‘Bart, what’s the biggest difference between sailing the simulator and sailing overhere in the real world?’ I ask him in Barcelona. He is the skipper of the Dutch youngsters team and finally he can bring into practice the hundreds of hours training in the simulator. He takes a moment to reflect and shares: ‘The feeling is different. Feeling is way more important to sail the boat well. In the simulator you put the foil down when tacking or gybing, steer the right angle to the wind and you go. Here you feel while steering the boat, if the foil that you lowered gets grip or not. If not, you need to steer the boat differently until you feel in the wheel that there is grip again.’
‘Nice, so feeling is still important in these boats? It’s not all about the numbers and the computer?’ I rhetorically ask. ‘No and for the trimmers behind me who tune the sails it’s even more important. They need to feel the boat and the sails. Feel how to power the boat up. The software is not so developed yet that it takes that into account. The waves make a huge difference too. Sometimes you want to fly the boat higher so you don’t hit the water but then there is the risk that you fly the boat too high and she gets out of control. It’s a balancing act. It’s the coolest boat I’ve ever sailed in.‘
Bart is a three time World Champion and Olympian but still keen to sail new (speed-)boats faster and to learn, just like his four teammates. The ‘boys’ sailed well. With only 5 hours training in the real world, at sea, they even scored a second place in one of the races. All other teams had more practice hours in the boat. Now it’s up to them to transfer their learnings to our women team who will start this week with practicing and sailing their races. Up till now they have had the same amount of hours in the simulator and 0 (zero) hours at sea. Their learning curve will be even steeper!
It’s great to see them learning and sailing these boats so well. It’s the pinnacle of sailing and innovation. Who had thought 10 years ago that it’s possible to sail a boat four times faster than the wind? How will the world at large benefit from this? I don’t know yet, but am keen to find out.
Now it’s up to all of us to raise the money to keep them going and to get even better! The latest news you will find here: https://www.dutchsail.com/nieuws and it’s the place to make donations too. But maybe you should give me a ring first why that’s beneficial for you.
Made possible by our beloved partners: DutchSail | JAJO | Van der Zwan | MUSTO | NovaYachting | Steenfabriek De Rijswaard B.V. | Schouten Zekerheid | Steengoed | KoffiePartners | Uijthoven Vastgoedadvies | Lingotto Ontwikkeling | Red to Green | M2 Real Estate | Over Engh Vastgoed B.V. | Menrad Nederland BV | ALLsportsradio | Ribrental.org | Watersportverbond | KNZ&RV | Koninklijke Roei- en Zeilvereeniging ‘De Maas’
Picture by Sander van der Borch and my wife who was experimenting with her iPhone at the airport of Barcelona