Review : North Sea Outrigger Championships 2004

[Photos]
Budday Martin (Germany), world champion dragon boat racing wins the first ‘North Sea Outrigger Canoe Championships’ in Knokke, Belgium...First Championships in Belgium biggest OC1 event in Europe !!

Outriggers are from Mars in the eyes of the average Belgian… Danny D’Hooghe thought... the only way to promote the sport in this corner of the world is to organise a major event… Weeks after the races he turned out to be right.So, what everyone believed to be impossible happened in the heart of Europe. Outriggers and the French Va’a Canoes came together to race in the first ‘North Sea Outrigger Canoe Championships. ‘38 Fanatic OC1 paddlers, (32 men, 6 women) left in the cold for far too many years, arrived in Knokke-Belgium from 7 different country’s. (America, Italy, Hungary, France, England, Sweden and Germany) Perfect glassy sea conditions, and a good organisation were the keys of success for this first edition. 500m Sprint races (in a straight line along side the shore) were on Saturday. Groups of 5 and the Belgian national Television on a jet ski…...!! Martin Budday made it clear for the start that he came to load the first price (a Tsunami OC2) on the roof of his German car… Although the competition was strong, especially from his team mate Markus Bock, Martin won all the heats including the final. Right after the finals we got hit by a freak storm with wind peaks over 140km/hr. A dramatic scene of an incoming squall line every competitor will remember forever. Tents lifted up 3 meters of the ground to end up 300 feet further… Pitch dark clouds and everyone running for cover ... Unfortunately, the storm also caused 2 fatalities. We had to cancel the 3x3km relay race but got on with the BBQ and party. Sunday morning, glassy conditions again… and a perfect line up / beach start for the 20km race ! The 20 Km Long Distance race runs close to beach until the border of Holland, then returns towards Zeebrugge. A beautiful course according to many participants. 25 Paddlers finished the race, Budday Martin in 1 h40 min, 3 min ahead of Olivier Petilleon (France) and 6 minutes ahead of Giovanni De Francesco (Italy). First woman : Franke Caroline (Germany) in 2h05min.Cups and prices got distributed, smiles were genuine .. So ended this important piece of history. Since this summer, ‘Outrigger’ became is a new word in the Dutch vocabulary and sponsors are finally listening. Room to grow and improve ? Sure, but one thing is certain, the ‘North Sea Championships’ will continue to exist for many years to come… !

WOMAN’S SPRINT

1. MAYES KENI England
2. JARLMARK ALEXANDRA Sweden
3. KAROLINE FRANKE Germany
4. OHLSSON CAMILLA Sweden
5. ROSSATO SANDRA England

WOMAN’S 20 KM

1. JARLMARK ALEXANDRA Sweden
2. KAROLINE FRANKE Germany
3. ROSSATO SANDRA England

MAN’S OUTRIGGER SPRINT

1. BUDDAY MARTIN Germany
2 .BOCK MARKUS Germany
3. ELLER FRANK Germany
4. NORDQVIST JENS Germany
5. PISKE BJORN Germany

MAN’S OUTRIGGER 20 KM

1. BUDDAY MARTIN Germany
2. PETILLEON OLIVIER France
3. DE FRANCESCO GIOVANNI Italy
4. ELLER FRANK Germany
5. BURKHARD HÔLTER Germany

MAN’S VA’A SPRINT

1. PETILLEON OLIVIER France
2 TEMPEZ XAVIER France
3. LE MOEL CHRISTIAN France
4. TELLIER THOMAS France
5. CHAREYRON DANIEL France

FINAL OVERALL RANKING

1.MARTIN BUDDAY Germany
2.PETILLEON OLIVIER France
3.ELLER FRANK Germany
4.BOCK MARKUS Germany

Posted by admin on Sun, 08/08/2004 - 8:48am