Dart 16 Travellers at Dee Sailing Club

by Steve Roberts 6 May 2003 08:35 BST

The first of the Dart 16 Travellers Trophy 2003 took place at Dee Sailing Club. Friday started off with a F3 to 4, and a general recall which brought out the black flag. Then with every one away clear, it was Mike Ager & Chris Brook and Ben Daigneault & Hugo Jobling away first taking the lead, positions changing with Ager & Brook (Thames Est) taking line honours with Daigneault & Jobling (Eastbourne) 2nd Pollard & Stacey (Hastings) 3rd Roberts & Moruzzi (Dee.S.C) 4th.

Race 2 again saw Mike & Chris and Ben & Hugo as the first two boats away; Roberts & Moruzzi hitting the windward mark and losing positions on the second lap challenging Ben & Hugo for 2nd place but this time hitting the wing mark, at the finish it was Rob Lucking & Colin Day (Dee) in 1st place with Robin Hennessey & Paul Oliver(Dee) 2nd and Mike Ager & Chris Brook having to settle for 3rd place. Friday night the beer was a £1 a pint thanks to one of the sponsors and plus a Disco.

Saturday saw more wind F5 to 6 although it felt more like F7, out of the fleet nine had tried the conditions, and returned to shore with the exception of Ager & Brook and Daigneault & Jobling Race 3 going to Daigneault & Jobling & Races 4 & 5 to Ager & Brook. In the evening it was party night with a nine piece soul band Chico plus Disco.

Sunday saw a half hour postponement on the shore before going afloat reefed. Race 6 saw only 4 boats on the start line, again Mike Ager & Chris Brook taking the lead with the other three swapping positions, at the finish it was Ager & Brook taking line honours from Roberts & Moruzzi 2nd, Hennessey & Oliver 3rd, and James Miller & Mike Hilton settled for 4th.

Race 7 saw Mike Ager & Steve Roberts starting on starboard Robin Hennessey on port. Half way round Ager & Brook dropped the reef and went to full sail, took the lead to finish ahead of Hennessey & Oliver in 2nd and Roberts & Moruzzi settling for 3rd. Race 8 was down to two boats both back to full sail, Hennessey & Oliver lead from start to finish to take the gun from Roberts & Moruzzi. Out of 50 boats including Dart 18’s, the biggest turnout in recent years a special mention goes to Michael Moruzzi age 9 the youngest competitor from both fleets in his first TT event.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club
1st	1822	Mike Ager	Chris Brook	Thames Estuary Y.C.
2nd	2309	Ben Daigneault	Hugo Jobling	Eastbourne Sovereign
3rd	2449	Robin Hennessey	Paul Oliver	Dee S.C.
4th	2248	Steve Roberts	Michael Moruzzi	Dee S.C.