Dear Members,
Dear Readers,
Dear participants to the 2009 F18 World Cup,

The timing of this issue of the club magazine is perfect; just days away from the F18 World Cup in Duinbergen, Belgium.

It’s a great honour for our club to host this event. It’s also a sign of trust from the F18 international sailing community in the capabilities of the Royal Belgian Sailing Club (RBSC) to make this event a success. With an amazing speed we reached a record number of participants.

No less than 180 teams from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States of America will populate our beach club in Duinbergen this summer.

We wish all the teams a warm welcome to the shores of the North Sea, the RBSC and the beautiful beach club. Some might say it’s one of the hippest “cata” beach clubs in Europe. We will let you find out for yourself it that’s true.

At the RBSC the preparation for this event started more than a year ago under the leadership of our General Manager Patrick Demesmaeker. Patrick himself is a well known international sailor on his Hobie Cat Tiger. With the RBSC team, an army of volunteers and active club members, all is running smooth in terms of preparation for the World Cup. The only element we won’t have in control is the weather; the amount of wind and sunshine (or rain!?) we will sail into. But for us sailors, this is a well understood and accepted faith that will not diminish the spirit of the event.

The Royal Belgian Sailing Club is one of the leading sailing clubs in Belgium. With a deep water marina in Zeebrugge, two beach clubs in Knokke, one dinghy sailing lake in Ghent and a wintering facility for yachts in the Port of Ghent, we offer whatever a sailor can dream of in Belgium. The club actively supports its 2,000 youngster. Every year they take sailing classes and create the next generation of competitive sailors.

Most of our Belgian sailors competing today in this World Championship took their first sailing classes in the RBSC. One of our most prominent members followed this very same path and achieved the very prestigious position of Chairman of the I.O.C., Count Jacques Rogge. The drivers that helped him to become Chairman are the same ones that brought him to sail and race at three Summer Olympic events.

With traditions going back to 1863, when the club was founded by a handful of sailing enthusiasts, you will experience during the F18 World Championship that the Royal Belgian Sailing Club did not let dust settle over its bases. On the contrary you will experience a young, dynamic and pulsating sailing club. The setting of our club in the distinguished environment of Knokke makes it even more special. With the Mayor Count Leopold Lippens, honorary member of the RBSC, at the helm, the local community and businesses will make sure that you experience a unique and remarkable competition event.
We wish you favourable winds and an engaging race,

Commodore Andre Annicq
Duinbergen, June 6th 2009