D-One Regatta at Lymington
by Giles Chipperfield 13 Jul 2020 13:14 BST
11-12 July 2020
Lymington Dinghy Regatta 2018 © Peter Fothergill /
www.fothergillphotography.com
Robust, energetic and exciting single-handers like the D-One are the perfect escape vehicle from recent troubles, so we were delighted to be able to co-ordinate ten boats for a great weekend's sailing at Lymington, in complete compliance with all regulations and with visitors taking advantage of the recent re-opening of B&Bs in the beautiful New Forest area. Even most mark roundings kept 2 metres between boats, although it did get a bit noisy at times, mostly with helms cursing themselves as they tried to remember how to sail.
With Keith and Liam Willis providing an excellent family race team from their own yacht, we ran 5 races in a chunky sea breeze running against the tide on the Saturday, followed by a 6-mile single-lap to Hurst and back home for those who did not hurt enough already. On Sunday a lighter and shifty sea breeze gave some respite, albeit with a lot of place changing as the tide and wind confused everyone, and another 5 races.
With limited resources and with the local clubs unwilling to get involved, we happily dispensed with most of the normal pointless complications. No Sailing Instructions, with the course given at the briefing. Minimal mark laying, with courses set so they could be finished at the start line on every lap. On Sunday with the shifty winds we just set a single windward mark and hooked back up through the start/finish line each lap. This may be shocking to the purists, but the course could be relaid easily by one person in a RIB before the last boat finished, so we reliably managed repeated 25-minute races with zero waiting around.
In the evening we gathered at Lymington Town Sailing Club, where there seemed to be a great backlog of beer to be drunk, friends to catch up with and rubbish to be talked at a safe distance. It was fabulous weekend, and we are very grateful to those who summoned the nerve to travel, and to our very few volunteers who did an excellent job. For those who care, Nick Craig won, but not all the races, so even he must be a bit rusty.
We look forward to doing more of this, and recommend the approach to other classes who wish to sail with friends within the rules. Welcome back to D-One sailors and D-One sailing.