Harken D-Zero National Championship at Royal Torbay Yacht Club - Day 1

by Neil Washington 17 Jun 2017 08:34 BST 16-18 June 2017

Following the briefing, the fleet launched in the beautiful 'English Rivera' sunshine and promising WNW breeze.

Race One got underway and the first beat enjoyed reasonable pressure. Wind went left at the top of the beat keeping everyone on there toes. Breeze did ease off a bit by the downwind leg. Interesting to see the angles the sea experts were using with George Cousins going right and Ian Morgan going left. Once Morgan's pace on the left became apparent the other front runners soon crossed over to join him. Wind had gone so far left the bottom reach (trapezoid course) was a fetch to the finish.

There followed a significant postponement on the water waiting to see if the gradient, or sea breeze, was going to dominate. After several starting attempts Race Two finally got underway with a ESE breeze of 5 kts which soon eased to a full blown drifter of a race. Many big names caught out of place by the tricky conditions!

You can track the fleet via Sailracer here.

Results after Day 1:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	Pts
1	193	Greg Bartlett	Starcross YC	5	1	6
2	156	Kian Andrews	Penzance & Mounts Bay SC	6	2	8
3	178	Paul Scullion	Restronguet SC	2	6	8
4	172	George Cousins	Restronguet SC	3	5	8
5	1	Ian Morgan	Netley SC	1	10	11
6	141	David Bartlett	Starcross YC	8	3	11
7	11	Steve Bolland	Bristol Corinthian SC	7	4	11
8	3	John Aston	Grafham Water SC	4	15	19
9	71	Neil Washington	Grafham Water SC	10	13	23
10	42	Jon Cowper	Hunts SC	12	11	23
11	211	Mandy Sweet	Grafham Water SC	17	7	24
12	230	Adrian Coates	Carsington SC	16	9	25
13	150	Jon Bassett	Largs SC	14	12	26
14	208	James Edmond	Queen Mary SC	9	18	27
15	217	Tom Southwell	Netley SC	11	21	32
16	57	Martin Latimer	Largs SC	15	20	35
17	170	Seb Prowse	Queen Mary SC	28	8	36
18	195	Rob Lennox	Barnt Green SC	13	23	36
19	114	Darren Williams	Restronguet SC	22	14	36
20	174	Graham Cooper	South Cerney SC	20	16	36
21	123	Jim Scott	Carsington SC	23	17	40
22	143	Mike Pridham	Isle of Man SCC	21	19	40
23	111	Chris Jeffries	South Cerney SC	18	24	42
24	232	Gavin Vaughan	Carsington SC	26	22	48
25	191	Nigel Austin	Cransley SC	19	31	50
26	218	Paul Murphy	Grafham Water SC	24	26	50
27	158	Gary Tompkins	Hunts SC	27	25	52
28	181	Gordon Stewart	North Herts and East Beds SC	25	27	52
29	188	Paul Jefferies	Hunts SC	29	28	57
30	66	David Valentine	Emsworth Slipper SC	31	29	60
31	54	Ed Deacon	Hunts SC	30	30	60
32	8	Joe Constable	Grafham Water SC	35	35	70
32	124	Simon Hindley	Restronguet SC	35	35	70
32	233	Chris Wright	Carsington SC	35	35	70