dinghy sailor of the month with a brief story about the sailor and his dinghy. Send me your nominations.