Dart 15 Winter TT at Rutland Sailing Club

Dart 15 Winter TT at Rutland © Dave Russell

The rescheduled Dart 15 Winter TT at Rutland was held on Sunday 26th January. The original event in December was postponed due to Storm Darragh and as winds again battered various parts of the country, it looked like the new date might also fall to a similar fate.

Undeterred by the 35 knot gusts in the forecast, nine hardy sailors arrived at Rutland to see if racing would go ahead. A few of our other regulars were away on winter holidays which they had booked not to clash with our original Winter TT schedule...

With the wind and gusts building in line with the forecast, the sailors rigged their boats and got ready for three back to back races on a steely grey winter day. Our event was run from the committee boat alongside club racing, with a separate start. Race Officer Nick Neve and his team set us a square course. Any visitor to Rutland will know they have a myriad of club race marks which can be difficult to identify to the outsider. So we were particularly delighted when the safety boats attached yellow marker buoys to the four race marks we needed to find our way round.

In increasingly gusty conditions, the fleet set out to the race course a little way up the lake from the clubhouse. Charles Watson, who had successfully extracted his boat from the snowy north, set the scene by capsizing and going turtle by the Committee boat before the first start. Charles later explained this was to wash bird muck off his boat but the rest of us were less convinced by that explanation.

Once Charles had his mast pointing to the sky again, the Race Committee went into the first start sequence. Due to the squally and shifty conditions, the fleet did not crowd the line and stayed high and back to avoid a header pushing them the wrong side of the pin end in the final minute. As such the start was clean away with Jason Clarke (Marconi) and Jon Pearse (Marconi) characteristically getting the strongest start but with the rest of the fleet close on their tails. The wind bent left as the fleet progressed across the lake prompting most of the fleet to tack off, half way down the windward leg. However, this group found another header and a lighter patch in the middle of the course which allowed Jenny Ball (Marconi) who had banged the corner to sneak inside at the windward mark, very closely pursued by Jason.

With Marks 1 and 2 under the lee of the eastern shore, the bear aways were manageable despite the gusty conditions. And the reach was a game of chess as the gusts came and went along the leg and boats tried to position themselves to under or overtake if possible. The downwind leg sailed into increasingly stronger winds as sailors progressed across the lake - providing opportunities for boats to overtake if they picked up the right gusts. The final reach to mark 4 and beat through the finish line were much more gnarly and the most challenging aspects of the course. Jenny and Jason had a closely fought battle around the course, never more than a few boat lengths apart but Jenny held on to take the win. In what became the pattern for the day, a close fought battle took place behind them between Paul Tanner (Shanklin), Jon and Charles - with Paul taking third, Jon fourth and Charles fifth. Meanwhile Christophe Clarke (Marconi), lost an inspection hatch so retired from the race to resolve that but was back in play for the next two races.

With the wind and gusts continuing to increase, the Race Officer started the sequence for race 2. Another clean and close start with Jon and Jason leading the way, this time standing on about two thirds of the way up the beat before tacking onto port, followed by Paul and Charles. These four were the first into the windward mark with Jenny, who had been pinned on starboard tack for longer, obliged on port tack to sail round the back of the group before rounding the mark. By mark 2, Jason had picked his way through the gusts to the front of the group and Jenny sailed lower and slightly further away from the shore, picking up enough extra breeze to undertake the others and round the mark in second place. But the others were not to be outdone. Jason and Jenny gybed off whilst Paul and Jon stood on and came into mark 3 at a greater pace and rounding it with Jason. As the three of them took themselves higher up the reach, Jenny again opted for a lower course to mark 4 putting her back in second place behind Jason at the end of lap 1. Picking a slightly different route up the second upwind leg put Jenny just back in front of Jason at the windward mark with Jason snapping at her heels for the remaining laps. On the final tack into the finish, Jason executed a better tack and pulled through to take the win. Charles had sailed a great race to take third place, with Jon, Paul, Christophe, Steve Petts (Grafham) and Lee Garton (Marconi) behind. Meanwhile, the reach to mark 4 had claimed a pitchpole capsize for Dave Clarke (Marconi) who, despite turning turtle, recovered the boat and was able to get a race finish.

By the start of Race 3, the winds had worked their way up into the high twenties, but with all to play for in the rankings, the majority of the fleet elected to stay out. Another quick clean start got under way and the fleet set off again to the east shore. By now, the wind had dialled further left shifting the lay line into the windward mark, even allowing for the now familiar header about ten boat lengths before the windward mark, followed by the lift back again in for the final entry. Jenny managed to reach the mark first with Jason right behind. At mark two, Jon, Paul and Charles again opted to sail further right before gybing and whilst this caught them up some distance, it was not quite enough to put them in front of Jenny and Jason. The winds now were very lively and on the reach on lap 2, Jason had a Rockwool moment (see Sail GP in Auckland) where he was basically capsized but somehow the boat came down at the final moment. The reach from mark 3 to 4 also claimed Christophe as a victim with a pitchpole capsize which unfortunately caused him to retire from the race. Thankfully no damage or injury but Christophe commented he lost his hat, his water bottle and his dignity in the capsize. Fortunately, the RIB had picked up his water bottle and this was duly presented to Christophe in the prize-giving.

Dart 15 Winter TT at Rutland - photo © Dave Russell

Jenny went on to take the win, followed by Jason, Jon, Charles and Paul. Dave came in sixth having recovered from the capsize in the previous race and Lee completed his third full race staying upright to come in seventh. The fleet headed in, happy to have got a full event in despite the conditions. Having packed their boats away in the wind and rain, they retired to the clubhouse for hot drinks and food and for Dave Russell, (Marconi pit crew), to present the prizes. Our thanks to Rutland for hosting us and to Nick Neve and his team for running a great event. Special shout out to the two club racers in Trident trimarans who made the conditions look very easy indeed - especially the helm in his mid-eighties who invited us to join his class when we are too worn out to sail a Dart 15 any more.

Overall Results: