Kamperland, June 9th 2010.
 Today, there were three races planned but because lack of wind in the morning, the Race Committee could not set a course. During the afternoon, there was a little breeze building on the Oosterschelde so the races could start. The first race was difficult for 9 teams because the tide was strong and  the breeze was to little to reach the finishline in time. However, GBR 4247 ‘Serco’, skippered by Bob Turner, did very well today. They won the first difficult race followed by GER 5420 ‘Rotoman’ and GER 5316 ‘Hungriger Wolf.
The favorite GER 4230 ‘XENON’ from Peer Kock (first in rankings) didn’t sail as strong as they did recent races. That’s why they lost the first place to Bob Turner. The difference between the two teams is now two points. Also the battle for the third place is still not over because the difference between number three Kai Mares GER 5420 'Rotoman' and fourth Stuart Jardin GBR 4215 'Stouche' is three points. NED 44 'Sjantilly "Koen Duiven is the best Dutch team. They are ranked 16th in the standings.
Tomorrow, everybody is expecting an exciting last sailing day. Two races are planned and the differences in points for the numbers one and two / three and four of the total score are very little. The weather forecast for tomorrow looks good with more wind, less rain and higher temperatures.

Quotes:
Ian Brown of leader "Serco": "Because of the strong current and little wind today it was very difficult for all the teams to anticipate. We were happy to sail a good first race and we now we have a good chance to grab the title”

Paul van der Schoot of NED 67 "White Moose": "We spent the whole morning with the other 28 boats behind the Committee Vessel to wait for wind. Fortunately, in the afternoon we were happy to sail two races with minimum wind conditions"

Kamperland, June 8, 2010. Although weather conditions were excellent during the morning, there are only two races sailed in the J/24 European Championship today in Kamperland. In the afternoon the wind dropped completely  after a thunderstorm so the third race of the day had to be canceled. Both races were surprisingly won by the GER 5420 ‘Rotoman’  from skipper Kai Mares so he moved from the sixth to the fifth place in the overall standings. The leader in the standings, his compatriot Peer Kock with GER 4230 ‘Xenon’, only sailed a fourth and a fifth place but stays  first overall, because of the good performance yesterday. Bob Turner from England with GBR 4247 ‘Serco’ scored two second places today and he is now the runner up in the scores on second over all. The Dutch skippers Hans Hussum with NED 28 ‘J’entre’ and Koen Duiven with NED 44 ‘Sjantilly’ performed good racing today after some bad series of yesterday. In the final race of today they scored a ninth and a sixth place. They now are the first Dutch teams on the 16^th and 17^th place overall. It is remarkable that a number of relatively ‘old’ boats (over 20 years!) do perform excellent in the top three rankings during this European Championship. Maybe that’s one reason why this one-design class is still so popular worldwide.

After three cancelled races on a windless Sunday, the races started with perfect sailing weather yesterday. With enough wind the Race Officer decided to add a fourth race. At the end of the day the GER 4230 ‘XENON’ helmed by Peer Kock is proudly first in the overall ranking. Kock finished first in the second and third race. It looks like the early presence of these Germans in Dutch waters did pay off yesterday. They already competed successfully in the Open Dutch Championships last week, grabbing the Dutch Open title. 

After four races, the second place  is for GBR 4215 ‘Stouche’ from Stuart Jardine. Third is his fellow compatriot Bob Turner with GBR 4247 ‘Serco’.  Also third is the second German boat GER 5281 ‘United 5’ from Jan Kähler. The defending European Champion, Greek Alexandros Tagaropoulos with GRE 751 ‘Hellinic Police’ was not as strong in the first three races, but did come back in the fourth race and still has all the chances to win the European title again. The first Dutch boat in the ranking is NED 51 ‘Jos van Boxtel’ with skipper Nils Jannichsen, they’re 16th.

Due to the hard wind there were some serious damages. GER 5210 “JJone” from Frithjof Schade broke his mast and there were some damaged sails. A lot of work for the sailmakers tonight. The unlucky German Frithjof Schade is trying to borrow a mast from a Dutch J/24 sailer, so we hope to see them on the waters today!

Due to a broken mast the German team JJone has withdrawn from the J/24 European Championship 2010. It's sad that they couldnt arrange a new mast for their boat.