Dart 18 National Championships Overall

 Pos Boat Helm               R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 Points
--------------------------------------------------
 1st 6933 BRIAN PHIPPS        1  2  1 13 13   22
 2nd 7442 GARETH OWEN         6 27 14  1  1   31.7
 3rd 7513 JONATHAN HUTCHINGS 10 10  5  2  3   34.7
 4th 7490 DANIEL NORMAN       3 11  4  5 86   40.7 
 5th 7352 VINCENT BOUVIER     8  3  2 87 15   43.7 
 6th 7290 STUART SLY          4 33  3 17  6   48.4
 7th 7423 LAWRIE DRAPER       5  5 22  6 19   56.7
 8th 7310 DAVID BARTLETT     15  6 10 26 10   64.7 
 9th 7382 CHRIS MOORE        22 36 13  4  7   68 
10th 6558 PAUL WHITMORE       7 26 21 15  5   71

STORM FOLLOWUP

There has been national press coverage concerning the storm, some of which has been reasonably accurate, and some of which has not. All Dart 18 sailors competing in the Nationals (in Weymouth, England) have been accounted for. There have been no serious injuries. There have been misleading reports that 30 sailors have been hospitalised; this is not true. No sailors have been taken to hospital, though there is an unconfirmed report that the crew of one rescue boat was suffering from hypothermia.

Stronger winds had been forecast for much later in the day, long after racing had was supposed to have finished. After postponing the morning's start due to poor visibility, the it was decided to run one race. The vast majority of competitors and the coastguard still agree that this decision was taken responsibly.

In the closing stages of the race, the wind increased to around 40 knots, and the sea state worsened considerably. Many of the competitors on the final downwind leg were capsized by the wind and waves. The leaders, who had rounded the leewad mark, were able to beat up to the finish, and then struggled home; approximately 30 boats from a fleet of around 80 finished the race.The remainder fought to right their boats, some suffering damage to masts, rigging and sails. Many were able to drop their mainsails, and broad reach back towards the mainland under jib alone. Others were not so lucky, with rigging failures or broken masts; they were picked up by the lifeboat, rescue crews, or helicopter. Their boats were abandoned; some were later recovered, and towed back to the beach.

After approximately three hours, due to the sterling work of the rescue crews, RNLI, coastguard, and the organising clubs' safety tally system, all competitors were accounted for.

Website: dart18.com