Zippy Zero at the Dartmouth Regatta 2025
by Zippy Zero 1 Sep 2025 22:39 BST
28-30 August 2025
Dartmouth Regatta 2025 © RDYC Photography
Hello all my fans, from Zippy D'Zero reporting from bonnie Scotland, whilst on a mammoth UK Regatta tour, which started at Hayling Island (at Chichester Harbour Race week) on 11th August, onto Dartmouth Regatta and now about to start Largs Regatta Festival. That's some 1,321 miles in just under 3 weeks. My wheels are spinning!!!
Of these adventures, let me take you with me to a little place called Dittisham Sailing Club on a particularly lovely bend in the Dart River and home to five D-Zeros who have never ventured outside their little Eden or seen a visiting D-Zero before. My Owner wanted the thrills of visiting a land of pirates and My Little Unicorn (a famous regatta trophy for those who believe that good things and miracles still might happen). I wanted to teach those D-Zeros some cool new dance moves and other such attention-seeking behaviour.
Day 1. We arrived to a very blustery scene, a most welcoming briefing and prize-giving for the most beautiful boat. They made a mistake of course, saying the boxes of Dittisham fudge were for the visitors, but I knew in my heart it was all for me.
Once on the water, we were rapidly in survival mode in the brutal gusty winds. As part of the fast handicap fleet, the daily results were mixed in with other classes, so the numbers played havoc with our competition. But on the water it was between my matching D-Zero brothers and me. Of the six of us, both races were led and won by Martin Thomas, who stayed upright throughout. I put in a couple of quick dunks in the second race, finishing just ahead of Gerald Yardy, the only other survivor of race 2.
The first day had been a serious challenge for dinghy sailors and rescue teams, with over 100 capsizes recorded.
Day 2 started blustery, but our little fleet got around the courses okay. I managed to get a port flyer start, as mayhem built up on the pin. I stayed ahead of Martin to bring the D-Zeros home. By race 4, the wind had calmed more to give us very close class racing. Martin led, with me a few boat lengths behind and Gerald, Paul Green and Roger Morley closing in behind me.
By Day 3, the 180th Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta sailing week sponsored by Moore Kingston Smith, sailed at Dittisham Sailing Club had used up so much breath that there was no wind left for the competitors to sail in.
Racing was abandoned and Owner ran an impromptu training session using my sleek rigged hull as a demo model. After much poking, pulling, ooohing and ahhing I was ready for the club barbecue and a snooze with the RO Richard Stevens.
Imagine my horror when wetsuit-clad Owner turned up to push me out into the briny for a drift around the moorings! The woman is insane. I left her a colossal spider in the Ladies' shower to let her know I was not happy.
Still, she did organise the first ever Dittisham D-Zero fleet social that evening and tried to sell them the travelling dream that I seem to be hitched onto.
The next morning, Owner had accepted her role as Spiderwoman and had sent me a gift of a sleeping bat that had settled on her car tyre overnight.
So there we were, two superheroes, Spiderwoman and Batboat, with a mission to win the D-Zero regatta in the last 3 races left that day.
The wind that morning was my perfect breeze and I used it to create as much distance as possible between me and the others and take the win. Ditto race 6, though Roger was up there ahead of me until the last downwind leg. Race 7 and it was between me and Martin with three wins each, for the title. It was not easy and there was some sneaky covering going on both ways.
Somehow, Paul was up ahead before we noticed and he took the win a boat length ahead of Martin and me a boat length in third. My onboard calculator registered Martin as the winner, but the Sailwave genius did other maths ashore that used Handicap Class numbers and other non-D-Zero boats in our races. Plus two discards. Results at dartmouthsailingweek.com/results-2
With enough trickery and piracy, it was announced that I was the winner and even came third in the handicap fleet. Yet I don't even believe in Unicorns, even though Owner says she is one.
Poor Martin. You were done. I can't apologise enough, though your boat could use some new dance moves and a new traveller. Come travel with me and I'll show you how to have some fun.
Thank you Dittisham Sailing Club; the volunteers, the rescue and race teams and the wonderful Commodore Steve Black. Plus a huge hello and goodbye until we meet again, to my fellow D-Zeros and dinghy competitors.
Zippy Zero 333