Nacra F-20C wins Round Texel Race

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Mitch Booth back to his roots sailing a Nacra

With the Bouscholte brothers in their wake Mitch and Taylor Booth finished first this afternoon. Both teams sailed on a similar Nacra carbon 20. A proud father and current skipper of Team China in the America's Cup, Mitch Booth, reports of his race around the island. 'It is great to do this with my son. We really have fun together. This is back to the roots of sailing catamarans. The Round Texel Race is the pinnacle of the cat sport. It has been five years since we sailed this kind of boats. To be this successful at the first attempt makes me happy." They didn't get line honours for nothing. 'It was rather chaotic at the start, because the wind was strong and the course was dead down wind. After that the fleet spread and we could sail away from the smaller cats. It was exiting till the VC buoy on the Wadden Sea. Unfortunately the two teams in the lead, Xander Pols and Peter Vink, hit the ground pretty hard. We too, but we came off better than them. That was the decisive moment in the race. After that we kept the rest behind us."

Although the Bouscholte brothers kept father and son on their toes. Taylor Booth: 'They pushed us the entire race and kept us working really hard. Hats off for them."

He explains the second part of their race: 'Most of the way on the Wadden Sea was upwind, so it was all about boat speed. We worked hard and came around the southern side of the island first. We set the chute and said 'it's time to get home', so we were covering. It is a really good moment to have won this together. It is always a pleasure to sail with my father."

Misfortune for leaders

The Boskalis Nacra carbon 20 team Xander Pols (NED) and Sascha Larsen (NED) sped away right from the start, but on the Wadden Sea it went wrong. Xander Pols: 'This really was a mental Round Texel Race. We made a good start, were the first boat at the lighthouse and gate. Near the VC buoy was only 30 centimetres of water. Although we had the centreboards pretty high we grounded. The centreboard was stuck, so the boat was bouncing. In order to safe it, I had to capsize. But then there were some twenty boats ahead and we had to get ourselves together. We couldn't get the first boat anymore, but a third position was still possible. Forget what happened and go for it! That worked, we came in third. It was defining that there was no water, but it's all in the game since this is Texel. It is a cowboy race and we love doing it every year again."

Second positions

Coen de Koning (NED) and Thijs Visser (NED) finished seventh, more than a minute after Heemskerk and Tentij. They won the second place overall. De Koning: 'Just like everybody we suffered from the shallow water at the VC buoy. We also grounded. We tried to beat upwind without centreboards and rudders, but that was hard. One has to deal with that smartly. Then we climbed from a fourth position to a first of the F18's. At Oudeschild Mischa overtook us beating upwind and we couldn't catch him anymore."

Top 4 boats over the finish line were NACRA F20 Carbons:

1. AUS - Booth/Booth, NACRA F20 Carbon

2. NED- Bouscholte/Bouscholte, NACRA F20 Carbon

3. NED - Pols/Larsen, NACRA F20 Carbon

4. NED - Vink/Van Geest, NACRA F20 Carbon

Top ten positions on handicap:

1. NED - Heemskerk/Tentij

2. NED- De Koning/Visser, NACRA F18 Infusion

3. AUS - Booth/Booth, NACRA F20 Carbon

4. BEL - Hendrickx- Godefroid Tornado

5. NED - Larsen - Frank, NACRA F18 Infusion

6. NED - Bouscholte - Bouscholte, NACRA F20 Carbon

7. NED - Pols - Larsen, NACRA F20 Carbon

8. GBR- Piggot - Garcka, NACRA F18 Infusion

9. NED - Vink- Van Geest, NACRA F20 Carbon

10.NED - Nieuwenhuis - V West, NACRA F18 Infusion