Rob Campbell wins Dragon South Coast Championship

by Fiona Brown, on 9 Jul 2008
Despite some wet and windy conditions, twenty-one Dragon crews from the UK, France, the USA and Ireland enjoyed three days of incredibly close racing at the Dragon South Coast Championship, hosted by the Royal Western Yacht Club, Plymouth, Devon, from 6-8 July.

Although winds at times gusted to over 30 knots and the race committee were forced to sail inside the breakwater for two of the three days, all five of the scheduled races were completed and the fleet enjoyed a spectacular, challenging and extremely closely fought regatta.

Racing was so close that there were four different winning boats over the five races and the championship was only decided in the closing moments of the last race. Ultimately, International Dragon Class Chairman Rob Campbell from Burnham-on-Crouch, crewed by Mark Ellis and Matt Walker, the only team to win two races, took the regatta by just two points from Len Jones of the Medway, crewed by Henry Bagnall and Jamie Lea. Third place went to Louis Urvois of France with Eric Williams from the Solent in fourth.

Rob Campbell and Crew,

'It's the first time I've raced in Plymouth and after two days racing inside the breakwater it was wonderful to get outside today as the sea conditions were so different making for some great sailing. The competition for the South Coast Championship has been excellent and Plymouth's flexible race area and steady winds have made it a great event. With the 60th Edinburgh Cup starting here tomorrow, at the home of the British Navy, we're looking forward to four more days of fantastic racing.' Commented the victorious Rob Campbell after racing.

The regatta opened with winds gusting over 30 knots and regular heavy rain squalls, but despite this the Race Committee was able to complete three good races on the first day. Dragon fleet regular Nicky Wilton summed up the conditions perfectly saying,

'Wet and tough. The water was coming at us from both above and below and it's a testament to the quality of the boats and the sailors that despite the extreme conditions there was only minor gear failure and everyone completed the racing safely.'

Day two was a little lighter but with gusts still well into the 20s and big seas beyond the breakwater the committee wisely kept the boats inside completing two more races.

Going into the final day and with just one more race to sail, three boats were still firmly in contention. Campbell led by 3 points from Jones in second on 6 points with Williams third on 9 points.

Conditions were particularly tricky as the fleet sailed outside the breakwater for the first time in 15-22 knots and with large swell left over after the gales. At the end of the second beat things looked good for Jones as he led with Campbell down in ninth and Williams fourth.

On the second run Campbell stormed through, surfing fast on the big waves, pulling up into fifth and back into the lead. For Jones things went from bad to worse as France's Louis Urvois, who had been pushing him hard all the way round the course, snatched the lead on the final lap.

As the boats crossed the line it was Urvois first, Jones second, Tim Tavinor of Essex based Dragon builder Petticrows, third, Williams fourth and Campbell fifth giving Campbell his overall victory.

Alongside the overall competition there has also been a fierce battle for the Classics Trophy, which is open to wooden boats built prior to 1972. Again the result was only decided in the last race with David Jephcott taking victory from Matthew Ratsey with David Dale in third place.

Dragon - Final overall results

1 688 QUICKSILVER III Rob Campbell 1 -9 1 2 5 18 9pts
2 708 RUMOURS Len Jones 2 1 -7 6 2 18 11
3 365 AR YOULEG II Louis Urvois 6 2 -13 4 1 26 13
4 682 ECSTATIC J E Williams 3 5 -10 1 4 23 13
5 734 BIFF Thomas Wilton -7 7 4 5 3 26 19
6 684 HAND OF FORTUNE Mike Holmes 5 8 6 3 -10 32 22
7 515 BASILISK Alan Krailing 9 3 2 9 -14 37 23
8 310 CLAIRVOYANT Edward Sawyer 4 4 5 -14 11 38 24
9 714 NORBERT Chris Brittain 8 -11 3 8 7 37 26
10 653 NJORD Owen Pay -11 10 9 11 9 50 39
11 716 JERBOA Gavia Wilkinson-Cox 12 -15 8 12 8 55 40
12 633 FEI-LIN'S FLIRTATION Ron James 10 12 12 7 -15 56 41
13 717 NEREID Michael Hayles 14 6 -16 16 12 64 48
14 686 DUCRU Christopher Hunt -22 14 15 13 6 70 48
15 693 VIRAGO Timothy Blackwell 13 13 -22 10 13 71 49
16 710 ALCYONE Simon Winn 17 16 11 -22 16 82 60
17 434 MOONBEAM David Jephcott 15 17 14 15 -22 83 61
18 718 CAVALIER Tony Singer 16 -22 17 17 19 91 69
19 322 BLUE SKIES Matthew Ratsey -22 22 18 22 18 102 80
20 695 MAGIC Jonathan Hughes -22 22 22 22 17 105 83
21 184 INGE David Dale -22 22 22 18 22 106 84

The quality of the competition at this event bodes well for the forthcoming Edinburgh Cup, the Dragon Open British Championship, which is also being hosted by the Royal Western Yacht Club and runs from 9-12 July. This is the 60th time the class has raced for the Edinburgh Cup which was presented to the class by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in 1948.