D-Zero Open at Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club
by Rob Lennox 10 Oct 2016 17:57 BST
8-9 October 2016
Rob Lennox won the Yorkshire Dales D-Zero Open Meeting held over the weekend of 8 and 9 October, counting a full set of six firsts.
Predictions that the wind would be several miles an hour stronger, and the temperature several degrees cooler than any of the published forecasts, proved correct with competitors searching for extra layers in their kitbags for the reasonably brisk North Easterlies which prevailed all weekend.
The reservoir being less than full led to the strong contingent from Largs asking for the time of high tide and they remained uncomfortable about leaving their trolleys in the water lest they were swept away up the Clyde.
Race officer Richard Clayton set excellent starting lines and courses and there were no recalls.
John Bassett proved to be the closest threat to Rob, crossing him at one point and was generally able to climb through into second as each race progressed. He did demonstrate his capsize and recovery skills between races at one point though.
Gordon Stewart despite his pre-event attempts to disarm the competition by claiming to be slow was the only person to round a mark ahead of Rob by dint of sailing faster on a broad reach.
Martin Latimer had his moments, the most exciting of which was when he had started at the port end, blasted over to the far shore, and tacked to cross the fleet only to discover he had threaded several parts of his mainsheet through the block. His attempts to unthread this could be heard from some considerable distance.
His clubmate Billie McCarlie improved with each race, leading to accusations he was just toying with the fleet.
Geoff Norman's master plan was to paint his trolley fluorescent green so he could spot it when coming ashore, only trouble was we were launching off a lee shore so the only thing you could see above the water were identical white cradles with the rest obscured by the customary Yorkshire Tea coloured water.
Club member Richard Paynter organised a brilliant event, including booking a table at an excellent pub for the Saturday night. His highlight was a third in race 5. Not to be outdone by John Bassett, he showed us his own capsizing skills in race 6.
There was much sharing of settings and techniques which resulted all the Scottish sailors re-rigging their boats overnight.
The the final order was Rob, John, Gordon, Martin, Billie, Geoff and Richard with the absent competitors missing out on a fantastic event.