The only nation team that was praccing which I'm aware of was Finland and UK and they both ended up in the winnerbracket final. So pracs does seem to matter :)
edit: Forgot about Team-GER, they've done surprising good aswell :)
7 mijlen onder zee geweest ik kom weer boven water, geleerd van mijn fouten en weer rijker aan ervaring, geheugen fokop maar leuke tijden die bewaar ik, bereik de eindfase zonder 7-mijls laarzen
reminds me of some other NC team :))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
edit: Forgot about Team-GER, they've done surprising good aswell :)
though i hope NL would done better, next time we win :P