The North Sea Race from Harwich UK across the North Sea to Scheveningen Netherlands welcomed summer-like conditions. After a beat to South Galloper Buoy, the fleet turned north for a long starboard tack reach to Smith’s Knoll Buoy, followed by a port tack reach to the Netherlands coast and a beat to finish at Scheveningen. The course length: 181 nautical miles. The race featured 10 teams racing Two-Handed and five of the short-handed crews made the top ten overall. In IRC 4, in second place and winning a tough IRC Two-Handed Class was Yvonne Beusker & Eric Van Vuuren racing the J/105 Panther. “My usual sailing partner for Team Panther is Edith Voskamp but she has had shoulder surgery, so Eric was my partner for the race. He is our team coach, and we did some of the Global Ocean Race together in a Class40. Two-Handed racing has become very popular in the Netherlands, and the North Sea Race is part of our National Championship. I believe our win was down to keeping each other sharp. It is difficult to stay alert in light winds, but we made a big point of keeping each other focused, even after 30 hours with little sleep.” The North Sea Race is one of seven weighted races for the RORC Season’s Points Championship, carrying a points factor of 1.2. Full results for the North Sea Race are online at www.rorc.org.