End of a chapter
A lot has happened since my last blog end of November. To start, I have decided to stop at Holland Ocean Racing, next to that there has been a lot of boat work, and I went to Boat Düsseldorf.
Having sailed three full years with Holland Ocean Racing, it was a tough decision to make, but I decided to stop at Holland Ocean Racing. I enjoyed the last three years a lot, having learned the basics about offshore racing at HOR, and finishing of as watch leader. I feel like I have optimised my time with the team to the fullest.
My last event with the team was a team dinner the 12th of january, it was nice seeing everyone together again at the Delta Hotel. This evening I also had the honour to receive my Ocean Race crew certificate, with the personal text by Hans Bouscholte on it: “By being constantly involved, developing yourself and specialise in electronics, you have become a good allround sailor” This certificate show that I am able to function in all positions and have the knowledge to be a core crew member in major offshore race campaigns. I would like to thank Hans and Holland Ocean racing for the amazing time, now it is time to close this chapter and start a new one!
Next to saying my goodbyes at Holland Ocean Racing there has been a lot of boat work going on. The sanding of the antifouling has been finished. And after sanding the hull it was time for the mast and daggerboards, Sanding them and repainting the clear coat so they will be UV protected again. When I was not doing toatwork, I was working on my sails, it took some TLC and help from Quantum sails, but my sails should be good for another season beginning of the season. It was a choice I needed to make, or get new sails or get new life into this mainsail and jib, for now I will stretch these sails till their last breath, to make sure I don’t break new sails while getting to know the boat, and to have good sails for the Transat.
In all of the chaos of boatwork I also managed to squeeze in a visit to BOOT Düsseldorf. It was nice seeing all of the new things, and making connections, I have also met some other mini sailors like the next generation campaign. Thanks to sailing architect for the invite!
