written by Theo de Lange on December 7 of 2021 and read by 385
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With a marvellous water temperature of 15 degrees Celsius (with many thanks to the heating system of the city of Rotterdam) and an air temperature of 3 till 6 degrees, the famous Boterletter sailing regatta took place the 28th and 29th of November at Lake Kralingen.
There were more than 8 boats on the list of participants, but the Bl….dy Covid Virus managed that several of the Dutch and all the German and French boats had to withdraw from the competition. So 5 boats were at the start of the first regatta of the Soling in the Netherlands in 2021. But we were lucky to have over 20 Wednesday evening practice regatta's with 49 races.
The wind was steady 😊 between no hiking till full hiking and there were only wind shifts between the south west to the north east. But the race committee was in full swing and managed to have 4 starts for the Soling class in total. The race courses of 2 rounds with a total distance of 15 km were set in a way that we had 2 reaches in each round. Which was an advantage for the old men of the NED33 , NED49 and NED38. The NED33 did what they had to do as reigning champion of the northern hemisphere with 4 wins in a row, in spite of the fact that they did not win one single start and did not reach the first mark in front of the pack.
Between the races the famous traditional Dutch lunch by Ed, the manager of the Clubhouse of the KZC, was served with soup, broodje kroket, rookworst and cheese. At Saturday evening all the Soling participants were seated to enjoy the stamppot meal.
During this dinner the famous ‘shit happens exchange trophy' was awarded to the manager of the Clubhouse of the KZC who - in spite of the covid regulations - provided us with food, drinks and a smile when we were able to be at the club to have the practice races at Wednesday evening the last two years.
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