11-city tour

After 5 days and 27 hours and 32 minutes of paddeling and a 4th place overall, my 11-city tour was over.
This was one of the best races I have ever been. The organization, the support, the competitors and the sceneary was amazing. 5 days of paddling, eating sleeping, eating, paddling....
We had to eat incredible amounts of food to keep our body fueled up for the next day. Our Maui chef with his 2 kitchen angels did a great job in the kitchen. The weather this week was stormy, rainy and every now and then a little sunshine which made it a real challange to fight the up-wind stretches. I am working on a little video of this race. Here is a preview with some pictures.
The start in Leeuwarden.

Stormy conditions made it a tough race with 6-9 hrs of paddling each day.

Up wind battle on the first day

Connor with 14 yrs, the youngest

Zane always in good spirit and a joy to have on board.

The Dutch scenery

Every day a we had a battle going on. Mostly Byron (USA), Xavier (SP),Eric (FR) and I where battling for the first four places.

Rough weather almost every day.

Going for second place on day four.

On board the 'Zuiderzon' our home for 6 days.

After every race we had a massage which got us in shape for the next day.

The end Results after 5 days
1. Byron Kurt 26:44:19 --- 2. Xavier Masdevall Garçon 27:12:30 --- 3. Eric Terrien 27:13:16 --- 4. Bart de Zwart 27:32:33 --- 5. Mark Raaphorst 28:23:40 --- 6. Erwin Janssen 29:08:49 --- 7. John Hibbard 30:27:01 --- 8. Zane Schweitzer 30:46:56 --- 9. Gerhard van Geest 30:48:41 --- 10. Paul Schuitema 31:49:37 --- 11. Conner Baxter 32:45:13 --- 12. Martijn van Deth 33:53:40 --- 13. Anne-Marie Reichman 34:12:05 --- 14. Donna Badome-Raaphorst 34:33:57 --- 15. Patrick Smits 19:30:29

Thanks Annemarie, Dan, Toos (Annemaries mom) and the CIOS crew for this awesome event.
2 more days and it's time to go home to Maui to see my wife and daughter.

Aloha from the Netherlands