Dart 15 Sport National Championship 2025 at Shanklin Sailing Club

Sponsored by Gurit, Spinlock and Fernhurst Books

Forty-six boats entered the Dart 15 Sport Nationals at Shanklin with 25 local sailors taking part as well as 9 from North Devon Yacht Club. We had once again lured Nigel and Fiona Denchfield to the south east of the Isle of Wight with the promise of sunshine, flat water and a constant breeze.

However we sent them out in a grey, cold F4 north-easterly in a bijoux fishing boat with a building sea state.

Dart 15 Sport Nationals 2025 at Shanklin - photo © Mary Howie-Wood

The racing was incredibly close from start to finish with nobody dominating a single race, let alone the regatta. Seven different sailors won races and the champion wasn't known until the scores got entered after the third day. Frequently the best course was to find a way to tack early to harness the best tides and those that turned right earliest usually prospered.

Defending champion Hector Bunclark from North Devon got onto port early to get into stronger tide on the first beat of the first race and rounded the first mark ahead of locals Liam Thom and Simon Giles. Liam got ahead on the run and had a comfortable race to take the bullet with Simon second, Jason Clarke (Marconi Sailing Club) third and Shanklin commodore Yvonne Pike fourth.

Dart 15 Sport Nationals 2025 at Shanklin - photo © Mary Howie-Wood

Angus Cook of Castaways Sailing Club got the best start in race two and had a close battle with Jason Clarke and Sean McKenna, the Shanklin vice-commodore. Sean got the lead before the end of the second lap and held on to take the win ahead of Angus, Jes Firth (North Devon) and Liam.

The tide had turned for the third race so going out to sea was not the best course. The committee boat end was the favoured place to start which meant a queue of boats formed on the right hand side of the line and were stuffed for wind if they were not at the front. The boats that prospered most put a short tack out to sea and then tacked back onto starboard and went past the lay line before going out into the foul tide. Simon did just that and held a substantial lead on the chasing boats while those that went out to sea floundered in diminishing breeze and an unpleasant chop. The last leg of several races was a cruel randomiser and this was probably the cruellest. Simon rounded the final buoy in the lead and got headed while the rest of the fleet came round the buoy and got lifted to the line. Angus gratefully accepted the win ahead of Stuart Pierce (Shanklin), Paul Grattage (East Down Yacht Club), Hector and Simon.

Dart 15 Sport Nationals 2025 at Shanklin - photo © Mary Howie-Wood

The wind had swung round to the south-south-east and increased to a force 4-5 for the next day's sailing. Paul, Hector and Jason were out on the wire at the pin end by the time the flags went down but tacking early was again favoured to go inshore out of the foul tide. Jes got right earliest and he rounded the windward mark ahead of Hector, Paul and Sean. Paul and Hector got in front of Jes on the second of three laps and despite a trapeze harness issue which led to a brief dip, Paul took the win with Sean second, Hector third and Jes fourth.

There was a rare Dart 15 general recall in race 5 but a black flag got people to behave nicely for the restart. Again the right hand side of the course was favoured with the tide flooding in the same direction as the wind. Hector, Jason, Paul, Liam and Angus rounded first but Hector maintained a small advantage throughout the race. Liam worked his way up to second which was helped by Paul falling into the water again as they went through the line together at the end of the third lap. Hector took the win with Liam, Paul, Jason and Angus behind.

Dart 15 Sport Nationals 2025 at Shanklin - photo © Mary Howie-Wood

The conditions for race six were similar to the two previous races that day and Sean led Simon, Hector, Paul Tanner (Shanklin) and Liam towards the sea wall in front of the club house before tacking out to mark 1. Sean and Hector battled out for the lead, swapping places twice on the last lap, but Sean was ahead at each finish gate of the four laps. Simon took third place with Liam fourth in front of Angus.

At the end of the second day there was almost nothing between the top sailors; all the top six had had a wide range of scores and needed their discard. Two points separated the top four with Hector holding a slim advantage after his 3, 1, 2 on day two.

The forecast for the Sunday was for lessening breeze from the south-west but there was a decent breeze as the fleet left the shore for a 10.30 start.

Dart 15 Sport Nationals 2025 at Shanklin - photo © Mary Howie-Wood

Again the best course was to tack early onto port and get out of the flooding tide. Stuart and Simon led the first lap ahead of Angus, Liam and Steve Sawford (Rutland Sailing Club) but Liam and Angus built a decent lead on the second lap with Angus just ahead at mark one. They carried their lead to the last buoy before sailing into light wind and allowing the peleton to catch up. Paul Grattage bisected the two of them and looked like he might take the win but Simon and Sean went on further on port tack before tacking across the line with Jes also sneaking ahead to take third. Paul got fourth and Liam and Angus had to make do with fifth and sixth.

There was still nothing in it going into the eighth race. The wind had shifted left to a light southerly and the mark layers worked quickly to reset the course in about 10 minutes. There was a hint of port end bias in the line and there was a large group waiting at the pin end when the start was signalled. Simon started at the pin end on starboard and forced many boats to duck his transom. Stuart rounded the first mark in the lead with Angus, Paul and Simon chasing him closely. At the end of the second and final lap Simon and Stuart were neck and neck but the last fifty yards was very tricky once more. Stuart managed to cut the line with his bow ahead while Simon lost out as the tide took him northward. Angus and Paul sneaked past on the line and Simon had to settle for fourth in front of Sean who had worked his way up from a bad position. Those behind ghosted their way across the finish and Nigel decided to bin race 9.

Dart 15 Sport Nationals 2025 at Shanklin - photo © Mary Howie-Wood

The second discard kicked in after the last race so despite his 5th in that race, and having to count a 7th, Sean won by two points with Angus and Simon split on countback.

Many thanks to all of the race support team especially Fiona and Nigel in the committee boat and Les Kay - Shanklin's boatswain who worked tirelessly to get four boats on the water in a sometimes tricky sea state.

Events like this cannot happen without the many volunteers that helped on and off the water including Mary Howie-Wood, June Kay, Rear Commodore Ian Wilkinson and Richard Beasley in the galley and barbecue and Tina Lavender on the beach.

Dart 15 Sport Nationals 2025 at Shanklin - photo © Mary Howie-Wood

Our thanks to Gurit for their kind sponsorship allowing an extremely cheap entry fee, to Spinlock who donated ruck sacks and dry bags as prizes and to Fernhurst Books for their book tokens.

• Most Improved: Angus Cook
• Team Prize: Shanklin
• Classic boat: Paul Grattage
• Heavyweight: Paul Grattage
• Junior: Ethan Walker
• Under 25: Hector Bunclark
• Over 50: Sean McKenna
• Over 60: Stuart Pierce
• Over 70: Shaun Smith
• First female helm: Jenny Ball
• Pro-Am: Charles Watson and Rob Forrester
• Most persistent: Jamie Lavender

Overall Results: