Location: Carsington Sailing Club, Derbyshire.
On the weekend of 7th & 8th October the Dart 15 association held the penultimate open meeting of the summer season at Carsington Sailing Club. Sailors were greeted with a light south westerly wind, mist and heavy rain but despite this there was a good turn out of twenty three Dart 15s and interestingly over half the field elected to race in the sprint format.
Racing round a square course it was Paul Smith who lead the field from start to finish closely pursued by the rest of the pack sailing una-rig, with the winds dying the race was shortened and early lunch taken. The pond looking like a mirror extended drinking time in the bar, an attempt to start race two was made mid afternoon but as soon as the boats were launched the wind disappeared and down came the mist to call an end to proceedings for the day.
Sunday clear sky with 10-15 mph westerly winds with the prospect of some blustery fronts coming through during the day.
Race three saw Steve Hanby finally overcome a tight pack to win, racing over the same course for race four it was Paul Smith continuing his excellent form by winning from George Carter. It seemed that given the light conditions the sprinters were disadvantaged and unable to challenge at the front.
With weather fronts moving through at the start of race 5 the opportunity for Steve Sawford (sprinter) to power upwind and build a lead which was never to be headed. During this race George Carter and Steve Hanby were involved in a discussion over rule violation on the water, which eventually lead to George hitting a mark and subsequent retirement.
Race six sailing round a sausage and triangle course and the best winds of the weekend Carsington saw the irrepressible Paul Smith in good form again having a real tussle with George Carter, Steve Hanby, and showing for the sprinters Jerry Hampshire and Steve Sawford. The final race saw the only capsize of the weekend yes yours truly Ray Gall deciding to pitch pole on the down wind leg much to local hilarity.
Ray Gall.
| Overall Results | |||
| 1st | Paul Smith | Beaver | |
| 2nd | George Carter | Beaver | |
| 3rd | Steve Hanby | Beaver | |
| 4th | Bob Carter | Grafham | |
| 5th | Steve Sawford | Rutland | |
| 6th | Phil Howden | Grafham | |
| Sprint Format Results | |||
| 1st | Steve Sawford | Rutland | |
| 2nd | Nick Taylor | Carsington | |
| 3rd | Jerry Hampshire | Carsington | |
| 4th | Dave Stanbridge | Rutland | |
| 5th | Ray Gall | Carsington | |
| 6th | Richard Haigh | Carsington | |
Megastar: Best Carsington performance Nick Taylor ended in 7th position overall.
