Draycote Dash at Draycote Water Sailing Club

Draycote Dash 2012 © Malcolm Lewin / www.malcolmlewinphotography.zenfolio.com/sail

Draycote Dash 2012 © Malcolm Lewin / www.malcolmlewinphotography.zenfolio.com/sail

Despite the harbingers of doom suggesting that the unseasonal low water levels and a paucity of wind would make the second running of the Draycote Dash not worth the effort, 80 crews disagreed and were awarded with an exceedingly well run and enjoyable event. There were excellent turnouts of B14s, Phantoms and Blazes with competitors travelling from as far afield as Cornwall, Kent and Scotland.

Sunshine and around 10 knots of breeze on Saturday left everyone with smiles on their faces as they returned to shore after 5, yes 5, back-to-back races of around 30 minutes each. Now, I don’t normally have a problem with back-to-back races but it’s clearly an ageist measure aimed at disadvantaging us older types. We have weaker bladders see.

In an effort to not disadvantage the slower boats, unlike the older sailors, races were run in flights of fast, medium and slow boats starting at 3 minute intervals but with the elapsed times combined. It worked well and it was the medium and slow boats who headed the leader board by the end of play on Saturday – Steve Bolland in an RS300 leading from Charlie Cumbley in a Phantom, Peter Gray & Rachael Rhodes in a Scorpion and Stuart & Nick Hydon in a Lark.

With Charlie electing (sensibly?) not to sail on the Sunday it was left to the other protagonists to fight it out over one more handicap race and a final pursuit race in breezes substantially less than on Saturday. The handicap race was a slow boat benefit after the fast and medium flights started in next to no wind which then turned on just as the slow boats started. Jon Clarke, from the home club, in a Solo won easily on handicap, finishing amongst many much faster boats on the water. The first medium boat came 15th and the first fast 24th. C’est la vie as they say in Warwickshire.

Back in for lunch – a chance to empty the bladders and let the wind fill in and steady a bit. With the pursuit race being double points scoring and non-discardable it was anyone’s guess who would win the event overall. As luck would have it, or not if you were one of the later starters, the pursuit race was run in a dying breeze. Clarke had another good result but it was not enough to trouble the overall leaders. The Hydons won the final race and with it the event. Second overall were Gray and Rhodes counting a top ten result in the pursuit. Bolland could only manage a 19th in the pursuit, dropping him to third overall, but first singlehander on countback from Simon Hawkes in a Phantom.

The Dash was the final event in the Sailjuice series. Now handicap racing may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it’s clearly the way to go over the winter period when fleet racing is at its nadir. With close to 850 entries over the five events it’s a popular choice. Roll on next year.

Many thanks to the huge number of helpers from Draycote, some visible, some less so, who made the event such a success.

Loads more photos on the 'Photo Gallery' tab below and on Malcolm Lewin's website at www.malcolmlewinphotography.co.uk

Overall Results: