Dart 15 Summer TT at Thorpe Bay Yacht Club

Dart 15 Summer TT at Thorpe Bay © John Rose

The second Summer TT of 2026 brought the Dart 15 fleet to the Thames Estuary, where Thorpe Bay Yacht Club hosted twenty-three travellers and home sailors for a weekend of properly mixed Estuary conditions, two countback finishes that came down to the last race, and one of the more memorable abandoned races in recent fleet history.

The forecast promised a decent breeze on the Saturday and lighter air on the Sunday. What the forecast couldn't show was the shifts. Race Officer Chris Boshier, assisted by Chris Tillyer, would later report a wind range of 6 to 22 knots on the Saturday with shifts of up to 90 degrees across the day and 30-degree shifts under every passing cloud. Sunday would bring 15 knots dropping to nothing, swinging through 45 degrees. The mark layers were going to earn their keep.

Race 1 — Saturday The first race got under way cleanly on a course halfway between the Thorpe Bay shore and Southend Pier. David Ball (Marconi, 1923) made the early running and was right alongside Liam Thom (Shanklin, 2034) for the whole of the first lap. Liam, the recently-crowned Northern Champion from Carsington, eventually pulled clear on the second beat, but the more dramatic move further back was Rob Bailey (TBYC, 1977) working his way past David on lap two. As David later put it, Rob "sailed straight over the top of me" to take second.

David Ball, Rob Forester (Weston SC, 1985), Yvonne Pike (Shanklin, 2020) and Gerald Sverdloff (TBYC, 1963) rounded out the top six.

Dart 15 Summer TT at Thorpe Bay - photo © John Rose

Race 2 — Saturday

By race two the wind had settled enough for the front of the fleet to find its natural shape. Liam took an early lead and held it untroubled to the gun, finding a way to cross on starboard when much of the fleet behind him couldn't, then tacking straight onto port after the outer mark. Jenny climbed back to second from the off, with David Ball third, Rob Bailey with another great result in fourth and Paul Tanner (Shanklin, 2040) fifth. Steve Healy (TBYC, 2002) produced his best result of the regatta in sixth.

Behind the leading trio, the order barely changed between lap one and lap two — a rare instance over the weekend of the wind playing fair and letting positions stand.

Spare a thought for Alan Grant (TBYC, 1825), who at one point was running second to Liam with Jenny close behind. Tacking early and confidently for the pin end of the line, Alan was halfway to it before realising the mark he was aiming for was the wrong shape and the wrong colour — and a long way off course.

Dart 15 Summer TT at Thorpe Bay - photo © John Rose

Race 3 — Saturday

The tide was ebbing now and with patchy light winds, the competitive course was inshore, out of the worst of the stream. Rob Forester clearly had it dialled in and led the first lap, with Liam tucked behind in second and Paul Tanner third. Liam ducked Rob on several crosses up the second beat before finally finding a gap and getting past on lap two, with Jenny coming through to third as the race wore on.

Further back, John Laliberte (TBYC, 1707) and Stefan Smith (TBYC, 1525) were treated to the rare honour of a whisky flag — and in John's case, the rather charming response of wanting to finish the race anyway, despite the whisky flag already securing his place. He would later, in race five, return the favour by being on the line and asking to be whisky-flagged. The race team took it all in good spirits.

The fleet headed ashore for the evening with Liam on a perfect three-from-three scoreline, but with the chasing pack reshuffling on every result.

Race 4 — Sunday

Sunday dawned with a workable breeze that would steadily soften as the day went on. Race four belonged to Liam, who led at every mark with lap times of 13 minutes 47 seconds, 14 minutes 41, and 14 minutes 35. The main challenge had been a succession of boats needing to be ducked on the first tack off the start line.

The story of the race was lower down. Colin Rigg (TBYC, 2012) rounded the first windward mark in fourth place — his best moment of the weekend, and one Jenny would later single out as a standout performance. Colin held the front group's company for a lap before slipping back to a still-excellent fifth at the gun. Jenny took second, Rob Forester took third, Jim Bowie (TBYC, 2021) fourth.

Race 5 — Sunday

The race of the regatta.

Rob Bailey, having clearly worked out something the rest of the fleet hadn't, was first to the windward mark — only to do a penalty turn for an earlier port/starboard infringement against Jenny. The lead passed to Liam.

Jenny reeled Liam in on the second downwind run and the pair were neck-and-neck for the rest of the race, the breeze softening with every leg. Liam's lap times told the story: 15 minutes 46 for lap one, 14 minutes 14 for lap two, and 16 minutes 24 for lap three as the wind began to fade. Unable to finish on starboard, Liam was forced to tack after the committee boat to cross the line. Jenny was two feet behind his transom at the gun. The closest finish of the weekend, by some margin.

Rob Bailey recovered superbly to take third after his penalty turn, with Jim again in fourth, Rob Forrester in fifth and David Ball in sixth.

Race 6 — Sunday

By the time the fleet assembled for race six the breeze was already on borrowed time, and the outgoing tide had begun to assert itself. Chris Boshier shortened the course in anticipation. It would not be enough.

Alan Grant (TBYC, 1825) led the fleet at the end of lap one — by his own modest account both shocked and confused to find himself alone at the first mark, and sensing a similar shock and confusion from the committee boat as he crossed the line with a significant lead. He had overtaken Paul Tanner who had led for lap one but had tacked earlier for the line than Alan and the pack behind. Donald Sloan (Brightlingsea SC, 1896) and Gerald Sverdloff had both shown well at the first mark before being overhauled.

Approaching the windward mark on the second lap, Alan was, as he put it, sucked into an apparent vacuum where no wind existed but where the tide raced. Jenny sailed confidently past; Marconi's sailors on the Blackwater are well versed in strong tides. Three attempts later, Alan finally rounded and joined the rest of the fleet drifting around — as the race lengthened, due to falling winds, he regretted being in a drysuit and having polished off two cans of Coke between races.

On the second beat, Jenny and Liam fought their way to the front of the surviving group. Jenny stood on furthest on starboard, made the windward mark in the fewest tacks, and built what looked at the time like a winning lead. Liam, falling further behind as the wind dropped away, was eventually reduced to paddling his Dart back to shore - DNF.

What followed was both heroic and faintly tragic. Jenny sailed past the committee boat, intending to tack back through the line. The wind shifted and then dropped away to nothing. She ferry-glided sideways around the stern of the committee boat — at one point almost touching their starboard quarter with three minutes left on the clock — and from there battled backwards to within two boat lengths of the finish. Thirty feet of water, with the tide running hard and not enough breeze to overcome it. One decent puff would have done it!

From the committee boat, Chris Boshier could see it both ways: Jenny might just make it, but with much of the fleet still short of the second mark, abandonment was looking increasingly inevitable. With no boat having finished within the hour, the sailing instructions decided; Race abandoned. Boats were towed in.

Dart 15 Summer TT at Thorpe Bay - photo © John Rose

Standings and stories from the results

Liam Thom's perfect 1-1-1-1-1 made him an unassailable champion on 4 net points after discarding a 1st place! — back-to-back wins after Carsington, and the early statement of intent for the 2026 Summer Series. Liam himself observed afterwards that there were points in races one, three and five where he was worked hard by the chasers. The video evidence is on his YouTube channel for those who want a masterclass.

Jenny Ball took second on 9 net points — a clear step up from her fourth at Carsington and an even more impressive result given a difficult first race. With three seconds, a third and the discarded twelfth, she beat the rest of the fleet by six points, and would surely have had the win in race six had the wind held for thirty more seconds.

Behind the top two, the regatta produced two of the closest finishes in recent fleet memory. Rob Bailey and Rob Forester finished locked together on 14 net points each, separated only by countback in Rob Bailey's favour for third place. Neither was aware during the weekend of quite how tight it was. Eight points further back, Paul Tanner and Yvonne Pike finished tied on 31 points each, again separated only on countback, with Paul taking eighth.

David Ball took fifth, Jim Bowie sixth — Jim's discarded 11 from race one the only blemish on an otherwise model-of-consistency 7-4-4-4. Gerald Sverdloff took seventh. Christopher Clarke rounded out the top ten.

Of the performances that won't show up in the headlines, Colin Rigg's recovery from a discarded 19 to finish 11th overall deserves a mention, as does his fourth-at-mark-one in race four. Alan Grant's lap-one lead in race six earned him a place in the regatta's honourable mentions, even if the second lap got away from him. John Laliberte deserves credit for sheer persistence — twice whisky-flagged over the weekend and still wanting to sail the races out on his own terms, despite the flag already securing his place. A special shout-out for youth sailors Anselm Callens & Jonathan Ball (Marconi), who had plenty of older and more experienced sailors behind them at various points across the weekend and came a creditable 17th overall.

Thank Yous

Thanks to Chris Boshier, Chris Tillyer and Duncan Ford in the committee box for managing two days of shifting wind, fast tides and a course that needed moving for every start. Thanks to the safety and mark-laying teams, to Jack and his catering team, and to Kerry and the bar staff for keeping the fleet fed and watered between races and into the evening. Thorpe Bay's welcome was warm, the racing was hard-fought, and the Thames Estuary served up exactly the kind of conditions that reward boat-handling, local knowledge, and a willingness to keep going when the wind doesn't.

Next stop on the circuit, the Southern Championship, Newhaven & Seaford Sailing Club on 6th and 7th June — and the question of whether anyone can stop Liam Thom from making it three from three.

Overall Results: