Quest for the Red throated diver

As a weather dependant sport the winter TT at Draycote was rescheduled from Jan 11th to Jan 18th in anticipation of better visibility and the essential component of all sailing events, wind. We don’t need too much wind to race but a bit of wind was very welcome as the traveling sailors arrived at Draycote from as far afield as Carsington, Marconi and the Isle of Wight ( Shanklin ) sailing clubs.

It was apparent to all that it was going to be a light wind event so there was lots of discussion around light wind sailing techniques which were applied, to varying degrees of success, by all during the ensuing event. Top tips were... adjust batten tension to minimum to keep air flowing over sail, keep the tell tales moving at the top of the sail and above all, keep the boat moving. This proved to be the most important tip especially for the winners!

The Dart 15 is known for being the UK’s most popular racing catamaran so the competitors were not surprised to see hoards of spectators gathered on the reservoir dam wall with telescopes and cameras in hand ready to be entertained by the much anticipated thrills and spills of Dart 15 catamaran racing, the competitors hoped they would not disappoint the gathered crowd of spectators! 

The experienced race officer team of Pete Slater and Steve Pell, set a trapeziodal course with a reducing wind forecast in mind they got racing under way quickly with wind speeds of 4 to 5 knots. The fleet was a good mix of experienced top gun sailors plus some up and coming sailors within the Dart 15 fleet.

The start of the first race saw the fleet split between port end fliers (made up mostly of top guns, including Liam Thom, Steve Sawford and Jason Clarke) and the remainder of the fleet opting for the safer starboard tack start. Local sailors Jan Elfring, Steve Prince and Derek James made the most of the start and successfully dashed the hopes of the port end fliers by successfully starting in relatively clear air crossing the start line close to the pin end and. This proved to be key in them establishing commanding positions coming into the windward mark in first and second place. If only Derek James and Jan Elfring ( Draycote ) had remembered the top tip of “ keep the boat moving “ they would have established a significant lead after rounding the windward mark but the wind had other idea’s as they both drifted to a dead stop after slightly over standing the mark in a vain attempt to create both space and boat speed to execute a perfect tack! Well the rest of the fleet could not believe their good luck and travellers Christophe Clarke ( Marconi )  and Paul Tanner ( Shanklin ) made the most of the situation as they came into the windward mark having caught up with the gaggle of boats fighting for position at the windward mark. Top gun Jenny Ball ( Marconi ) made the most of the chaos created by the Draycote dynamic duo and skilfully weaved through to take first place on the next leg. The Draycote boats fought back and the race was far from finished as Steve Sawford ( Rutland ) and Dave Clarke ( Marconi ) piled on the pressure in the run up to Mark 3, reeling in leader Jenny Ball and  pressing local sailor Derek James but eventually the first race went to top gun Jenny Ball  .

Now the hoards of Dart 15 catamaran sailing fans on the dam wall would have been as disappointed as the sailors as the fleet gathered for the start of race 2 with the wind dropping to 3 knots and shifting direct swinging southerly to westerly. The second race started with the top guns on port again but this time the tactic paid off with the benefit of clear air as they successfully weaved their way through the fleet. Up and coming sailors Steve Prince, David Clarke, Ray Gall and Yvonne Pike sailed with great skill and patience to move up through the fleet in hot pursuit of Liam, Jenny and Jason who had established a significant lead at the windward mark due in part to their decision to go for a port end start. The race for the finish line was spiced up by the decision of the race team to shorten the course on the water and establish a finish line at mark 4. This certainly tested the boat handling skills of the fleet as they squeezed through the shortened course finish line with some boats having to make an unplanned tack in very light wind to get over the finish line. Carsington poster boy Ray Gall managed to cross the finish line in 4th place just behind top guns Liam, Jenny and Jason who took 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.

Race 3 was delayed slightly to allow the now intermittent wind to settle, allowing a start under wind power to commence. Race 3 was a real test of boat handling skills and perseverance. Lee Garton ( Marconi ), Steve Prince ( Draycote ) and Paul Tanner ( Shanklin ) sailed a close race, applying the top tips of keeping the boat moving and flying tell tales to move through the fleet to ultimately achieve 8th , 7th and 6th places. Jason Clarke ground out a hard won first place in the last race with Draycote top gun Jan Elfing coming in 4th proving that displacement is no handicap to sailing in light winds as he applied all of the light wind top tips in race 3.

The Draycote Water SC Winter TT was won by Liam Thom with 4th, 1st and 2nd places proving to be the winning performance of the day.

We hoped that our performance on the water had thrilled and held the attention of our crowd of Dart 15 catamaran watchers on the dam wall …..but upon speaking to them they revealed that they had not come to watch the top Dart 15 catamaran racing that we provided ……they were there to look for the rare and elusive red throated diver. If it was there we didn’t see it on the water as we were travelling too fast !!!  

Pictures by Dave Russell
Report by Derek James