Noble Marine Dart 15 National Championship 2025 at Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club

Noble Marine Dart 15 National Championship at Bridlington © Pauline Love

A stellar weekend of champagne sailing for our first visit to Bridlington - the 2025 Dart 15 fleet Nationals sponsored by Noble Marine insurance really was a weekend to remember!

Forty-two competitors arrived to a very warm welcome from the Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club and, with the help of the trusty tractor brigade, got their trailers onto the beach and set up in bright sunshine.

At the briefing on Friday morning, Commodore Joe Franks and Events Secretary Jenny Ball welcomed sailors and set out the schedule both on and off the water for the next three days. The forecast was for bright sunshine, warm weather and moderate breeze - but we would be spared the heatwave experienced elsewhere in the country.

The sailors set off for the first of three races on day 1 out into Bridlington Bay with views all the way up to Flamborough Head in the north and down to Spurn Point to the south. The Race Management team was headed up by Race Officer Tim Saltonstall, ably supported by RYYC members on the Committee boat and on the safety boats. The course was our usual square which was laid promptly and racing got under way on time in generally Force 2-3 breezes.

Race 1 start got away cleanly - helped party by the tide and partly by the warning from Joe in the briefing that if there was more than one general recall, the Black Flag would be out in force. Liam Thom (Shanklin) and Jason Clarke (Marconi) took an early lead, true to form over the recent season - but the rest of the pack were chasing hard. Local sailor and Dart 15 rookie, (although a high flyer in the Dart 18 fleet), Mat Exon (RYYC) established his credentials early on sailing a borrowed Dart 15 of some considerable vintage. The rest of the fleet decided he had a local knowledge advantage. Having completed the first lap, the front of the fleet took a fairly conservative "middle of the course" route to the windward mark. However, a few banged the left hand corner and made impressive gains which was duly noted for the following races. After two laps, Liam took his first win, followed by Jason, Mat, Jenny Ball (Marconi), Rob Bailey (Thorpe Bay), Scott Wilcox (Stewartby) and George Love (Carsington).

Some sailed two up - Noble Marine Dart 15 National Championship at Bridlington - photo © Pauline Love

The Race Team pulled the course in to make it shorter and enable three laps and after a quick turnaround, Race 2 got under way in slightly stronger breeze. The fleet set off cleanly again, with the front runners opting for the lower end of the line - including the two Two Up entries - David and John Ball (Marconi) and Sophia and Sean McKenna (Shanklin). Some of the fleet who had started nearer the Committee Boat, tacked off onto port to get clear air. Some of the front of the fleet including Liam and Jason held on before tacking off shortly before the lay line whilst others banged the corner. The latter tactic proved to be the most favourable with Ed Tuite-Dalton (Draycote) coming into the windward mark in the lead on port well clear of any incoming starboard boats. The combination of keeping inshore in the weaker tide and a wind-bend about two thirds of the way out to the starboard lay line proved to be decisive for the windward legs for the rest of the afternoon. Ed maintained a convincing lead to the finish, followed by Mat, Jenny, Jim Bowie (Thorpe Bay), Jason and George. By now, the fleet had decided to excommunicate Charles Watson (Halifax) who had kindly lent his spare boat to Mat who after two races was the overall leader. For his own part, Charles was regretting the hours spent on Thursday evening helping Mat make adjustments to the boat as Mat was insistent that both the hulls and the rudders should all point in the same direction. Dart 18 sailors are clearly more prima donna than Dart 15 sailors.

Another quick turnaround and Race 3 also got under way cleanly. The wind had notched back again and definitely no hiking action, even from the lightest of the fleet. Learning the lesson from the previous two races, the front pack held out to the left of the course against the less strong tide and banged the left corner. The front runners made it round the windward mark without too much entanglement with incoming starboard boats, but it got progressively more congested as the rest of the fleet converged. Liam and Jason were battling it out at the front but the others were not far behind. On the second lap, Jason made gains on Liam by standing on further left but unfortunately touched the windward mark and duly did his turns. With the wind slackening off, the race committee shortened to two laps. This allowed Liam to take the win and for Jenny and Ed to take second and third respectively. Jason came in fourth with Jim, Scott, Steve Sawford (Rutland) and Mark Aldridge (Grafham) behind. The fleet headed home and were greeted with plenty of help to get trolleys and boats pulled all the way up the beach and put away for the night.

The Association AGM was held before dinner. A combination of a Welcome Drink courtesy of Noble Marine Insurance and lovely weather ensured an almost 100 per cent turnout - the best the current Committee can remember. The meeting was brief, as all the best meetings are, and reviewed the various Association activities over the previous twelve months. Most importantly, the fleet took the opportunity to thank Ed Tuite-Dalton who was standing down as Association Chairman after seven years in the role and many more years on the Committee prior to that. The fleet were very pleased to present Ed with the Peter Mayne Trophy for outstanding contribution to the class. The fleet were also pleased to welcome Paul Tanner from Shanklin as the new Class Chair - even if Ed did keep referring to him as Len for reasons no-one, least of all Ed, understood. Paul has now decided he must have a twin brother somewhere called Len.

Prizegiving - Noble Marine Dart 15 National Championship at Bridlington - photo © Pauline Love

RYYC then laid on a BBQ and the fleet had a very pleasant evening, chatting about the days racing and ribbing Jan Elfring (Draycote) for parking his boat either side of mark 2. According to Jan, the mark jumped ten yards to the left when he was not looking and parked itself between his bows. Pete Richardson (Marconi) told anyone who would listen how Mark had been behind him in one of the races and Pete had asked all sorts of supportive questions such as "What are you doing there? Are you lapping me? Oh, so you are behind me?" etc etc. We were all delighted later in the evening when the Pro-Am pairings were published and Mark and Peter were a Pro Am pair. But not as thrilled as Mark.

Day 2 was scheduled for a further four races. There was some haze over the sea first thing but this had cleared and the sunshine returned by the start of racing at 11am. The breeze was again a moderate F2-3 but the sea state progressively changed from flat to sloppy waves once the tide turned - tricky conditions to manage in light breezes.

With the tide carrying the fleet over the line and running reasonably strongly, the fleet found itself early and sliding down the line in an effort to hold back until the gun went. Inevitably, this resulted in the first General Recall of the event. But the fleet learned from this experience and there were no further general recalls across the weekend. The start was re-set and the fleet set off with the front of the fleet again down towards the pin end. Despite the tide being more favourable further out to sea and some of the fleet tacking off early to benefit from this, the pin end brigade came into the windward mark first. The run now took on more tactical importance as it was now against the tide. The Two Up boats in particular came into their own, reaching across to the shore and the gybing back into the weaker tide to the leeward mark. Meanwhile, gains were made by some of the fleet on the second beat by heading out into the stronger tide. Liam again took the win followed by Ed, Sophia and Sean, Jason, David and John, Rob B, Rob Forrester (Weston) and Steve. Chris Maw, another local sailor who had gone all the way to Kent to pick up a Dart 15 so he could take part also put in a great result coming thirteenth.

Race 5 was swiftly got under way. The tide was still running strong but most of the fleet had given themselves more distance to the line plus a header in the final minute meant most of the fleet had a clean start with only individual boats being over the line. The Two Up boats were leading the charge at the front of the pack and again, the downwind legs proved to be as tactical as the upwind legs, if not more so. In the middle of the fleet, multiple places were gained or lost depending partly on gaining clear air, but also picking the best route with the tide. By the end of the race, Liam took another win, with Sophia and Sean in second and David and John in third. Yvonne Pike (Shanklin) sailed a stellar race to come in fourth, followed by Mat, George, Jason and Keith. Elsewhere in the fleet, Christophe Clarke (Marconi) and Jemma Clarke (Marconi, not related) also had great results coming twelfth and fourteenth respectively.

For Race 6, the tide had turned and was still relatively slack at the start, progressively building during the race. The fleet duly lined up with the Two Up boats and front runners again favouring the pin end. However, another last minute header pushed some of them the wrong side of the pin mark. Jason managed to get through but several boats below him were obliged to gybe round and thread the needle through the rest of the fleet who were still mostly on starboard tack. Jason and others who had started further up the line generally stood on left, hoping to gain a tide advantage over those who had been obliged to tack out to sea. Jason rounded the windward mark clear ahead but the relatively slack tide meant the boats now coming in on starboard had not lost much ground to the front runners coming in on port. By the downwind leg, Jenny, Liam, Sophia and Sean, Ed, Keith and Mat were all battling it out. On the second upwind leg, Jason continued out to sea whilst the others hedged their bets on the tide strengthening and tacked back onto starboard a little earlier, if only to cover those behind who had tacked off first. This did not appear to have a material impact except, conversely, Keith stood on further out to sea and made gains on those who had kept further in out of the tide. Jason went on to take the win, followed by Liam, Sophia and Sean, Keith, Jenny, Ed, Mat and Rob Forrester (Weston). Pete Richardson (Marconi) and Ray Gall (Carsington) also had a great race coming in tenth and eleventh respectively.

Liam Thom, overall winner - Noble Marine Dart 15 National Championship at Bridlington - photo © Pauline Love

For Race 7, the final race of the day, the sea state had built to sloppy waves which were tricky to navigate in the lighter breezes and required sailors to opt for a freer and faster mode upwind to keep pace and attempt to "surf" the waves on the downwind legs. It was another clean start and with the tide now running properly, much of the fleet opted to stay left out of the tide before tacking off to the windward mark. The pin end was busy again, although fortunately no unplanned windshifts this time. There were also some gains to be made from those who started further up the line if they managed to get their own lane and clear air, particularly in the sloppy conditions. By the end of lap one, Liam was in the lead but the pack were still close behind. Perhaps counter intuitively, Liam and the majority of the front runners chose to stand on out to sea before tacking back for the windward mark. It did not seem to impact the overall positions vs those who had tacked off earlier - but, of course, putting in an extra tack in those conditions was an additional time consideration. Liam went on to take another win followed by Jason, Jenny, Mat, Ed, Sophia and Sean, Scott, David and John, Jim and Ray. The fleet headed home after four well managed races and again to plenty of help from friends and locals to get the boats up the beach and packed away.

In the evening, RYYC laid on a fish and chip supper for the Class Association Dinner which the fleet and club members were able to enjoy sat outside. Paul Tanner gave his first Class Association address as Chair - still slightly bewildered about his mysterious twin brother Len. Paul thanked our hosts for running such a wonderful event both on and off the water and thanked Association members for being such a great group of people to go sailing and socialise with.

Sunday morning dawned with the much anticipated stronger breeze which had now clocked round to the north. The fleet headed out in a good F3 - 4 and tried to remember how to sit behind the shroud and hike out again. The sloppy waves had returned again but with a decent breeze, they now made things enjoyable rather than challenging. The tide was again carrying the fleet over the line, but the fleet were disciplined and it was a clean start. There was the usual group heading off from the pin end but some of the fleet opted to start nearer the Committee Boat so they could tack onto port earlier and pick up the stronger favourable tide. As the latter group headed back into the windward mark on starboard, there was a decided left bend to the wind which looked like it might undo all the advantage of being out in the tide. Jenny reached the windward mark first with a close pack coming in on port and starboard behind. The reach took the fleet over to the shoreline which meant the run against the tide was relatively inshore out of the strongest part of the tide. However, the wind had more variability in pressure closer to shore, making the downwind leg tactical in different ways. For the remaining upwind legs, most of the fleet opted to head out to pick up the tide and getting the lay line right with the bend in the wind was the difference between gaining and losing places. Jenny went on to take the win, followed by Jason, Liam, Scott, Mat, Mark, Keith and Jim. Gerald Sverdloff (Thorpe Bay) and Jacob Aldridge (Grafham) also had good races finishing twelfth and fifteenth respectively.

Jason Clarke, second overall - Noble Marine Dart 15 National Championship at Bridlington - photo © Pauline Love

Some minor adjustments were made to the two reaches and Race 9 was quickly under way with another clean start. The wind had slackened off slightly making the sea state a little more challenging again. There was again a split in the fleet with the same sailors converging on the windward mark as before. This time Liam led round the windward mark, followed by Jenny, Ed, Scott, Keith and Jason and the rest of the pack chasing hard. Jason sailed a strong downwind leg to pull himself into third place. As an interesting diversion, the fleet watched with interest as the survey rig that had been working the area all weekend was getting closer and closer to the race course, but they eventually decided not to join in with the racing. Liam went on to take the win followed by Jenny, Jason, Ed, Scott, Yvonne, Rob F and Keith.

The fleet headed home for the final time after a great weekend of racing. The boats were packed down onto trailers and the RYYC tractor brigade stoically got them all towed back up to the club ready for people to be able to hitch up to their cars and head home.

The prize-giving featured our usual wide range of prizes and glassware, sponsored by Noble Marine Insurance. First up were the Individual Prizes awarded for individual instances of mishap or endeavour. Lucky recipients received a book voucher from Fernhurst Books who publish a wide range of sailing publications to make us all better sailors.

Recipients were as follows:

• Jan Elfring for having race mark 2 leap out at him and put itself between his hulls on day one.
• Yvonne Pike for a stellar performance in Race 5 - coming 4th overall and following that up with a 9th and 6th on Day 3.
• Jemma Clarke for her persistence and progression up the fleet, including 14th place in Race 5.
• Pete Richardson for posting a tenth place in Race 6 and for finding himself paired as an Am to the very Pro he had given abuse to on day 1.

The annual Jim Bowie award was presented to Jim Bowie - this year for getting lost following his sat nav to the event and stopping on a country lane to ask a hapless passerby for directions. In getting out of the car, Jim did not apply his handbrake causing him to have to run after his car, boat and trailer before everything went horribly wrong.

The important silverware was presented by Commodore Joe Franks.

Our thanks go to all everyone at Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club who did such a fantastic job both on and off the water. Thanks to Noble Marine Insurance for sponsoring our event and to Fernhurst Books for supporting our spot prizes. Thanks also to Dave Clarke for producing our event rugby shirts and to Pauline Love for all the great photos. And finally, thank you to all the competitors who travelled far and wide to make our 2025 National Championships such a great event.

Jenny Ball, third overall - Noble Marine Dart 15 National Championship at Bridlington - photo © Pauline Love

Overall Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the Dart 15 nationals then enter your Gear Guide information here

Erling Holmberg Youth Trophy - Sophia McKenna, Shanklin
Young Gun Trophy (age 19 - 25) - Jason Clarke, Marconi
50 Plus Cup - Liam Thom, Shanklin
60 Plus Cup - Ed Tuite-Dalton, Draycote
70 Plus Tankard - Jim Bowie, Thorpe Bay
Ladies Cup - Jenny Ball, Marconi
Heavyweight Cup - Jan Elfring, Draycote
Pro Am Trophy - Gerald Sverdloff, Thorpe Bay - supported by his Pro, (and brother) Keith Persin, Thorpe Bay.
Most Improved Wendy House Trophy - Scott Wilcox, Stewartby
Most Persistent Paul Smith Trophy - Karen Corley, Marconi
Classic Boat glass - Mat Exon, RYYC
Two Up Cup - Sophia and Sean McKenna, Shanklin