Harken D-Zero National Championship at Weymouth & Portland Sailing Academy - Preview
by Steve Bolland 9 Jun 15:43 BST
21-23 June 2019
Harken D-Zero UK National Championships day 2 © VR Sport Media / wwwVRSport.tv
The 5th D-Zero National Championship, once again sponsored by Harken, will be hosted by the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy from 21-23 June. With over 40 competitors already entered, and more to come, this will be the class' largest ever event.
In addition to eight races spread over three days, and with the prospect of sailing out in the waters of Weymouth Bay as well as within Portland Harbour, the class has organised a number of additional activities to make sure this is a sailing holiday as much as a championship event.
We're going green, and in a fun way. In an effort to discourage the use of single-use plastics we're partnering with My Pinnacle Nutrition who will be supplying every competitor with a bio-based drinks bottle as well as a discount off their sports nutrition products. We'll be participating in a clean-up of Chesil Beach, with beer for everyone provided by the D-Zero UK dealer and a bonus in the buddies competition for those who collect the most (litter not beer). We'll be inviting donations to local charity Litter Free Coast and Sea.
Saturday night will be a BBQ at the WPNSA but we're going off-site on Friday to the local curry house which we've booked out for our exclusive use for the evening. That after a trip to the legendary Cove Inn.
For the first time we'll be running a buddies competition with a couple of rather fetching paperweights as prizes. However, the real reason is to get competitors sharing information and helping each other out and, as intimated above, the winners will not be decided on sailing results alone. For the first time a 'lanterne rouge' prize will also be awarded courtesy of the owner of 'Zippy Zero'. One for our cycling fans there.
A little bit of fun will be had with the D-Zero fantasy league with cash - yes cash - prizes.
With many of the fleet either staying at nearby Portland House or in campervans at the sailing centre there's a real fun vibe building up ahead of the event. If you're still dithering, there is still time to enter here: www.d-zerosailing.org/harken-d-zero-5th-anniversary-uk-open-and-national-championships-2019-entry-now-open