So here it is, the news that many have been asking about… The 2018 D-Zero UK National Championships will be held at the Mount Batten Centre in Plymouth from the 22nd – 24th June 2018 with the racing being run by Plymouth Youth Sailing. We anticipate entry will be open shortly as we are just waiting on the event catering details from Mount Batten so we can finalise the package price which will include food on the Saturday evening.

The Venue

On-shore the centre’s facilities are good. It is a watersports centre like the one at Weymouth & Portland but on a smaller scale. There are changing rooms, an upstairs bar and cafe with a balcony. We will also be able to use their private function room (which has a separate bar) for our AGM on the Saturday evening.

For catering we will have the meal on Saturday included in the entry fee. For Friday night, we are looking at a BBQ (additional cost to be paid on entry). This can be on the bar balcony upstairs or outside the function room downstairs.

The Race Area

There are 3 potential race areas:

  • inside Plymouth Sound (main race area)
  • outside the breakwater (for open sea/wave sailing)
  • if the conditions are extreme – in the area just off the Centre. This is more restricted but could handle 40 boats. This would be a fallback option.

The outline plan is to race in the Sound on Friday and Sunday with us venturing outside the breakwater on the Saturday (conditions permitting).

Accommodation and getting about

The centre itself has 26 rooms on site. See here – https://www.mount-batten-centre.com/. At the moment all the rooms are being held for us until the end of the year and must be booked by phone 01752 404567. From 1st Jan 2018 they will be open to the general public to book. Prices include a cooked breakfast. There are various rooms which you’ll see on the website. Most are not ensuite (this is shown on the Accommodation section of their website).

Campervans are allowed on site. People wanting this options need to phone the Centre to book (01752 404567) – cost depends on size. Electric hookups are available. Car parking is free for the duration of the event. They are happy for people to come down on Thursday and go out for a sail and use the facilities – they just need an indication of numbers.

The Hotel Mountbatten is next door (http://www.hotelmountbatten.co.uk/). This looks fairly basic with 16 ensuite rooms. They were fully booked when an enquiry was made recently. This may change.

A short walk away is the Boringdon Arms which has 6 rooms for groups of people (http://boringdon-arms.net/rooms-available/). They also have 18 gins available.

Other options are available in Plymouth itself including the usual hotel chains (Premier Inn, Crowne Plaza et al). If getting the Water Taxi it stops at the landing stage near the Barbican and there are several hotels within a short walk. The Water Taxi details can be found here: http://www.mountbattenferry.co.uk/.