J/122e AJETO Stuns Offshore Fleet! Crushes RORC North Sea Race!
(Scheveningen, The Netherlands)- The Royal Ocean Racing Club’s 2023 North Sea Race, hosted by the Royal Harwich Yacht Club, attracted 73 boats for the 180.0nm race. The course across the North Sea meanders around the Galloper wind farm before heading north to Smith’s Knoll Buoy and across to the famous sailing city of the Hague and the Yacht Club Scheveningen. The majority of the entries came from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, with over 350 sailors taking part that include crew from Belgium, Germany, Israel, and the USA.
The stunning J/122e AJETO won the North Sea Race in both ORC & IRC Overall! The extraordinary Dutch doublehanded team of Robin Verhoef & John van der Starre showed that you can have a comfortable boat that performs well and still win the silverware. AJETO won all five classes it participated in – IRC Overall, IRC 2, IRC Doublehanded, ORC Overall, and ORC Doublehanded!!
The overall winners of the North Sea Race were tired, but elated dockside in Scheveningen. Robin Verhoef and John van der Starre from Ajeto! spoke about their victory.
“This was a great experience; it was a race with a lot of things in it. In the tactics for the long upwind to Smith’s Knoll, you needed to take the correct shifts, and I think we did that really spot on. After racing AJETO for seven years, we know how to run the boat. The different modes and settings become like a computer game, knowing how to set up the boat. For example, in choppy water, it makes a big difference for us to be constantly adjusting the boat. We are always busy, but it is worth it for good boat speed and to be competitive.
Our result (under IRC) always depends on the wind. For the North Sea Race, we had 16 knots on the reach at an angle that some boats could not surf. If that had been 20 knots, more boats would have been planning, so our chance of winning would have been less. AJETO is a very good all-round boat, it does well upwind and downwind, so we always have a chance, whatever the conditions. The J/122 is not an extreme boat like some of our competitors, and we have modified it so that on every type of course we can sail well. Also, working with Kevin Sproul, we have a sail wardrobe with big cross-overs. This means that we can avoid many sail changes, these take a lot of time when you are Two-Handed.”
AJETO will be competing in IRC DoubleHanded Division for this year’s ROLEX Fastnet Race, with over 100 double-handed teams expected on the start line in Cowes on July 22nd.
“The Fastnet is going to be a fantastic race! This will not be our first rodeo, so to speak! In fact, we have already raced five times! Of course, we want to win, but it’s also about having fun, that gives us the passion to race hard,” commented Verhoef.
The remarkable performance of AJETO was replicated, to some degree, by several other J/Teams. Many earned their fair share of silverware on the podium as well.
Finishing 6th IRC Overall, 1st IRC 1, 2nd ORC 1 was Frans van Cappelle & Michele Witsenburg’s J/122e MOANA. Evidently, the race course and wind conditions were favorable for fast-sailing J/122e teams on the North Sea!
Then, 11th IRC Overall, 2nd IRC 3, and 4th ORC 2 was S. Tienpont’s J/35 FEVER. Their performance is a good example of how a “classic” J/Boat design, well-sailed, is a spirited and competitive performer nearly 40 years after the first 35 was launched in Newport, RI!
Following their colleagues in 15th IRC overall, 4th IRC 3, 4th IRC Double, and 2nd ORC Doublehanded was Wim van Slooten and Jochem Nonhebele’s J/109 FIRESTORM. Yet another J/109, Martijn Graafmans’ J/109 EAU J, took 5th IRC 3, 5th IRC Doublehanded, and 6th ORC Doublehanded.
Two J/99s were sailing but scored solely in ORC handicap ratings. Taking third in ORC 2 division was Jan Scholtes’ J/99 WARP 5. Then, finishing fifth in ORC Doublehanded was Paul Manuel’s J/99 JONGEHEER.
Notably, J/Teams faired incredibly well as a group in the ORC Doublehanded division, taking 4 of the top 6 finishes!
The RORC North Sea Race is part of the 2023 RORC Season’s Points Championship, the world’s largest offshore racing series. The ten-month series comprises 15 testing offshore races. Over 600 international teams are expected to compete this year. Every race had its famous prize for the overall winner after IRC time correction with more coveted trophies for class honors. Sailing photo credits- Sander van der Borch For more North Sea Race sailing information