Storm Amy wrought havoc for those intending to join the Reeuwijk Raid this year! All but two of the UK participants cancelled their ferry crossing just in time to avoid fees but Pete and Sarah were already in the Netherlands. They bring this report hot from the ferry back to Essex on Monday.
Well here we are on the ferry back from Reeuwijk 2025, just Sarah and me! Several months ago we planned to go the event some 10 days before the start so as to get better value from the very expensive ferry crossing when towing a rig over 40 foot long! The trip was booked and as some of the East Coast (usual suspects) for the event could not make the extended period we carried on alone and had an amazing time in Friesland sailing with the CCSK Cornish Crabber Schipperskring, but that is another story!
Fortunately for us as we were already in Holland, when the weather turned bad with Storm Amy delivering high winds of 6/7/8, we carried on as the ‘Flag bearers’ for the English Gaffers. On the Thursday before the event we dropped our 21′ Drascombe Coaster into the water at the Elfhoeven Sailing Club and had a lovely sail with Jan Blankwent around the first lake reaching up and down taking photos and videos of each other. The Drascombe with a full main and topsail over proved of great interest and very successful.
But, to get there that early we left Friesland on the Wednesday as the bad weather made us change our sailing plans too. We sailed across the Ijsselmeer on instruments and a foghorn blast every 2mins as there was thick fog for the entire crossing. Friday was spent in and out of the bars in Gouda but we missed everyone else who had pulled out leaving us as ‘Billy with Dutch mates’!! The bar at the Club was opened for us and we had a communal bread and soup night with salads mixed by Else W. The fire pit was full of rainwater!
Saturday dawned with force 5 – 6 with 7 gusts and after a morning drinking lots of coffee the plan was to cruise from the Club up the lake to Rik Homan’s yard for lunch. “Let’s give it a try!” was the briefing lead’s phrase. We did, with just a few stalwart boats reefing everything in sight and trying. We used a jib and mizzen as a number 3 reef and turned back! The bigger boats got to Rik’s where we enjoyed a great social lunch in the shelter of his new boat store. Sarah and I went there by bike!
That night the Club catered for us all serving a great chicken curry. Edith played her piano accordian with Else and Robert on alto and tenor sax., so some great blends of tunes. Prizegiving was creatively interesting as always. The main award was presented to the Club bar staffer who did sail to Rik’s yard. Edgar won the booby prize as he forgot to bring the mainsail for his barge boat. In true fashion, he borrowed one which was un-reefable and nearly sailed the boat under.
Sunday saw lighter winds! Force 4 to 5 with gusts of only 6! So, all apart from Edgar reefed. We ran a 2 reefed main with topsail over plus jib and mizzen, a very handy rig. The plan was to go upwind to the far corner and pop through the bridge to the next lake, sail around ‘like an Admiral’ and then back to the bridge, sheltered in the westerly, for lunch. After lunch the Admiral (Rik) sounded the horn and we left into the near lake and the heavens opened and it blew. We used the third reef of our main and Edgar’s boat looked like a surfboard with a very big rig!
Only nine boats took part that day and apparently Sarah and I got the blame for going out as ‘we had come so far’!! Beers and pizzas as guests of Rik and Edith for the remaining 12 members of the event wound up the proceedings in true traditional fashion. Our thanks go to Rik and Edith and the Elfhoven Club once again for managing the event and pulling it off so we can say that ‘we did survive’ which was the phrase Dirk Peeters coined on Friday night.
Report and photos: Pete Ellilston & Sarah Adie
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