Like the previous story: Old News but Good News!

Philipine on the podium.

Late in July, Sixteen year old Philipine van Aanholt, from Curacao, brought home the Girls’ World Splash Championship title from Tavira, Portugal. Ben Lutze from New Zealand took the boys’ World title.

Thirteen races with all kinds of wind were completed in the five day event. After two days of racing in light winds Philipine took the lead and never gave it away. That does not mean the title was a sure thing all the time. Her biggest rivals Keziah Deverell from New Zealand and Maité Demeester from Belgium were right in her trail all the time. Initially lightweight Keziah seemed to be the toughest contender beside Philipine, but when the wind started picking up during the event Maité was closing the gap. After the finish of the last race it was still not clear who would be the World Champion. At the start of the two last races the committee signalled OCS and it could consider both Philipine and Maité. Eventually Philipine was only once OCS while Maité was over early twice. Keziah was without a chance to beat Philipine with the stronger winds, but still finished 2nd overall. Maité Demeester had equal points as New Zealands Laura Ann Hemingway, but the tie-breaker was in her favor.

Philipine, what was your first reaction after winning the championship?
‘Wow, amazing and also a big relief. All year I have trained so hard to be at my best at these Worlds and then having such a nerve breaking last day. In the end everything turned out well, I am so excited’

How long have you been sailing in the Splash?
‘I stopped sailing Optimists after the OPTINAM in 2006 in Puerto Rico. I outgrew the Optimist, before I aged out and the fact that my younger brother Ard was right behind me or sometimes even ahead of me also made me step into the next boat quicker. I have sailed two Worlds in Splash, the first one in Italy and last year in Croatia’.

How often do you sail?
‘We train about 12 hours per week, mostly at sea. On top of that we have theory sessions. Since we knew Curaçao was going to host the OPTINAM we had some clinics from top coaches like Fernando Allegre (Happy), Diego Ravecca and Nicolas Fracchia. Since November Martin Jenkins, two times Optimist World Champion, has been training the Optimist and the Splash group. Training at home is sometimes difficult being the only girl in the top team and it is hard to measure what my level really is’.

What is next?
‘Next year I would like to participate again in the ISAF Youth Worlds in Brasil and the Splash Worlds . I would like to get more training and racing experience in the Laser Radial. I will need to be even fitter than I am now. I will focus on those things ‘

And in what boat?
‘At home in Curaçao I will race and train in Splash and train in Laser Radial. Internationally I will race both classes. After winning this title I know, I will continue training with even more energy’.

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