Dart 18 Grand Prix at Dee Sailing club

The second event of the GP series saw a total of 22 boats make the start which was quite an impressive turnout with the very light wind forecast for the weekend. This gives credit to Dee sailing club who are arguably the most hospitable club on the Dart 18 circuit.

After an hour's delay waiting for the wind to fill in, the first race was started under the dreaded black flag which kept everybody shy of the line. After a single lap the race was shortened giving David Lloyd and Jo-Jo Pierce a win followed home by Geoff and Jenny Lloyd with Marco Manganelli and Johnny Harris taking third.

The second race was sent away promptly after the first, a great turnaround by the race officer! The same three boats were in contention again but this time Geoff and Jenny took first, local sailors James and Alison Douglas second and David and Jo-Jo third. Marco and Johnny were unfortunately deemed as OCS.

With the tide running out fast there was no time for the third race of the day. This left the Geoff and Jenny in top spot overnight.

The rest of the day was spent in glorious sunshine eating, drinking beer and talking sailing. The night time entertainment proved a success judging by the bloodshot eyes around the boat park the next morning and a certain person locking their car but leaving the boot wide open!

Sunday morning and there was even less wind. However with a brief delay the racing did get underway. David and Jo-Jo wrapped up another win putting them in control. Second and third places were taken by Pete and Max Spedding and Michael Moruzzi and James Melling who were competing in their first open event, well done to them.

The wind by this time had dropped to almost zero. However the race officer managed to get the fleet away quickly but had to shorten course by the first windward mark. With all the boats battling the tide it could have been anybodies race. Marco and Johnny did everything right and took the win. With less than 50m to go to the finish line, Geoff and Jenny had a good lead on Dave and Jo-Jo and if they could hold it to the finish the title would be theirs. Unfortunately they had to put in one more tack to make the finish line which allowed Dave and Jo-Jo with a bit of wind of their own to sneak through ahead of them. Des and Fionnuala Barnes also managed to get through and take third.

The race officer called it a day leaving David and Jo-Jo event winners.

Well done to Dee Sailing Club and all who assisted in the event, we look forward to returning next year.

Overall Results: (top three)