D-One UK National Championship at Royal Torbay Yacht Club - Overall
by Chris Sallis 11 Jul 2016 20:38 BST
8-10 July 2016
D-One Nationals at Torbay © Jean Border /
www.borderphotos2010.com
The final day's racing brought full on conditions with a strong south westerly gusting into the mid 20's. The RO and his team set a good sized windward leeward and the fleet got away into a proper heavy-weather beat. A tight group rounded the top mark with Martin Browne and Al Hall featuring, everybody was fully lit up on the downwinds and as speeding D One's approached the port lay line it was becoming a case of 'who gybes wins'! It wasn't long before normal service was resumed and Nick found his way to the front to take his 6th bullet – 1 to go for 7 straight. Al Hall had his best result of the week with Giles grabbing 3rd on the line as Martin Browne and Humphrey Carter dealt with various management issues!
The wind increased for the final race and conditions were now at the upper limit with virtually nobody else left on the bay. Nick clearly had a mainsheet problem but was still cruising upwind alarmingly quickly! Chris Sallis rounded first and set his kite for a blistering run out to the lay-line followed by Nick, Dave Gorringe and Giles. As the race went on Dave and Giles pulled through and Nick had an uncharacteristic capsize whilst gybing in a massive gust. By the finish Dave had won taking the 'Lymington honour' with Giles second and Chris third.
Nick had easily retained his title and set a high bar for the fleet showing just why he is one of the best sailors in the UK sailing smartly with good speed and strong tactical awareness. Chris finished second overall with Giles upgrading to 3rd on the last day, both of these qualify for the master's category showing the D One is a versatile boat for a wide range of sailors. Dave Gorringe finished 4th and Martin Browne rounded out the top 5.
The championship was a great success and thanks must go to Royal Torbay Yacht Club for hosting the event and providing excellent race management and Suntouched Sailboats for their continued support providing a range of prizes which were awarded right the way through the fleet.
This was the 5th National Championship for the D One and the class has really come of age with tight racing throughout the fleet and great a great crack on the shore. The fleet now has various summer regattas on the schedule before assembling at the legendary Riva Del Garda in September where Nick will be looking to retain the Gold Cup against Italian, Czech, Hungarian, Austrian and UK competition.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Boat | Helm | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 5 | HARKEN SANDILINE | Nick CRAIG | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 2 | 410 | | Chris SALLIS | 2 | 5 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 21 |
| 3 | 411 | AND1AMO | Giles CHIPPERFIELD | 3 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 23 |
| 4 | 409 | DAZ BOOT | David GORRINGE | 7 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 30 |
| 5 | 202 | | Martin BROWNE | 10 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 32 |
| 6 | 309 | | Humphrey CARTER | 4 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 33 |
| 7 | 2 | | Laurence MILTON | 5 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 40 |
| 8 | 316 | | Al HALL | 11 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 41 |
| 9 | 112 | KARTOFFEL | Ben FALAT | 8 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 15 | 15 | 47 |
| 10 | 402 | | Terry BROOKS | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 48 |
| 11 | 420 | | Paul BIRBECK | 15 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 55 |
| 12 | 72 | MERLIN | Tim GARVIN | 6 | 4 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 7 | 15 | 62 |
| 13 | 414 | HATS ON | Don ONIONS | 13 | 14 | 11 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 70 |
| 14 | 502 | | Steve GRAY | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 76 |