Please select your home edition
Edition
Crewsaver 2021 Safetyline LEADERBOARD

Dart 16 Nationals at Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club

by Jacky Thomas 21 Jun 2008 10:42 BST 7-8 June 2008
Racing in the Dart 16 nationals at Eastbourne © Jacky Thomas

Sponsored by Laser and Marlow Ropes Ltd

The weekend started well, waking to sunshine and a fair breeze, certainly a good way to start a weekend of Dart sailing!

The race officer set a triangle and sausage course about one and a half miles offshore. The forecast was for around 10 knots of wind but in actual fact we started off on a strong outgoing tide and offshore wind of between 10-15 knots. The first race was a good warm up for the exhilarating second and third races!

The course was reset very smoothly after the first race by the slick race team as the wind had swung round to provide the classic Eastbourne sea breeze. We now had winds of F4-F5 and an increasingly choppy sea, which the Darts were bouncing through- perfect Dart weather and the sun, was still shining. The Grebers had good starts in all three races, but Nick and Tom’s combined weight was an advantage as the breeze kicked in and they finished first in all three races. Needless to say there were no Dart capsizes; just a few of the other cats went for a swim. There were a few retirements after the second race, cold was the main reason.

Once we had put the boats away, there was a warm welcome from the galley-home made dinner in the club house and a few pints of the local ‘Harveys’ bitter to consume. Liz and Lynn had even made ‘Toblerone’ and ‘Malteser’ brownies to weigh us all down the next day!

The forecast for Sunday had been for very little wind; however there was a light north easterly offshore breeze when we set off for the course at 10.20. The race was due to start at 11 but had to be postponed – the breeze had swung round to an onshore south easterly and again the course had to be reset. On the other hand, I did see the committee boat members tucking into a veritable feast of sandwiches as I cruised past- maybe the wind served their purpose for an early lunch. The pin end proved the preferred start and allowed us to get out of the worst of the tide for a while. At the second race more boats decided on that end and some chose to risk a port start which elicited some shouting and proved disastrous for the race leaders, Nick and Tom Hart, as they slipped to sixth place. However, they made it up by the end of the second lap to regain their enviable lead.

A couple of sailors had GPS on board, Claire Day recorded covering 30 miles on the first day’s sailing and 21.5 miles between launching and landing again on Sunday. Claire told me that their fastest speed was 11.9mph, ‘not as fast as others!!’

The prizes for the weekend were very generously provided by Laser and Marlow Ropes

Overall Results:

1st Nick and Tom Hart, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, (DNC), 5pts
2nd Sebastian and Oliver Greber, 2, 2, 2, (5), 5, 1, 12pts
3rd Matt and John Wiseman, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, (4), 13pts
4th Rob Atkinson and Mandy Batchelor, (10), 4, 6, 3, 3, 2, 18pts

Nick and son, Tom Hart (Eastbourne Sovereign SC) are Dart 16 National Champions for 2008. Nick and Tom received the trophy and a brand new main sail from Laser, second place went to brothers Sebastian and Oliver Greber (Pevensey Bay SC) winning a new jib, Third place to Matt and John Wiseman from (Hastings & St Leonards SC) winning a quiver bag and fourth place went to Rob Atkinson and Mandy Batchelor (ESSC) winning a ‘goodie bag’ of bits for the Dart 16 courtesy again of Laser.

Marlow ropes supported the event with 7x8 meter lengths of their new high performance light weight jib sheets ‘Excel Fusion’. This generous support enabled us to provide a prize to seven participants from 11th place up. Additional prizes went to Alan and Aaron Agnew who are new to Dart sailing and have very little experience to date of racing! They did really well competing.

I suppose a reflection on the weekend and certainly from feedback is that the fleet is really friendly. I believe that everyone enjoyed the weekend and many of us learnt a lot from the experience.

Related Articles

Oldest videos of racing catamarans
We start in 1965, covering Hobie, Shearwater, Prindle and C Class, then the Worrell 1000 We delve into the past, and round-up all the videos which show racing catamarans, including Hobie cats, Shearwaters, Prindles and C Class, from the 1960s to the 90s. Plus some Worrell 1000 history. Posted on 7 Apr
Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club Catamaran Open
A brand new open meeting hit the calendars of many catamaran classes The weekend of the 23/24th of June saw a brand new open meeting hit the calendars of many catamaran classes. Posted on 7 Jul 2018
Grafham Cat Open rescheduled
Storm Brian pushes event back to March The Grafham Cat Open that had to be postponed due to Storm Brian has been rescheduled to 17/18 March 2018. Posted on 29 Oct 2017
Sandown Regatta 2017
Returning to its traditional start line off Sandown Pier Sandown Regatta returned to its traditional start line off Sandown Pier in 2017. 9 Sprint 15s, a Dart 16 and a Challenger trimaran ignored the forecast for no wind and were rewarded with a steady 7 knots of breeze from the North East. Posted on 16 Aug 2017
Tresaith Mariners 30th Anniversary Regatta
F18 cats grab the top two spots On Saturday we had three handicap races for catamarans and dinghies, with the cruisers from New Quay Yacht Club and Aberaeron racing down to us making a spectacular sight arriving in the bay just as we were starting our first race. Posted on 13 Aug 2017
40th Bala Catamaran Open
Increased attendance as club breaks with tradition The 40th Bala Catamaran open meeting took place over the May bank holiday weekend, 29th April - 1st May. A total of 17 boats entered, an increase of 6 boats, mainly due to the 4 boats which ventured across the welsh mountains from Tresaith Mariners SC. Posted on 7 May 2017
Multihulls to get their own contest
Within the GJW Direct SailJuice Winter Series After seven successful seasons, the GJW Direct SailJuice Winter Series has become established as the Series where dinghy racers can get the highest quality handicap racing with the biggest turnouts during the winter months. Posted on 20 Oct 2016
UKCRA Youth & Junior Nationals preview
Catamaran Championships at Grafham Water soon The regatta is open to all catamarans with a SCHRS handicap. Helms and crew must be under the age of 16 on 31st December 2015, to be eligible for a result in the Junior Nationals. Posted on 16 Aug 2015
Dinghy Pro-coaching Week in Greece
At Ocean Elements Leda Beach Club Ocean Elements are pleased to announce a dinghy skills pro-coaching week with RYA Coach Simon Winkley at our specialist sailing centre Leda Beach Club. Posted on 17 Apr 2015
Junior Catamaran Championships at Marconi
Eight teams with ages ranging from 9 to 16 take part The weekend of the 17th and 18th August marked the second running of the Junior Catamaran Championships hosted again in association with the UKCRA (UK Catamaran Racing Association) by Marconi Sailing Club. Posted on 22 Aug 2013