Dart 15 Forums

Just a quick note to say well done to all those who took part in the Draycote TT yesterday. The conditions were very testing but it was great fun watching all you guys blasting round from the comfort of the comittee boat!
Needless to say it has definately inspired me to borrow a boat for next year so that I can join in properly!
Cheers,
Pete Slater. Race Officer.

Peter

Looking forward to seeing you in action next time. "Downsizing" is obviously the way to go to get some really great sailing action!

Thanks again for your sterling efforts as OOD, those of your assistants & the rescue boat crews; not sure who created the most work, us or the 29'ers !

Will the photos be posted on the Draycote website?

Charles.

Hi Peter,
Yes many thanks for the good work on Saturday.

It will be good to see you taking part in a Sprint 15 next year. In fact the Sprint 15 has become the second boat many of the Dart 18 sailors. Quite a few have both - that way they can get good sailing when they have not got a crew. The list includes David Lloyd, Paul Roberts, Stuart Snell, Simon Farthing, etc. Quite a few more have downsized completely selling the Dart 18 as they can no longer find a crew! The latest to do was this is Peter Ewing - who was responsible for selling most of our boats (15s & 18s).

Cheers

Bob

Yes we will be putting some photos and the results on the website.
In the meantime I have sent you a couple of photos Charles.
Anyone else who wants some photos e-mailing please let me know and if you give me your sail no. with a description of your boat I can send them to you.
Pete.

Hi Pete
Any sign of the Race Report yet? Can you give Matt a reminder, please?
When you sent it I would appreciate a few of the best pictures
a) to send a couple in to Y&Y with the report - clearly one of the winner (Charles) would be useful
b) we can then put other good ones in our magazine.
Many Thanks
Bob

The report has now been sent and some photos can be seen on the Draycote Website - www.draycotewater.co.uk
Cheers,
Pete.

Now that's what I call swift service !

The report's on the Y&Y website for those that want to read it before we get it on our website.
Cheers
Bob

It's already on page 2 of the Y&Y website so you have to click "more dinghy news" to read it.
Cheers
Bob

Folks,

So how windy was it? Various adjectives have been used but no actual details.

Martin S.

How windy was it - in my humble opinion a very windy force lots. At one point I recall surfing 2 foot waves on the downwind leg!

Big thanks to all those at DWSC for their hospitality and arranging such good fun conditions (I?ve only just stopped aching, I felt like I?d been seriously beaten up on Sunday) and all those who provided helpful advice and comments thoughout the day (mostly along the lines of other way up!)

See you at QM next month, hopefully in not quiet such demanding conditions!

Hi Martin
I reckon it was a force 4-5 with gusts to force 7.
It seemed like plenty as can be seen from the pictures
Cheers
Bob

So how fast might the boats have been going in the Force 7 bits (off the wind, level flight)?

Robert wrote:So how fast might the boats have been going in the Force 7 bits (off the wind, level flight)?

Thats an interesting question and one I wanted to look into last season, but don't know about Draycote specifically since I didn't go:

Well during the latter half of last season at Seasalter I used a GPS and logged speed and made a mental note of wind strength.

The fastest speed for a reasonable duration I recorded was on a beam reach at 18.5mph in a force 4 with a calm sea in Una Rig mode. Generally I reached good speeds (over 16mph consistently on reaches) in force 4 to low end 5's calmer the better IMO. I'd go reach drag racing after the racing had finished and see if I could beat my best speed. Strangely I never remebered the GPS when I went Sport mode sailing so I don't recollect a speed for that.

I found that as the wind got stronger the average would be higher around the course (as you'd expect) but due to control issues and also the seas tend to get quite big with 5 to 7ft waves (face height) there was a limit to how fast I could get it without having to dump power to avoid a capsize or just simply the waves rubbing off the speed through sailing through them rather than over them .

I once recorded a top speed of just over 20mph for a very brief period on a broad reach surfing a big wave but lost control but didn't capsize, just! in 35mph of wind (F7). But generally it would be no more than 15mph on reaaches since I had to spill so much wind to keep upright.

So in conclusion I would say that in general the stronger the wind the slower you are likely to go since you can't make full use of the wind anymore with short bursts of uncontrollable power and hence speed, esp. after gybes which are generally when people bite the dust.

Best speed is obtained in moderate F4 - low end F5 due to not having to spill wind and getting the boat fully powered up for longer periods. Of course crew skill is a factor and I dare say that the people at the top of the fleet would record faster speeds than me.

Martin Searle
SSC

Thanks Martin - that's a very clear answer!