100 year dinghies in the Netherlands

From 27 till 29 June 2014 The Twaalfvoetsjollenclub will organize a big event at the Loosdrechtse Plassen in The Netherlands. The event commemorates the 100th anniversary of the “A” Class 12 Feet One-Design Dinghy which was accepted as a national class in the Netherlands and Belgium in April 1914. Over 100 classic wooden dinghies are expected to come to Loosdrecht. Projectleader is Leen van Willigen. Also a centennial book will be published in which the 12 foot dinghy history will be extensively described. The authors are Dolph Blussé, Remmelt Kraneveld, Lia Dudok van Heel, Wietske van Soest, Steve Crook and many other contributors.

Beulakerwiede 2004. 90 year dinghies in the Netherlands. 100 dinghies at the starting line.

Dinghy NED876

The newest classic wooden dinghy in the Netherlands with number NED876, built by boatyard de Jong. An article in the newspaper "Spiegel der Zeilvaart"

On the website jachtwerf de Jong pictures of the building process.
12 foot dinghy pictures

Capsizing and the centreboard

My friend Elena-Romana Gazenser from Germany has given a good advise. If you capsize with your dinghy in deep water, you can loose your centreboard. In that case you really have a problem. With the thin line it will not happen. Another possibility is a thin hawk of 1 mm, in Italy a lot of people have this system. In the Netherlands the lakes are not deep, about 1 till 3 meters. In that case you don't need a system to protect your centreboard. The best solution: don't capsize.


Hallo Pieter,

im Anhang 2 Fotos von meiner Schwertsichrung nach Art des Finn-Dinghy. WIr habe sie selbst angebaut. Jeroen de Groot war beeindruckt und fand die Idee gut. Vielleicht auch eine Bastelidee für Deinen Dinghy-Blog oder für die Technik-Seite der Dinghy-Vereinigung?

A Dutchman Italian champion ?

Can a Dutch dinghy sailor become Italian champion. The answer is NO. Can an Italian dinghy sailor become Dutch champion. The answer is YES. The Dutch Twaalfvoetsjollenclub is proud on the international past of the 12footdinghy and has always chosen for an open policy, to promote internationalization. In 2013 the best Italian GPR and the best wooden dinghy sailor will be invited to compete in really classic dinghies at the Dutch open championships. On an equal footing, because all Dutch dinghies have the same speed. The helmsman makes the difference. It will happen on 26, 27 and 28 July 2013 at the Loosdrechtse plassen. At least 50 dinghy sailors will participate. In 1988 the Dutchman Rudolf van Geyn participate at the Italian championship in Chioggia. He beat all the Italians, but did not get the Italian title. The reason: he had not the Italian nationality. We live now in 2012, have one Europe and one euro and would it not be time to change that ancient Italian rule. Why not, the Italians have excellent sailors, so what can they loose?. The best three sailors of the Dutch championship 2012 Martijn van der Pol, Jeroen de Groot and Pieter Bleeker would like to go to Italy and participate at the Italian championship. We prefer to sail in a Lilia GPR dinghy. A beautiful and fast GPR dinghy . Much faster than the modern and classic wooden dinghies. In 2012 the first wooden dinghy at the Italian championship was number 18.

The winner Rudolf van Geyn (l), he died in 1989

The results of the Italian championship in Chioggia 1988

International friendship series

A new series for classic wooden dinghies is launched with the name International friendship series. The dates are:
- France, Lac d'aillette near Reims, 4 and 5 May 2013
- Netherlands, Kaag, 18 to 20 May 2013
- England, Liverpool, 28 to 30 June 2013
- Germany, Laboe near Kiel, 23 to 25 August 2013
This new series will focus on the dutch classic rules. The other wooden dinghy series, the Swiss and Global cup, will focus on the modern Italian rules. Another difference: Swiss and Global will go up to 15 knots. The friendship series up to 25 knots. Swiss and Global will organize the world cup in Napoli at 15 to 18 July. Good news for the classic dinghy owners: The Italians will help to upgrade the slow classic wooden dinghies, so people can race on equal footing. If the Italian or Swiss dinghy sailors with a modern wooden dinghy want to participate at for example Kiel, the Dutch will help to downgrade the fast Italian wooden dinghies with dutch sails and gaffs. The cockshott events till now was the only official series, launched by the international committee. The cockshott events are important for the owners of plastic dinghies, because the rule is classic wood, modern wood and plastic start together. It is not sure what will happen with this series in 2013. The owners of plastic dinghies and every country can take initiatives.

Ernesto Riva dinghy

Second hand dutch dinghies with a measurement letter are popular in other countries. New dinghy hulls are necessary. An excellent boatyard is Ernesto Riva in Italy. Five years ago I have helped them to have a look at dinghy 795, when they visited Holland. Jan Hak and Leen de Goederen were so kind to help and to give the Italians all the information they need. Their price is also good, about 15.000 euro for a new one. Just one problem, they only have build dinghies with an Italian measurement letter. Very light boats because the max wind speed in Italy is 16 knots and Italians like to win in that circumstances. Above that wind limit the races are immediately abandoned. It is also necessary because many Italian dinghies are not strong enough for more wind. And for sure not when they are sailed with two persons. They will loose every stiffness. The forces on a dinghy are extreme in that case. So if you want to sail just in Italian circumstances and you want a lot of speed with slow wind, an Ernesto Riva dinghy is a good choice for you. It is a pity that Ernesto Riva has not build, till so far, dinghies with a dutch measurement certificate. In that case you are sure that you can have pleasure also in 25 knots circumstances. And besides with a crew. Boat builders as 12footsailing in Turkey, Amberboat in Lithuania, de Groot, de Jong, Lamme and van der Meer in Holland will be glad when Ernesto Riva will just producing dinghies for the Italian market and not for the European market. To have a strong concurrent is always difficult. It is up to Ernesto Riva to decide. We have given every boatyard all the information they need, so they can produce perfect classic dinghies. The prices, they ask is something between you and the boatbuilder.

Dutch championship 2012

Dutch champion 12foot dinghy 2012: Martijn van der Pol (42) and his father Bob van der Pol (80). The races were organized by sailing club the Braassemmermeer on 24, 25 and 26 august 2011. 47 teams have inscribed: 46 Dutch and 1 German: Reinhard Schroeder.

The Dutch championship is open, which means that a foreigner can become Dutch champion. Reinhard did it the Italian way, he sailed all races on his own and won the single-handed cup. A lot of helmsmen had heard the weather forecast: heavy winds even up to 35 knots in showers and most of them decided to sail the dinghy with two persons. The dinghies got finally 26 knots in their 9,5m2 sail and because Dutch dinghies are classic and heavy they can handle it. Well, almost all of them! It happens of course that some dinghies capsized.

The first day there was no stable wind at all. Seven times the committee tried to make a valid start, but after a short time the races were always abandoned, because of a lack of wind. The second day four races were sailed and every time Martijn van der Pol was number one. An excellent result and the base for his final victory.
On the next day Pieter Bleeker / Geja van Ommen were in a good shape and won the last two races, also in heavy wind conditions.
It was not enough to give them the second place overall: Jeroen de Groot / Damy Jansen are sailing always consistant and ended at number two, just ahead of Pieter.
The dinghy of Jeroen has number NED368 and was build in 1935. A real classic! Pieter's brother Wim Bleeker was sailing with his son Marcel Bleeker and ended at number four. Erik van der Meer and his wife Jacqueline Bijder were number five.

After four races the fleet was split into a gold and a silver group. The silver group was won by Jan Bart and Blanche Lucas. A former world champion in the Solo class. On the first day they capsized, their mast hitting the head of another dinghy sailor Bert Bos. Fortunately no damage to persons or boats.



Results Dutch championship
gold fleet
silver fleet

Beautiful pictures taken by Wietske van Soest
picasa pictures

Anjo Klinkenberg and Erna Halbesma in action

Jeroen de Groot / Damy Jansen second in dinghy NED368, build in 1935

Dutch champion 2012 Martijn and Bob van der Pol in action. All pictures taken by Wietske van Soest

Dinghy vision of Romain Berard (France)

Geja and me have met Romain Berard and Jack Salingarde at Lac des Settons, France. Nice people. We share the same hobby. Sailing in 12footdinghies. There is a lot of discussion worldwide about the course of the dinghy: Wood classic, Wood modern or Plastic modern. I have asked Romain about the three options of Reinhard Schroeder. This is his answer

Dear Pieter,

Regarding your question, if purity and equality is the goal to reach, the 3rd option should be chosen in my opinion. Boats with a lot of tuning possibilities could maybe find a way to block them before the race starts and thus become "traditional legal' (I don't know if this is feasible, I never saw a modern wooden dinghy. I bought an old boat and do not seek to make it more complex than it is. If I wanted speed, I would have bought a catamaran or even a jetski !

Same feeling when I did archery and stayed away from compound bows, with their pulleys, cams, aiming devices, releasing devices, etc. I went for historic bows, whether early 20th century, medieval or prehistoric.

A fourth solution would eventually be to give a different handicap to different types of dinghies just like in "interseries" races. It would take a few years and a few races but then an honest set of handicap figures would come out and fairness would return.

I'm not a real racer (even if I was thrilled to beat a Vaurien 4 times in Les Settons on Saturday and Sunday !) but I would not like to be beaten due to sailing a different type of boat only.

You know what? In the french sailing federation ratings, a Dinghy 12 is supposed to be slower than a Vaurien:

Code/Group/Name/Crew number/Rating/Race duration Factor
DG12....D1......DINGHY12pieds...2.......1330....0.7519
VAU.....D2......VAURIEN.........2.......1200....0.8333 2.5


And in a second email Romain wrote me:

To sum up my thoughts, as merging the fleets by deciding a new international specification seems impossible, I would be in favour of giving ratings to dinghys with the classes you mentionned: Dutch (always traditional), Italian tuned wooden boats, even plastic if necessary.

We could even compute a better handicap bonus to boats crewed by 2 compared to single crew. That way, there would be no need to leave people on shore even if the Beaufort is low (and a leaking hull like mine could be bailed and still have a chance to win).

There could be thus "interserie" international races on an equal footing. Local races would still be one-class.

It would give something like this (numbers are fictitious) to multiply the races duration with:

1 Crew 2 crews
Dutch specs 1,0 0,9
Italian specs wood 1,1 1,0
Modern D 12 1,2 1,1

I realize that the tactics would be quite different for an interserie race compared to one class, as the main goal (between different classes) would be to go as fast as possible instead of just being ahead of the next boat.

But I'm not a real tactician, so I could live with that !

Bye

Dinghy vision of Roland Bouwkamp (Turkey)

Dear All,

I have figured out - by now- that Luzern was a heavy event. For the sake of the discussion of the future of the 12 foot dinghy.
Of course I am not surprised. Slovenia was the eye-opener for me.

The difference between the dinghies -in order to be in one class- is too big and born out of different reasons.
For all discussion purposes I leave the complete polyester dinghies out of discussion. I see them either as Race monsters for people who want to own a formalua 1 car, OR ( and in my opinion realistic..) as a training boat to come back at sailing schools etc.

However I have to agree that even the creation of a wooden Dinghy Cup (as tried by La Scala and you guys) is not the answer. The difference in wooden dinghies is even too big. The italians are willing to go faster and change the design and origin of the boat. So far, the Dutch -stubbern as they are- have resisted all and any attempt to modernize the boat. The excuse: the legacy of George Cockshott. Right or wrong?? They do preserve the spirit and a 100 year old design. And that would have my preference.

Sitting on the shores of Portoroz and seeing that starting field I could not make out the difference between a polyester, a wooden or a pimped wooden dinghy. It was just a splendor to see this all. In that sense there is much to say for reinhards argument to have one start, but three classifications. The on-looker does not realize the difference from 10 meters distance….and that is the closest he will ever get.

I own a classic big sailboat, and I have changed that for my convenience. But the onlooker does not see that. The equipment to make my life easier is hidden and out of sight. A fridge or an electric winch does not change the boat, but it does increase my joy that I have from it. But it was not there in 1940…...

The Dinghy is -primarily- used for racing. Give the sailor something to work with. But do not change the look of the boat from 10 meters distance. And keep it within reason. From the mere sailing point of view the truth of how to equip a dinghy for a racer is somewhere between what the Italians now have and what the Dutch now have. A loose foot or an adjusted mast foot does not change the look of the boat from 10 meters distance, but it does give the sailor a lot of play, and makes racing challenging.

From a builders point of view: I am in trouble. The dutch market with their strict rules is too small. The swiss, german, french, turkish, croatian, slovenian market has not made up their mind. But I have felt that "new" customers tend to go for the italian dinghy. They have sailed everything in the world and now want a new -simple- challenge, but not without having all the means to explore their capacity as a sailor. And that is what the dinghy is all about: the sailor makes the difference, not his equipment.

I wish you strength and wisdom in your talks…….or just split up and everyone just goes back to its own little island….. But leaving it as it is now, with all these differences is NO OPTION at all, and demoralizing for all.

Dinghy vision of Reinhard Schroeder (Germany)

in Luzern I discussed after the race with Francesca and Guiseppe the situation with the wooden dinghys.

I would like to tell you my opinion from the view of a race sailor who has
been sailing for half a year in the class.

I bought a new dinghy last winter in the Netherlands with a Dutch measurement.
The first races I have had in the Netherlands and I got the experience that
all boats - new or old - have more or less the same speed and it depends on
the sailor who will be in front.

Then I went to my first Cockshott Trophy in april in north of France.There I have had the same experience.

The next Cockshott in Italy, Portofino was quite different. The GRP-dinghys
where much faster and just “another class”. And there were wooden dinghys
which were in a lot of details pimped up, to get a better trimming of the rigg
and the sail under various wind and weather conditions and also much easier
for the sailor to do this trimming while he is hiking. The most of these pimped up
wooden boats where in front of the traditional dinghys because they have a must
higher speed potential.

The same experience I have had at the World Cup in Portorose and also end of
July in Luzern. I get frustrated …

For me there are 3 types of 12 foot dinghys with different speed potential
· GRP dinghys
· Pimped up wooden dinghys
· Traditional wooden dinghys
Racing together with one ranking for all is not fair.

So from my point of view to travel to a Cockshoot Trophy might be nice from
the “event side” but isn’t from the sportive side. It is the same with the
two “types” of wooden boats in one ranking for example at the World Cup
or in Luzern.

I see three ways to solve the problem.

First way:
· We can have the same event with the 3 types.
This is important for the class, for the organization,
the clubs and the sponsors.
· We can have also one start for all (or 2 or 3 starts)
· But we need 3 separate rankings for the results
I think this is the easiest way to have a fair competition and nothing must change.
The only what we have are 3 result

The second way is to harmonise the wooden boats. I appreciate the work of
Francesca, Lorenzo, Steve and Pieter. Up to now I see no results and I think
it will be some years more until they will have a solution which must also be
aceptet by the owners to pimp up or rebuilt there dinghys.

And the third way is - if the above proposals would not work – to organize
for 2013 an international serie for traditional wooden dinghys. The chance for
this is might be quite good. In France there are only traditional wooden dinghys,
the same in the Netherlands, England, Litauen and about 80% in Switzerland.
And the 4 German wooden dinghys are traditional ones. This new serie could
be a step between the harmonizing – second way.

I prefer the first way: It is very simple and I don’t know what will be against it.
If there will be no decision about this “problem” of the wooden dinghys the
international series might loose there attractiveness on the sportive side
and will have lesser international participants and every country will do his
own thing. This would be a pity for the class and may be also for the sponsors.

So my request to you as an “official” is to find a solution for 2013.
What will be in your view the best way for the next year?

Just another aspect:
- Francesca tell me that the wooden dinghys should go “with the time” and
pimping would be ok. I don’t agree. When one decided to buy a modern and
fast single handed dinghy he buy a Musto Skiff, a D-one or may be a Finn dinghy
- or a GRP 12 foot dinghy. The very special at our 12 foot wooden dinghys is that
we we sailed more or less the same like at the Olympics 1920 and 1928 and that
is what make the wooden dingy so unique in our actual world of carbon and mylar
and brings that bright lights in the ears of sailors … But there are different opinions

to this and it is ok. In the first way everyone can go his own way.