Klipperrace

The Klipperrace has existed since 1975

In the seventies, the very beginning of the charter trade, people like Evert Verkerk (Zwarte Valk), Jan Bakker (Kaat Mossel) and Kees Velthuis (Zwarte Bonzem) endlessly discussed and boasted about which ship and which skipper was not the best combination. As Jan Bakker always said: “It is not always the fastest clipper that wins, but the clipper that comes in first”.

On Saturday, the clipper skippers competed against each other in the Three Cities Race with an anchor start in the Krabbersgat in Enkhuizen and a free choice of route between Medemblik, Stavoren and Urk. This competition had to answer the question “Which clipper skipper can navigate the smartest and fastest across the IJsselmeer”. The battles were set at set time, so the ship that arrived first in her class had won. A competition course was sailed on Sunday. This way you could possibly correct a wrongly chosen route on Saturday on the Olympic track on Sunday.