Please select your home edition
Edition
Sea Sure 2025

Sprint 15 Winter TT at Queen Mary Sailing Club

by Gordon Goldstone 20 Feb 2012 06:16 GMT 18 February 2012
Sprint 15 Winter TT at Queen Mary © Gordon Goldstone

On Saturday February 18th the Sprint 15 fleet visited Queen Mary for the fourth event of their Winter Series.

With a weather forecast for the day of strong winds, this was always likely to be challenging test, and it certainly was. With winds of over 20 knots and gusting over 30 this threatened to be something more like from the series of "Total Wipeout" than a pure sailing event!

Never mind, once again over 20 Sprint 15 sailors turned up for the event ready to give it a go. But with launching proving very difficult in the extreme conditions, only 17 managed to get on the water, and not everyone made it to the start line without a swim. Quite an achievement in the daunting conditions.

For the event, race officers Charles and Jackie Wand-Tetley set the fleet a large square course on the western side of Queen Mary reservoir.

At the start of the first race, Grafham's Mark Aldridge charged away from the line and immediately started to open up a big lead. Behind him, Rutland's Steve Sawford and Howard Hawkes (Thorpe Bay) were in hot pursuit. Queen Mary sailor Gordon Goldstone was also there, but his racing came to an abrupt end on the 2nd lap when his rigging gave way.

Robert England was doing well in the tough conditions, but he was gradually overhauled by Liam Thom (Shanklin) and Paul Craft.

Further back, the Draycote pair of Jan Elfring and Peter Slater were battling with Queen Mary's Stewart Pegum and George Love (Carsington), who in turn were closely followed by Simon Hare and Darren Fichen.

At the finish line, Aldridge was well ahead of Sawford, Liam Thom made a great effort to take 3rd ahead of Howard Hawkes, Paul Craft was 5th and Robert England 6th.

With the wind gusts hammering across the water it was inevitable it would take a toll and there would be a number of capsizes and non-finishers. Derek James, Gary Burrows and Ian Hope all succumbed to the weather and didn't make it to the finish.

By the time of the 2nd race, the wind had ratcheted up yet another notch, and it was a slightly depleted number of starters who lined up to go.

At the start, it was again Mark Aldridge who was fastest off the line, with Steve Sawford and Howard Hawkes in hot pursuit. As the race progressed it was becoming a battle of who could handle the weather the best, even big Simon Hare was finding this a struggle.

This was a tough race in the toughest of conditions. Aldridge led every lap, with Sawford repeatedly tacking off to try a different route, but never really managing to close the gap. Howard Hawkes again did very well and Robert England produced his best sailing of the day to this time get ahead of Paul Craft and Liam Thom.

At the gun, it was again Aldridge from Sawford, Howard Hawkes was 3rd ahead of Robert England, the consistent Paul Craft 5th and Jan Elfring with his best result in 6th.

Particular credit to Derek James, who didn't finish the 1st race, but stayed out for the 2nd race and managed to grab a 9th place in even worse conditions.

In the final analysis, Mark Aldridge with 2 two firsts in the most difficult conditions showed that he's the man to beat when the wind is really blowing.

The final event in this hotly contested Sprint 15 Winter Series wraps up at Grafham on March 25th. It promises to be quite competitive.

Overall Results:

1st Mark Aldridge (Grafham)
2nd Steve Sawford Rutland)
3rd Howard Hawkes (Thorpe Bay)
4th Robert England
5th Liam Thom (Shanklin)
6th Paul Craft (Open Dinghy Club)
7th Jan Elfring (Draycote)
8th Stewart Pegum (Queen Mary)
9th Peter Slater (Draycote)
10th Simon Hare (Oxford)
11th George Love (Carsington)
12th Derek James (Draycote)
13th Darren Fitchen (Thorpe Bay)

Related Articles

Dart 15 Southern Championship at Tankerton
Champagne Sailing at Tankerton Bay! A brilliant weekend was had by all on the North Kent coast where TBSC hosted the Southern Championship. With 13 home sailors (12 of whom had never entered a Dart 15 event) and 12 travellers, a fleet of 25 boats looked forward to the promise of sunshine. Posted on 1 Jul
Dart 15 TT at Rutland
"Nil points" to the wind forecast which proved to be completely wrong on both days The second Dart 15 Summer TT of 2025 took place as part of the Cat Open at Rutland. Twelve Dart 15s took part alongside colleagues from the Catapult, Dart 18, A Class, F16, F18, Nacra 15, Nacra 20 and Spitfire Classes. Posted on 21 May
Dart 15 Summer TT at Marconi
Sunshine and an easterly breeze for the 25 teams who took part The first Summer TT of 2025 was held at Marconi Sailing Club on the River Blackwater in Essex with support from Alex Metcalf of Windsport International and race officers Nigel and Fiona Denchfield. Posted on 17 Apr
Dart 15 Chris Black Icicle TT at Grafham
The superb weather resulted in a strong turnout of 17 entries Gill once again supported the latest Dart 15 TT at Grafham on 9th March. This was the annual Chris Black Icicle TT and the final event in our Winter Series. We were particularly delighted to arrive at the final event with sunshine and a F2-3 breeze. Posted on 12 Mar
Dart 15 Winter TT at Datchet Water
Finally blessed with an entirely normal wind forecast For the first time in this winter series, the original scheduled date for the February TT was blessed with an entirely normal wind forecast that did not require postponement or cancellation. Posted on 13 Feb
Dart 15 Winter TT at Rutland
Rescheduled event takes places as winds again batter the country The rescheduled Dart 15 Winter TT at Rutland was held on Sunday. The original event in December was postponed due to Storm Darragh and as winds again battered various parts of the country, it looked like the new date might also fall to a similar fate. Posted on 28 Jan
Dart 15 Winter TT at Draycote Water
Quest for the Red-throated Diver As a weather dependant sport the winter TT at Draycote was rescheduled from Jan 11th to Jan 18th in anticipation of better visibility and the essential component of all sailing events, wind. Posted on 20 Jan
Dart 15 TT and Inlands at Grafham Water
A total lack of breeze on Saturday and 4 light wind races on Sunday Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th October saw 16 Dart 15s prepare themselves for the last of the Summer Series and Inland Championship at Grafham Water Sailing Club, generously supported by Gill. Posted on 5 Nov 2024
Dart 15 TT & Northern Championship at Carsington
It was hard to imagine the change in weather fortunes over the course of the regatta Ten Dart 15 travellers were welcomed by three home sailors to Carsington Sailing Club on a glorious autumn day and with the sun shining, warm temperatures and moderate breeze, the Derbyshire Dales / reservoir vista was looking superb. Posted on 24 Sep 2024
Dart 15 Summer TT Draycote Water
A fresh westerly force four greeted the sailors On Saturday Draycote Water SC welcomed 17 Dart 15 sailors to the club. Special mention goes to Liam Thom and Yvonne Pike, who crossed the Solent to join us from Shanklin Sailing Club, and Ian Mounce and Keith Heason, who traveled up from Instow. Posted on 9 Jul 2024