• Home
• Racing and Sailing
• Cadets and Families
• Training
• Membership
• News
• About
• Contact

• Latest news
• Subscribe to News Alerts by Email or Social Media

Club News

Dart 18 GP7 Open report

Posted: Friday, 17 October, 2014

Whitstable Yacht Club hosted the Dart 18 GP7 Open event on 11th and 12th October. The last Grande Prix event in the 2014 Dart 18 calendar, it attracted 29 boats, including 10 local Whitstable boats: One of the highest turn outs for the class all year, with sailors travelling from as far as Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club in Bridlington, despite the forecast rain!

Saturday saw 3 races, starting at 1pm, and was the first time the new Whitstable Yacht Club Committee Boat had been used for a major event. The predicted wind filled in on schedule for the first race, bringing in a steady f2-3 from the South West. The sailors were obviously keen to get going, as there was a General Recall for the first start of the day. The Race Officer made good on his threat, and immediately brought out the black flag for the following start, but even then two boats were over! The rest of the race proceeded without incident, with Dan Norman and Mel Rogers from Isle of Sheppey Sailing Club, and Matt and Jacob Exon from RYYC setting the scene for the rest of the weekend battling it out for first place.

The second race saw a clear start, but with a darkening sky to the West over the Isle of Sheppey as the promised rain threatened. A great crack of thunder greeted the competitors on the first beat, as the cloud quickly progressed to fill the sky, bringing with it a tremendous squall by the end of the second lap. Winds quickly got up to a high force 6-7, swinging round to the East, and turning the final lap into a pair of flying reaches. Amazingly most boats managed to hang on and continue racing, with only two capsizes and 5 retirements. The weather was so localised that whilst the Committee Boat was pelted with hail stones and could barely see the first finishing boats, the Darts at towards the back of the fleet didn’t see a drop of rain! Many of the competitors commented that the race through the squall was the most fun sailing of the weekend!

The wind dropped off again for the third and final race of the day, but remained from the West, giving the sailors a close, but uneventful final run of the day under a brilliant double rainbow! At the end of the Saturday racing, Dan and Mel from IOSCC lead the table, with Matt and Jacob taking a close second from David Lloyd and Mark Stones from Stokes Bay SC.

The evening saw many of the visitors make their way to the pubs and restaurants of Whitstable to sample the great range of food to be had, returning to the club later in the evening to watch the aptly named club band General Recall play out the rest of the night.

Sunday morning saw a few sore heads turn out for a fried breakfast for the WYC canteen before the scheduled 1030 first race, but were unfortunately met with a glassy see and no wind. Luckily for a rare second time in a weekend the forecast came true, and after a two hour postponement the wind got up to a sail-able speed by midday, and the first race started at around 1230. A steadily increasing North West breeze and mild chop on the sea proved a nice change from the previous day’s conditions, but lead to a change at the top of the results with Dan and Mel slipping down the table into second, with Matt and Jakob taking the top spot. Local knowledge also proved useful, as the WYC boats sailed by Richard Ledger and Louisa Clifford, and Abby Zambinski and Polly Bishop took second and forth places after finding the right spot in the beat against the tide.

The second and last race of the day decided the final positions, with close racing throughout the fleet, and a difficult decision to be made on clear wind versus a strong tide. Matt and Jakob again made the right call, taking the first place in the growing wind, and clinching first place overall in the event. Dan and Mel came in forth, using the race as their discard to take second place overall, and David and Mark got a fifth place in the race to get third overall. Forth boat overall in the weekend was sailed by Marco Manganelli and Kate Winter, and the fifth placed overall and first Whitstable Yacht Club boat was sailed by Richard and Louisa. Jakob Exon, sailing on the winning boat was also awarded the prize for the first place cadet, a great achievement as the youngest competitor in the race! Series handicap prices were awarded to Steve Pimblett and Francesca De Lacey from WYC in third, Robert Govier and Ruta Nakrosyte from WYC in second, and Joe and Roger Baker in first place. Results can be seen here.

A great weekend had by all, and some really fine sailing to end the 2014 season on for the Dart 18 class!

As ever, the event could not have happened without the hard work of the members of Whitstable Yacht Club in arranging and manning the event. Thanks to:

Event Organiser: Robert Govier.
Race Officer: John Cooper.
ARO and CB Driver: Ian Wild.
Recorders: Jill Fagg, TJ and Liz North.
Results: Suzanne Stuart-Smith.
Land Bridge: Suzanne Stuart-Smith and Fiona Clarke.
Safety Crew Coordinator: Ian Embry.
Safety Boat Drivers: Ian Locke, Brian Bogard, Richard Bradburn and Paul Clifford.
Safety Boat Crew: Rosie Tribe, Jon Ducker, Nick Runeckles, Peter Griffin and Jason Barnes.