Dart 15 Inland Championships and Summer TT at Grafham Water Sailing Club

Dart 15 Inland Championships and Summer TT at Grafham © Paul Sanwell / OPP

In time honoured tradition, the Dart 15 fleet completed their 2025 Summer Traveller Series with their Inland Championships at Grafham Cat Open. It was great to see so many entries across various cat classes - around ninety boats in total split into fleets across two race courses. The Dart 15s were sharing their course with the mixed handicap fleet of mostly Dart 18s, Shearwaters and Catapults but with a separate start.

The sixteen Dart 15 entries headed out on Saturday for three back to back races with a forecast of light to medium winds from the south east. The winds tended to be slightly lower than forecast across the afternoon but the bigger consideration was the different pressure points across the course, making both the upwind and downwind legs tactically challenging.

The first race started cleanly with one or two brave souls trying a port hand flyer, although this did not pay off as well as they hoped. Local sailor, Simon Farthing, (Grafham), got a good start up at the Committee Boat end which put him in the lead at the windward mark, which he held onto for the first lap. But he was being chased hard by the following pack and by the end of the race, Liam Thom (Shanklin) had edged in front to take the lead with Jason Clarke, (Marconi) in second, Simon in third and Jenny Ball (Marconi) in fourth.

Once both fleets on the course had finished, the second race was swiftly set under way. No port hand flyers this time but the fleet were starting to find out how fickle the breeze was across the course. It was a combination of shifts and also areas of softer breeze and stronger puffs which were not always easy to spot. Simon again had a great start and reached the windward mark first with Jason, Liam and Mark Aldridge (Grafham) hot on his heels. On the downwind leg, Jason and Liam showed their usual pace and form, edging in front of Simon and Mark.

The fleet immediately behind had generally gybed and gone left on the downwind leg, away from the shore and hopefully into a clearer breeze down the middle of the lake. However, they could only watch as some of those behind who had stayed shoreside got a strong funnel of breeze that carried them straight underneath to be in front by the leeward mark.

Similarly, on the upwind leg, some of the fleet tacked off early onto port hoping to get some clearer breeze and also to avoid tangling with the Dart 18s and Shearwaters returning on their downwind leg. However, taking the right hand lane proved tricky. There tended to be a heading shift as competitors approached the clubside of the lake but having tacked back for the windward mark, the breeze headed back again in the final approaches. At the end of three laps, Jason took the win, with Liam second, Simon third, Mark fourth and Paul Tanner (Shanklin) in fifth.

The wind had shifted sufficiently for the race officer to apply a brief postponement to adjust the course. The final race got under way and by now, it was becoming clear that the favoured route to the windward mark was to stay left and just deal with picking your way through the downwind boats. It was a light enough breeze that this could be managed without drama. Jason took the lead by the windward mark and led the first lap, followed by Liam, George Love (Carsington) and Paul Craft (Worthing). On the second upwind leg, Liam just clipped Paul's boat on a port/starboard cross and duly did a penalty turn, giving the opportunity for George to move up to second place.

On the final lap, it was clear that those who really banged the far corner on the windward leg were favoured with the better breeze and a helpful lift in the final stretch into the windward mark. Jason held on to take the win with George second, Liam third, Jenny fourth and Paul C in fifth.

The fleet returned to shore and enjoyed a hearty evening meal courtesy of the excellent team of caterers at Grafham. Talk over dinner was about the snakes and ladders conditions during the day and the promise of a stronger wind forecast for the morning.

Dart 15 Inland Championships and Summer TT at Grafham - photo © Paul Sanwell / OPP

On Sunday morning, the wind was indeed a little stronger, and although not perhaps as much as the forecasts had suggested, it was a decent breeze. With the winds again from the south east, the committee boat station and course were broadly similar to the previous day.

The first race got away on time and Steve Sawford (Rutland) took the early lead followed by Mark, Jenny, Jason, Simon and Liam. On the downwind leg of lap two, as with the previous day, the pack was re-shuffled with Jason and Mark moving ahead of Steve and Liam pulling ahead of Jenny. The front of the fleet tried different tactics on the upwind leg but generally, it appeared that staying out to the left was still favoured.

Some of the fleet were finished after three laps, At the end of the fourth lap, Jason took the win followed by Liam, Mark and Jenny who just pipped Steve on the finish line after a very closely fought final lap. Elsewhere in the fleet, John Ball, aged 13, was helming his first Dart 15 TT with his Dad as crew and posted an excellent ninth place in race four.

Once both fleets had finished, race five was under way promptly. The front of the fleet were now largely settled into banging the left hand corner of the beat. This did mean crossing the Medium Cat fleet returning on their downwind leg and the stronger breezes made threading the needle more tricky than the previous day. The fleet also found itself catching up with those at the back of the Medium Cat fleet adding some additional jeopardy to the mark roundings. Additionally, conditions at the windward mark were still shifty.

Some boats found they had tacked too early onto starboard and found themselves pinching hard to make it or worst case catching the mark or having to tack back onto port.

Jason and Liam took the early lead on race five. Mark had come into the windward mark in third but having tacked early to clear a starboard crossing boat, he clipped the mark and did his turn. This allowed Steve, Paul T, Jenny and Christophe Clarke (Marconi) through. Jason and Liam battled their way round the second lap with Steve and Jenny following but not able to catch them.

On the final lap, Jason had to negotiate a Catapult struggling to round the windward mark and this gave Liam the opportunity he needed to catch Jason and eventually sneak through to take the win. Steve and Jenny followed with Paul T and Paul C behind them.

In between races, the wind shifted slightly so the Race Officer briefly postponed to adjust the course. The new line angle encouraged three of the fleet, Paul C, Mark and Simon to roll the dice with a port hand start and they were able to get clear ahead of the starboard fleet.

The only two boats to beat the trio to the windward mark were Liam and Jason. In line with the rest of the weekend, Jason and Liam had their own battle at the front of the fleet while the pack behind traded places, particularly on the upwind leg. Jason and Liam swapped a few times and Jenny, Paul C, Paul T, Mark and George chased them and each other hard. At the end of the third lap, Liam managed to take the win, followed by Jason, Jenny, Mark and Paul T.

The fleet headed home to pack down their boats in the rain but grateful that a Dart 15 is much simpler to de-rig and put on a trailer vs some of the other cat classes.

Chat in the boat park was around the tactically challenging conditions over the weekend. Many in the fleet had had a mixed bag of results over the course of the six races with some of the standings looking quite different at the end of day two vs the end of day one. The event was won by the narrowest of margins. Jason had three wins and three seconds. Liam had three wins, two second and a third. But with a discard applied and countback falling to the result on the final race, Liam had done enough to take the event win.

The prize-giving was held for both this TT and also for the Summer Series and prizes were presented as set out below. Competitors also thanked everyone at Grafham for hosting a successful event and also to Nigel and Fiona Denchfield who have race officered four Dart 15 events over the course of 2025. Thoughts now turn to our Dart 15 Winter Series starting next month!

Dart 15 2025 Summer Series Overall:

Fifth place - Paul Tanner (Shanklin)
Fourth place - Steve Sawford (Rutland)
Third place - Jenny Ball (Marconi)
Second place - Jason Clarke (Marconi)
First place - Liam Thom (Shanklin)

Summer Series Team Trophy - Marconi SC

Dart 15 Inland Championships and Summer TT at Grafham - photo © Paul Sanwell / OPP

Grafham Event Results:

Youth Trophy - John Ball, crewed by David.