Dart 15 Winter TT at Stewartby Water Sailing Club

Dart 15 Winter TT at Stewartby Water © Eti Salpeter

With the 2024 event having been cancelled due to storms then rescheduled and cancelled once again due to lack of wind, the 2025 event was keenly awaited.

In the interest of an easy life for me, I tried very hard to keep the entry numbers down to a minimum and started this process by introducing an error message in the online entry system, adding random unrelated paragraphs to the Sailing Instructions and arranging for a weather forecast of little or no wind and as much rain as possible. That'll do it I thought. Despite my best-efforts mind, the competitors didn't seem to be phased by this with 25 entries on the books already. This wasn't in my plan so I really needed to up my game or we risked having a highly competitive very well attended event.

So, now to launch emergency plan B the day prior, announce a break-out of the dreaded Bluegreen Algae, a massive bloom more dangerous than a shark infestation, surely that will finally put folk off. But no, the competitors still came so the only option left was to lock the Club gates so no one could get in. Finally sorted I thought, but no, half an hour later some smarty pants managed to scale the fence and carry out an emergency gate opening, damn! So, despite my very best efforts we were all on for big day's racing.

That must be the longest intro into an event report ever! Anyways, here we go.

With bacon rolls consumed, light 5 mph winds and fog so thick you couldn't see the marks until you were half-way along the leg, the first race started without hitch.

Race 1

Local veteran Scott Wilcox had an exclusive private wind to carry him to the first mark well ahead of the rest of the field which were closely bunched and rounding 3 and 4 abreast. As the race progressed Scott maintained his distance from the main pack whilst Jason Clarke and national Champion Liam Thom slowly closed the gap. On lap 3 Jason with his superior boat speed took the lead. As the last lap commenced Jason tacked off early which didn't work-out and Scott took the lead back at the windward mark followed very closely by Liam and Jason third.

Meanwhile, it was all change and change about in the following bunch of boats with George Love, Paul Tanner, Jenny Ball, Ed Tuite-Dalton, Steve Sawford, David Clarke and Tim Browning (Stewartby) battling it out. At the front, it was neck and neck as the leading three boats sailed the last broad reach with Scott struggling to fend off the Liam and Jason. Liam eventually broke through to leeward and Jason almost managed same but rounded the mark inches behind Scott's transom and that's how it ended:- 1st Liam Thom (Shanklin), 2nd Scott Wilcox ((Stewartby) 3rd Jason Clarke (Marconi), 4th Ed Tuite-Dalton (Draycote), 5th Paul Tanner (Shanklin), 6th George Love (Carsington).

Race 2

George Love led the way at the first mark followed by Steve Sawford with Jan Elfring 3rd and Paul Tanner 4th. On the next leg George and Steve increased their lead whilst Jan and Paul were being chased-down strongly by Liam Thom and Jason Clark and by the end of the run Liam had moved up to 3rd. As the race progressed these 5 leading boats bunched up ever closer together making it a tense finish where Jason managed to overhaul Paul metres from the line leaving the final standings as:- 1st George Love (Carsington), 2nd Steve Sawford (Rutland), 3rd Liam Thom (Shanklin), 4th Jan Elfring (Draycote), 5th Jason Clarke (Marconi), 6th Paul Tanner (Shanklin).

Race 3

Liam Thom led the way from the off, tacked early on to port and rounded the windward mark first followed by Paul Tanner, Jason Clarke, Jenny Ball and Steve Sawford. With a big wind shift the second leg became a close fetch and the run less deep causing some place changes further down the fleet. The top 5 leaders remained unchanged to the finish despite the wind shift favouring the right-hand side of the beat for the first time. 6th place however had been a ding-dong battle all race and on the final downwind Mark Aldridge managed to overhaul Jan Elfring and Ed Tuite-Dalton as Jan battled to cover Ed. The final standings were: 1st Liam Thom (Shanklin), 2nd Paul Tanner (Shanklin), 3rd Jason Clarke (Marconi), 4th Jenny Ball (Marconi), 5th Steve Sawford (Rutland), 6th Mark Aldridge (Grafham).

Links

Dart 15 Association Website Stewartby TT Picture gallery Dart 15 Association Facebook

Dart 15 Winter TT at Stewartby Water - photo © Eti Salpeter

Overall Results:

Mega Stars - winner Jan Elfring (Draycote)
Classic Boat - winner Scott Wilcox (Stewartby)