Dartmouth Royal Regatta at Royal Dart Yacht Club Overall
by Keith Baud 3 Sep 2001 08:49 BST
I-SITE ON TARGET AT DARTMOUTH
Dartmouth Regatta finished with the Kerr 11.3 I-Site (Robbie Cameron-Davis) taking the prestigious IRC1 Category from a highly competitive entry which included ex-Olympic and Admirals Cup yachtsmen in a variety of new and rapid craft never seen before at this popular West Country Event.
On the opening Baltic Wharf Passage Race on Wednesday it looked as if local Skipper Rennie Miller might be the pace setter in the Far 395 Great Escape, but as the racing moved into Start Bay for the four day series it was the trio of rapid Kerr 11.3’s led by I-Site, that were soon snapping at his heels.
Last years winner Dave Scanlan in Fandango put up a brave fight to come 3rd with Hamish Olphant, Corby 35 Highland Spirit 4th, and the Hod 35 Hazard Chase 5th.
In IRC2, Pete Johnson in Blues Xtra was again winner after a close fight with Les Playle in Papillon went to a tie break. IRC3 was sewn up by a surprised Peter Blackler in Red Fox of Dart, who also collected the new Jeremy Evans Memorial Trophy for his efforts.
The Sportsboats remain a popular category with Charlie Cumbley - J80 J String, taking three consecutive wins to win the series from the Cork 1720 Pure Genius, Dave Farrimond, and the J80 Jacksnipe of Daniel Sheehan making up the top 3.
The PY divisions saw some new boats at the front. Trevor Bardwell Jones from Saltash taking PY1 in his Jeanneau Inky Paper from Ian Morton’s Dasler, whilst Spencer Gardner from Hardwater SC took PY2 in Fritha - a Prospect 900 - from Stephen Kilpatricks Trapper 28 Berserker.
The keelboats always enjoy good racing at Dartmouth and this year was no exception with the Reed Brothers taking a well deserved Scimitar win in Bandido, No Wonder – Edward Tolliday the Squibs, and Graham Jenkins in Basilisk the Dragons.
There was a healthy fleet of dinghies in the Range and river with PHATRS, the RS700 of Tim Johnson, light years ahead of the others in PY. James Stockbridge – White Noise – took the Laser category whilst the Junior Toppers and Optimists were won by Brixham brothers Ashley and Simon Bower respectively.
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