Dragon East Coast Championships at Medway Yacht Club
by ECDC Committee 7 Oct 2016 07:52 BST
30 September - 2 October 2016
Twenty Dragons lined up at 10.30 on the first day of the event and kicked-off some great racing in excellent sailing conditions with an ideal wind direction. The fleet consisted of four 'professional' boats namely, Gorgeous Worgeous – Quentin Strauss (aka Q -MYC), Scorpio – Ian Gray, and Beauty and the Beast – Peter Marchant & Katie Cole (Burnham), and Badger – Tom Vernon (Solent). The other 16 boats consisted of Corinthian sailors from Medway, Burnham, Abersoch and Belgium.
Race officer Richard Stone did a great job on Day1 and actually managed to get four races in the bag. It soon became obvious that Gorgeous Worgeous and Badger were the front runners. Q won the first three races, and race four was taken by Ian Gray with a masterly port-tack start that was to dominate the fleet. At the end of the first day Rob Campbell and Mark Wade (Burnham) headed up the Corinthians closely followed by Ian Gray, Peter Marchant and Jono Ratnage – Fit Chick from the Medway.
The weather forecast for Day 2 as predicted was without wind until midday, which saw the fleet swigging coffee and waiting for the pressure and the 'go' word from the RO. Bruce Boyd - Medway Class Captain, had considerable difficulty coaxing the fleet back on the water especially when a bit of a Medway monsoon decided to intervene! 75% of the fleet were towed four miles down-river by which time there was a good F4 to 5 enabling two more races.
That evening, the Fleet adjourned to Medway Yacht Club to partake in a serious curry night organised by Sue Harris from the ECDC Committee.
Races five and six were won by Tom Vernon, however 'Q' maintained his lead going into Saturday evening.
The Championship Dinner, treated the fleet to some excellent fare washed down with most enjoyable speeches from Colin Weston – MYC Commodore, Mark Penny – MYC Vice Commodore and Steven Verrier President of the Belgian Dragon Association.
Day 3 saw the last two races of the event with champagne conditions and a first class course set by the RO in spite of a strong F5 NW wind which is challenging on the Medway.
Race 7 was won by Q and Race 8 by Tom Vernon. Both winners were closely followed by some very competitive racing within the rest of the fleet, these two races undoubtedly proved to be most enjoyable.
Subsequently, all boats returned to MYC and were treated to the professionalism of the Club's 'dry sailing' team recovering all eleven visitor's boats via a 'Wyse' travel hoist onto their trailers within 100 minutes.
The Prize giving saw Gorgeous Worgeous taking line honours followed by Badger. The first Corinthian boat was Quick Silver VI – Rob Campbell with Mark and Mandy Wade in Avalanche taking the Deuxieme Prix (second Corinthian) silver salver.
The ECDC management committee sincerely hope that the event will return to the Medway in three years' time and take this opportunity to thank all sponsors and helpers.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Name | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | Gorgeous Worgeous | 803 | Quentin Strauss | MYC | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | (DNC) | 10 |
| 2nd | Badger | 810 | Tom Vernon | RSYC | 3 | 2 | ‑7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 20 |
| 3rd | Quicksilver VI | 788 | Rob Campbell | RCYC | 4 | ‑5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 25 |
| 4th | Avalanche | 722 | Mark Wade | RCYC | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 4 | ‑9 | 4 | 29 |
| 5th | Beauty & The Beast | 746 | Peter Marchant | RCYC | 6 | ‑9 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 41 |
| 6th | Scorpio | 586 | Ian Gray | RCYC | 8 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 6 | ‑16 | 6 | 46 |
| 7th | Fit Chick | 753 | Jono Ratnage | MYC | 2 | 8 | 8 | ‑14 | 14 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 52 |
| 8th | Ganador | 704 | Martin Makey | RCYC | ‑18 | 13 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 63 |
| 9th | Suti | 747 | Stewart Coltart | MYC | 9 | 6 | 2 | 8 | ‑16 | 14 | 11 | 14 | 64 |
| 10th | Kookaburra | 56 | Nathalie Gunst | RNSYC | 7 | 16 | 12 | 7 | ‑17 | 8 | 13 | 8 | 71 |
| 11th | OCD | 675 | Chris Brealy | MYC | 11 | 11 | 10 | ‑16 | 7 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 71 |
| 12th | Merlin | 622 | Rob Riddell | SCYC | 10 | 7 | 13 | ‑15 | 15 | 12 | 3 | 12 | 72 |
| 13th | Rackham | 610 | Mark Dicker | RORC | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 79 |
| 14th | Gandalf | 726 | Edwin Hannant | MYC | 16 | 10 | 16 | 11 | 8 | ‑17 | 12 | 16 | 89 |
| 15th | Flame Again | 617 | David Hall | RCYC | 14 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 16 | 14 | ‑18 | 90 |
| 16th | Tsunami | 644 | Colin Brereton | SCYC | 12 | 14 | 14 | 12 | ‑18 | 10 | 15 | 15 | 92 |
| 17th | Flos | 591 | Toby Atack | MYC | 15 | ‑17 | 15 | 9 | 11 | 15 | 17 | 11 | 93 |
| 18th | Royalist | 455 | Roger Dawe | MYC | 13 | 15 | 18 | 17 | ‑19 | 18 | 18 | 13 | 112 |
| 19th | Coy | 710 | Colin Weston | MYC | 17 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 13 | ‑19 | 19 | 17 | 119 |
| 20th | Roka | 717 | Kevin Galliers | MYC | 19 | 19 | 19 | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 141 |