Starfish Rally

Zandvoort Race Circuit in the West of Holland.

I went to this rally a couple of times, it was one of the more popular Dutch Rallies, and there was always a good turn out of Brits over there.

You could spot the British, because they were the ones drinking beer with, or instead of, their breakfasts!

- Ted

The first time I went was via Harwich to the Hook of Holland, but the next year I couldn't get a reasonable deal so went on the Dover Ostend crossing which was cheaper but a lot more of a ride! I was with Barry Clark, and on the way to Dover we called in to Lyden Race Circuit to see the Triumph Owners Club who were having a Rally there that weekend.

We told them we were going to the Starfish and someone in the control tent said "Here you are then, have a look at the badge you will be getting." It was a special badge for the Tenth Anniversary, and had been made in England, either by, or arranged by the bloke at Lyden!

The camping at the Starfish was in the centre of the race circuit, in the sand dunes. This created a problem for me on my ride home. I had fitted a "Peter Furlong" fully enclosed chain guard to my 400-4 to try and improve the chain life; this was before Scott oilers and O ring chains. The chain guard stopped water from washing the grease off the chain, but it also collected a large amount of sand from the campsite and managed to wear my chain out so much that it snapped on the way home! I was fortunate though because it happened about half a mile from where I lived, and I was able to push the bike home!

The Rally used all the bar facilities at the circuit and was the usual continental rally set up. You could spot the British, because they were the ones drinking beer with, or instead of, their breakfasts!

On the Saturday, for a fee, you could take your bike on to the track to "practice". This was what we now call a Track Day and a lot of people had a go. I remember that there was a few from the Vincent owners club out there on the track showing the early Jap road bikes the way round!

- Ted Trett