Dart 15 TT at Draycote Water Sailing Club
by Ed Tuite Dalton 21 Jul 16:56 BST
18 July 2026
This was Draycote Water's second Dart 15 TT event this year and we welcomed fourteen sailors: five local boats and nine visitors.
Conditions were warm and dry, but with light winds and a forecast of 6 knots.
Race Officer Pete Slater and Richard Cowell briefed us all and they set a trapezoidal course, with four races back to back.
Race 1 got under way just after 11.30 am with the main fleet on starboard, but Ed Tuite Dalton (Draycote Water) went for a port end flyer and cleared the fleet, only to find himself sailing into a hole and by the end of the first beat, Jenny Ball (Marconi) and Paul Tanner (Shanklin) had overtaken him. Jenny continued to pull ahead whilst Ed and Paul followed behind.
By the start of the second lap Liam Thom (Shanklin) and Scott Wilcox (Stewartby) had caught up the lead boats and in somewhat shifting winds, Liam was able to overtake both Paul and Ed to finish the race second behind Jenny.
In Race 2 Derek James (Draycote Water) had mistakenly set his watch thinking the five minute hooter was the pre-warning signal. As a consequence, he was somewhat surprised to see the fleet heading off two minutes before him and questioned the race officers. Luckily for Derek he decided to stay on starboard up the lake, whilst the rest of the fleet had tacked onto port and he amazed himself by coming in the top half of the fleet.
Jenny Ball had also had a poor start in this race, but was able to recover to take the gun for the second time, with Liam second. The changing winds, along with a mid-race shortened windward leg on the second lap, created problems for some of the sailors, with several of them overstanding the windward mark.
Race 3 was another port biased start and three keen sailors Derek James, Iain Taylor (Draycote Water) and Yvonne Pike (Shanklin) managed a successful port flyer which definitely paid off, as Yvonne finished second and Derek third, behind the race winner Liam Thom.
The race officer took the decision to whiskey the last four boats on the course. Annoyingly for Jan Elfring (Draycote Water), he had been a good hundred metres ahead of the other boats when he was becalmed and he was overtaken just before they were whiskied, leaving him last. Not a good race for Jan!
Fortunately the wind filled in for our final race and it was all to play for, with 1 point separating our two top sailors Jenny Ball and Liam Thom. Again it was another port biased line and several boats tried a port end flyer. Ed Tuite Dalton managed to round the windward mark first and retained the lead for the first lap, hotly pursued by the rest of the fleet.
On the second lap, though Liam and Jenny chose the port side of the beat and were able to overhaul Ed, Liam leading and Jenny challenging hard. Liam stayed ahead to take the gun.
Both Jenny and Liam finished with 4 points, each with two firsts and a second, but on count-back Liam was our TT winner. Congratulations to Liam!
There was much discussion back at the club house about the fluctuating winds and it did feel at times like we were playing snakes and ladders, but our top two sailors demonstrated how good they were at finding the ladders!
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 2034 | Liam Thom | Shanklin SC | ‑2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2nd | 2025 | Jenny Ball | Marconi SC | 1 | 1 | ‑7 | 2 | 4 |
| 3rd | 2023 | Edward Tuite Dalton | Draycote Water SC | 5 | ‑10 | 4 | 4 | 13 |
| 4th | 2020 | Yvonne Pike | Shanklin SC | 7 | ‑8 | 2 | 6 | 15 |
| 5th | 1923 | David Ball | Marconi SC | 9 | 3 | ‑10 | 3 | 15 |
| 6th | 1940 | Derek James | Draycote Water SC | 6 | ‑7 | 3 | 7 | 16 |
| 7th | 1359 | Scott Wilcox | Stewartby | 4 | 4 | 8 | (DNF) | 16 |
| 8th | 2040 | Paul Tanner | Shanklin SC | 3 | 6 | 9 | (DNF) | 18 |
| 9th | 2039 | Jeremy Franklin | Draycote Water SC | ‑12 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 24 |
| 10th | 2019 | George Love | Carsington | 10 | ‑11 | 5 | 9 | 24 |
| 11th | 1832 | John Ball | Marconi SC | 13 | 12 | ‑14 | 5 | 30 |
| 12th | 1930 | Iain Taylor | Draycote Water SC | (DNF) | 14 | 6 | 10 | 30 |
| 13th | 2030 | Jan Elfring | Draycote Water SC | 11 | 9 | ‑13 | 11 | 31 |
| 14th | 1899 | Andrew Bunyan | Stewartby | 8 | ‑13 | 12 | 12 | 32 |