Bart Thorburg (NED)

Name: Bart Thorborg
Nickname: I'm not aware of being given one
Sail Number: NED 212
Boat Name: Loctudeal, a friend of mine bought his Contender in Kiel and called it Kiel Deal. So when I decided to buy the 212 while at the Europeans in Loctudy, France, it was easy to find a name
Country: Netherlands
Sailing Club: Watersportvereniging Braassemermeer
Weight: 90kg
Height: 2 m
Age: 47 by the time I get to Kingston

Number of years sailing? Started at 12, like my brothers on a Vaurien, a big international class (sail numbers over 30.000 at that time) and later bought a Laser. At 20 I quit sailing, apart from joining my brothers occasionally on touring trips on yachts around the North Sea. In 1999, both my brothers were sailing Contender and they convinced me to go sailing again, in a Contender of course.

Number of years sailing the contender? That makes 9, doesn't it?

Why did you get on the Contender? For the upwind sailing. When the wind gets stronger, you don't have to work much harder, it just goes faster.

Number of Worlds? 2000 Medemblik, 2003 Plymouth, 2004 Riva del Garda, 2005 Travemuende; 2006 Fremantle, 2007 Medemblik

Favourite Worlds Moment? Many of them, starting from not being last after not having sailed more than 5 times in the boat, until running the last year's championship in Medemblik which was a sort of family job. In Fremantle, I couldn't sail for the first three days. When I was finally back on the water, I made it 2nd to the top mark, finished 18. From my perspective, that's cool!

Favourite Food? Smoked salmon on toast, along with a not too cold Sancerre.

How do you keep in shape? I wonder, it can't be the beer? Please note how low I can go whlie tacking

Stupidest thing you've done on the boat? Fremantle, 1st race, doing a couple of pre-start test gybes and ruining my back.

Goals for the 2008 Worlds? Having fun and being as fast as I can.

What you'd like to do/see at the 2008 Worlds? I would like to see a lot of boats and a lot of North Americans sailing them