The Real D-One Thread

Like the current deck it can be black carbon (transparent gelcoat) but any other solid colour is possible.  Standard is white!

Rodney is that a trick so you can hold me whilst Luca slaps me around a bit??

Is going to be a different kettle of fish to all that sailing in Garda i bet!!

Howzat?  Look forward to meeting you tomorrow

Three D-Ones made it to the Bloody Mary with others snowed in or frozen solid.  The three brave D-One sailors were Andy Rice, Tim Garvin and Adrian Brunton.  I have to agree with others that everyone who braved the elements deserved a medal.  It would be tough for the slow boats who were expected to be on the water for about 3 hours – best to have a fast boat on a day like this I reckon.  The shore team even included Luca who wanted to see how crazy the Brits can be and he wasn’t disappointed.

The three D-Ones were the only boats starting at the allotted start time of 12.49 and they battled it out up the gusty first beat.  Andy Rice led the trio at the first mask and was the first to break out the kite to extend his lead significantly.  As they disappeared rapidly into the distance we decided it was time for a cup of tea and some hot food.  When we returned to the balcony Andy had dropped behind the other two with Adrian having taken the lead.  We assumed that Andy had stopped for a cup of tea and a chat with his mates on the press boat but he swears he had capsized.  On the third downwind leg Andy’s mast failed having broken at the join between the top and bottom section (on inspection we found that the laminates were faulty so this mast will be back to the manufacturer next week).

Tim Garvin had a couple of dunks and managed to rip his drysuit (or so he says) – well, his excuse for retiring was frozen nuts!  So we were down to one remaining D-One in the hands of Adrian Brunton.  This is one of the early prototypes with an even earlier mast and boom arrangement and a rubbish gooseneck (laser style) which was discarded as inadequate way before production started.  Yes, the gooseneck failed and left Adrian with no choice but to return to an early shower.  Probably most welcome but also, for him, disappointing as he was looking good for a top ten place.  Having lost all three D-Ones from then race Luca concluded that the team would do well in the Italian Army as they surrendered so easily!

I know that all the guys are looking forward to competing in the rest of the SailJuice Global  Warm-up series – you can find the program here http://www.sailjuice.com/categories/global-warm-up-2010

In all it was a great day and a chance for so many to take a good look at the D-One.  I was so sorry not to have been sailing myself  maybe next year!  Seriously, I take my hat off to all of the competitors who braved extreme conditions with wicked winds and an evil wind chill that froze the sheets, blocks and many other moving parts, including the crew, to make tricky conditions even tougher.  I was also so impressed by the QMSC members who gave up their day to the running of the event many of them out in the cold all day both on and off the water – bravo to all of them!

We will also be at the Battle of the Classes next weekend so – see you there!

Rodney

Adrian crossing Tim near the windward mark

Andy chasing Adrian down having had a brief stop