NEWS
1st ever Europeans & 10th Nationals - 27-30 June 2024
Click here for Results
To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Devoti Sailing D-Zero, the class held its first European Championship, combined with their 10th National Championship at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy from the 27th to the 30th June.
The Europeans were held over four days with the Nationals counting the final three days races.
Day 1
Race conditions for Day 1 and it was the sun and wind that had been promised by the D-Zero organising committee for the past year, champagne sailing. We were out in the bay, except, so were the Navy, which meant we were moved a further two miles east but on the plus side, that meant more waves.
Race one got underway into 20 knots and a steep lumpy sea and it was great to see fleet favourite Tom Southwell first to the windward mark, pursued by 2023 National Champion Ian Baillie, then Ben Flower and Roo Purves. The reaches were full on blast off with spray everywhere, Ben sailed very well to overtake both Tom and Ian by the finish, showing great speed, particularly upwind.
The next two races followed similar patterns, with Ben winning both and Ian second in both, Adam Cockerill scored a third then a fourth, Tom a fourth, then fifth, Roo, a fifth then third.
The fleet was then faced with a five mile upwind sail into an increasing wind across the bay, then back through the harbour, which took upwards of an hour and fifteen to complete. Comments on the day varied from “brutal” to “the best day ever”, but it had certainly sorted out the best in terms of boat handling and fitness.
Day 2
A bit less wind, 15 or so knots, a bit less sun but just as competitive throughout the fleet as race four got underway. We were out in the bay again but much closer to the harbour, so the waves were less challenging but the shifts more so. We still had the screaming reaches but control was easier and the lower wind strength meant that the bigger, stronger sailors were able to keep the power in better.
Ben Flower again showed the fleet the way to go in all three races, winning them in style. Behind, Adam Cockerill was finding his speed, likewise Roo Purves, with these two battling over second and third places, Adam scoring two, three, two, Roo with three, two, three. Ian Baillie and Tom Southwell were close behind and John Emmett, although struggling a bit upwind was showing impressive speed down the waves. Also beginning to show up near the top of the fleet were Scott Munro, scoring a six, then five before VAR caught him with an OCS. James Jenkins was also consistently quick with a couple of sevenths.
That evening was barbeque night and spot prizes, supplied by sponsors dzero.co.uk, Harken and Sailing Chandlery were awarded for various deeds and misdeeds but included top European, Stefan Halberstadt from Dortmund and “Dummy of the Day” Martin Latimer for falling out of his boat just before the finish line in two races, aswell as most improved going to Adam Cockerill.
Day 3
Much lighter wind but the sun was back at full strength. We were worried that we might not get any wind but after a short postponement, we were off, into the harbour this time because the Navy had booked the bay, with the light wind specialists itching to get at the big boys.
But at the top, not much had changed. Roo led at the top mark and this time he stayed there to win from Ben, with Jon Emmett third. Ian Baillie, although fourth on the water was OCS, as was David Bartlet in fifth. These places went to Tom Southwell and Rohan Daniels. Race eight and this time Ben was able to hold off Roo to record another win. Ian was third, Jon fourth. There were many sailors benefiting from the lighter, shiftier conditions, including Ellie Craig, Ben Hodges, Jon Bassett, Niel Ritchie and Max Jones, who all scored their best results so far.
Onwards with race nine and Roo, continuing to start well, go the right way and sail very fast, won again from Ben, Jon was third and Adam fourth. The race officer decided to bring the schedule forward and give us a fourth race, so the tired bodies went again and despite quite a large right shift near the end of the first upwind leg, it was the same sailors in the top positions but now Ben won from Roo, then Adam with Colin Glover in fourth.
A short sail back this time was appreciated by many and even without the aid of a calculator, it was worked out that Ben Flower had won both the DZero Euros and Nationals with a day to spare. A very worthy champion. Chilli night quickly followed, then the delights of the class AGM, where new chairman Gordon Stewart and Co-Chair Tom Southwell were elected, along with Rohan Daniels offering to manage the PR and social media. Much more important was the draw to win a new sail provided by North Sails. This was won by Martin Latimer but with huge generosity, he put it back to be redrawn, where it was won by Colin Clasper. Further spot day prizes were awarded to Ben Hodges for capsizing on the start line, Mike Grant for “resting” on the finish line, Colin Clasper for the most supported (aka strapped up) sailor, and the Race Officer Ian Bullock for working magic to get 4 races in.
Day 4
The concerns that there may be no wind at all were put to rest when a good dose of Scottish style rain brought along a light northerly, which allowed us to complete the final two races in challenging shifty conditions with some odd currents from the harbour mouth. Ian Baillie led at the windward mark from Adam Cockerill, who used the shifts better on lap two to record a popular win, Ian just managing to hold off Ben Hodges and Jon Emmett.
The final race and once again a clean start, with only the individual recall flag used. Roo showed his class again to lead from the first mark. Behind him, there was a great deal of place changing as the wind became a bit unstable. Jon Emmett scored his best result with a second, Adam third and Gareth Tweedle gaining his best result of the week in fourth.
There are many people to thank for making the Devoti Sailing D-Zero European and National Championships such a success, plus the D-Zero Class Association organising committee of David Valentine and Martin Latimer, main sponsor Sailing Chandlery, with thanks to Andrew Dowley, Harken for numerous prizes and vouchers, Charlie Cumbley at North Sails for the new sail for the raffle and Devoti Sailing for waiving the button fees plus other support, Phoenix Marine for the superb hand crafted trophies and dzero.co.uk for various spot prizes, spares support and assistance throughout the event.
The race team of Ian Bullock deserve a very special thank you for running a superb race series for us, for listening to feedback and making sure we had exactly what we needed to make our championship a success, aswell as his drone/video footage of the starts. Also, thanks to Richard Bowers and the administration and catering teams at WPNSA. And last but not least, the photos, video, and drone coverage from Lotte Johnson Film, who collaborated with Jon Emmett for some post-race interviews and media.
Finally, thanks to all the competitors who took part in the Championships. The racing was intensely competitive and close but there were no disputes that went to protest, penalties were accepted and turns were done, and we had no general recalls.
Sailwave results for Devoti D-Zero European Championship &<br>10th UK National Championship at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy<br>27th to 30th June 2024 2024
Click here for Results
To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Devoti Sailing D-Zero, the class held its first European Championship, combined with their 10th National Championship at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy from the 27th to the 30th June.
The Europeans were held over four days with the Nationals counting the final three days races.
Day 1
Race conditions for Day 1 and it was the sun and wind that had been promised by the D-Zero organising committee for the past year, champagne sailing. We were out in the bay, except, so were the Navy, which meant we were moved a further two miles east but on the plus side, that meant more waves.
Race one got underway into 20 knots and a steep lumpy sea and it was great to see fleet favourite Tom Southwell first to the windward mark, pursued by 2023 National Champion Ian Baillie, then Ben Flower and Roo Purves. The reaches were full on blast off with spray everywhere, Ben sailed very well to overtake both Tom and Ian by the finish, showing great speed, particularly upwind.
The next two races followed similar patterns, with Ben winning both and Ian second in both, Adam Cockerill scored a third then a fourth, Tom a fourth, then fifth, Roo, a fifth then third.
The fleet was then faced with a five mile upwind sail into an increasing wind across the bay, then back through the harbour, which took upwards of an hour and fifteen to complete. Comments on the day varied from “brutal” to “the best day ever”, but it had certainly sorted out the best in terms of boat handling and fitness.
Day 2
A bit less wind, 15 or so knots, a bit less sun but just as competitive throughout the fleet as race four got underway. We were out in the bay again but much closer to the harbour, so the waves were less challenging but the shifts more so. We still had the screaming reaches but control was easier and the lower wind strength meant that the bigger, stronger sailors were able to keep the power in better.
Ben Flower again showed the fleet the way to go in all three races, winning them in style. Behind, Adam Cockerill was finding his speed, likewise Roo Purves, with these two battling over second and third places, Adam scoring two, three, two, Roo with three, two, three. Ian Baillie and Tom Southwell were close behind and John Emmett, although struggling a bit upwind was showing impressive speed down the waves. Also beginning to show up near the top of the fleet were Scott Munro, scoring a six, then five before VAR caught him with an OCS. James Jenkins was also consistently quick with a couple of sevenths.
That evening was barbeque night and spot prizes, supplied by sponsors dzero.co.uk, Harken and Sailing Chandlery were awarded for various deeds and misdeeds but included top European, Stefan Halberstadt from Dortmund and “Dummy of the Day” Martin Latimer for falling out of his boat just before the finish line in two races, aswell as most improved going to Adam Cockerill.
Day 3
Much lighter wind but the sun was back at full strength. We were worried that we might not get any wind but after a short postponement, we were off, into the harbour this time because the Navy had booked the bay, with the light wind specialists itching to get at the big boys.
But at the top, not much had changed. Roo led at the top mark and this time he stayed there to win from Ben, with Jon Emmett third. Ian Baillie, although fourth on the water was OCS, as was David Bartlet in fifth. These places went to Tom Southwell and Rohan Daniels. Race eight and this time Ben was able to hold off Roo to record another win. Ian was third, Jon fourth. There were many sailors benefiting from the lighter, shiftier conditions, including Ellie Craig, Ben Hodges, Jon Bassett, Niel Ritchie and Max Jones, who all scored their best results so far.
Onwards with race nine and Roo, continuing to start well, go the right way and sail very fast, won again from Ben, Jon was third and Adam fourth. The race officer decided to bring the schedule forward and give us a fourth race, so the tired bodies went again and despite quite a large right shift near the end of the first upwind leg, it was the same sailors in the top positions but now Ben won from Roo, then Adam with Colin Glover in fourth.
A short sail back this time was appreciated by many and even without the aid of a calculator, it was worked out that Ben Flower had won both the DZero Euros and Nationals with a day to spare. A very worthy champion. Chilli night quickly followed, then the delights of the class AGM, where new chairman Gordon Stewart and Co-Chair Tom Southwell were elected, along with Rohan Daniels offering to manage the PR and social media. Much more important was the draw to win a new sail provided by North Sails. This was won by Martin Latimer but with huge generosity, he put it back to be redrawn, where it was won by Colin Clasper. Further spot day prizes were awarded to Ben Hodges for capsizing on the start line, Mike Grant for “resting” on the finish line, Colin Clasper for the most supported (aka strapped up) sailor, and the Race Officer Ian Bullock for working magic to get 4 races in.
Day 4
The concerns that there may be no wind at all were put to rest when a good dose of Scottish style rain brought along a light northerly, which allowed us to complete the final two races in challenging shifty conditions with some odd currents from the harbour mouth. Ian Baillie led at the windward mark from Adam Cockerill, who used the shifts better on lap two to record a popular win, Ian just managing to hold off Ben Hodges and Jon Emmett.
The final race and once again a clean start, with only the individual recall flag used. Roo showed his class again to lead from the first mark. Behind him, there was a great deal of place changing as the wind became a bit unstable. Jon Emmett scored his best result with a second, Adam third and Gareth Tweedle gaining his best result of the week in fourth.
There are many people to thank for making the Devoti Sailing D-Zero European and National Championships such a success, plus the D-Zero Class Association organising committee of David Valentine and Martin Latimer, main sponsor Sailing Chandlery, with thanks to Andrew Dowley, Harken for numerous prizes and vouchers, Charlie Cumbley at North Sails for the new sail for the raffle and Devoti Sailing for waiving the button fees plus other support, Phoenix Marine for the superb hand crafted trophies and dzero.co.uk for various spot prizes, spares support and assistance throughout the event.
The race team of Ian Bullock deserve a very special thank you for running a superb race series for us, for listening to feedback and making sure we had exactly what we needed to make our championship a success, aswell as his drone/video footage of the starts. Also, thanks to Richard Bowers and the administration and catering teams at WPNSA. And last but not least, the photos, video, and drone coverage from Lotte Johnson Film, who collaborated with Jon Emmett for some post-race interviews and media.
Finally, thanks to all the competitors who took part in the Championships. The racing was intensely competitive and close but there were no disputes that went to protest, penalties were accepted and turns were done, and we had no general recalls.
Sailwave results for Devoti D-Zero European Championship &<br>10th UK National Championship at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy<br>27th to 30th June 2024 2024
Largs Harken One-Design Regatta - 18 & 19 May 2024
The weekend brought the Largs Harken One Design Regatta, with 17 D-Zeros converging from as far away as Emsworth to Aberdeen to be the largest class in the regatta’s 48 strong fleet.
As always you don’t always get what you want and the forecast of wall to wall sunshine wasn’t accompanied by the breeze. The first start time passed under the AP and a slipway full of overheating helms starring at the Clyde for optimistic signs of zephyrs. The collective will produced results, the AP dropped and the Largs regatta team’s fleet of RIBs scurried off to rapidly set the courses and get us away. Having a delay can encourage impatience and a hard fought start line caught out 3 over enthusiastic drivers, Roo Purves and Gavin Homer making the return but leaving Jon Bassett ploughing on to secure a plucky DNS and banking his discard early.
The race set a pattern of tightly fought marks and nip & tuck upwind and down and at the end the Stork wins, but being challenged by hard charging teenager Roo. Reports of close racing and finishing within touching distance of each other were heard across the water.
Race 1 was a good start but unfortunately the only race on Saturday as the wind dropped away to play hide and seek through the afternoon, so needs must, cold beer on the balcony in the sunshine with a stunning backdrop of the Clyde and it’s islands, it could be worse. Much talk of what tomorrow was bringing, and what could have been, and where some went well and others not so...
Sunday arrived with the forecasts showing less breeze, it didn’t look hopeful, but a dark line climbed up the channel from the south. 40 boats launched, marks and lines laid efficiently by the slipway and race support team and we’re back underway for Race 2. Clear air up the beat and find the pressure paid and at the end of it the Stork wins, pushed again by Roo. Back in the melee Slimb found out that grumbling at the Aberdonian in front whilst rear ending him, followed by a stylish slowmo 360 isn’t a winning mark rounding strategy, a good discard well secured.
A couple of the heavyweights (90-100kg sailors) in the fleet weren't suffering in the light stuff, and were still in the Top 5/10 and were challenging the flyweights (60-75kgs), another benefit of the D-Zero !
Race 3 kicked off with Martin Latimer delivering his best timed run to hit the line with pace at the gun, pity though he was still a boat length behind everybody else and the resulting general recall snuffed that nonsense out. Good effort though. Shock horror! at the end of this one the Stork didn’t win, knocked off his perch by Roo. The RO stated how we were so close finishing and seconds dividing many, the close racing benefit (or not) of the D-Zero.
Smooth turnarounds by the RO and into Race 4, clearly there’s going to be some needle at the front and the last race to determine the event. Tight everywhere and particularly at the gybe marks with 3 and 4 boats abeam claiming water and rights. At the last windward mark the plaintiff cry of a stork could be heard echoing across the Clyde asking Roo if he’d like to do a wee penalty turn; natural order restored, the Stork wins.
Plaudits and thanks to the Largs race team and supporting volunteers, 4 good races in difficult conditions to deliver a very successful event. congratulations to Storky, discarding a clearly unacceptable 2nd to win the event and take the crown for Scottish D Zero champion. Thanks to Harken again for their support.
This was a great warm up for the Euros / Nationals at the end of June in Portland, if you haven’t already entered yet you should, don’t miss out there’s still time to make it a 50 boat fleet.
See you all in Portland.
Report : thanks to Simon Limb
Photos : thanks to Glenn Andrews
The weekend brought the Largs Harken One Design Regatta, with 17 D-Zeros converging from as far away as Emsworth to Aberdeen to be the largest class in the regatta’s 48 strong fleet.
As always you don’t always get what you want and the forecast of wall to wall sunshine wasn’t accompanied by the breeze. The first start time passed under the AP and a slipway full of overheating helms starring at the Clyde for optimistic signs of zephyrs. The collective will produced results, the AP dropped and the Largs regatta team’s fleet of RIBs scurried off to rapidly set the courses and get us away. Having a delay can encourage impatience and a hard fought start line caught out 3 over enthusiastic drivers, Roo Purves and Gavin Homer making the return but leaving Jon Bassett ploughing on to secure a plucky DNS and banking his discard early.
The race set a pattern of tightly fought marks and nip & tuck upwind and down and at the end the Stork wins, but being challenged by hard charging teenager Roo. Reports of close racing and finishing within touching distance of each other were heard across the water.
Race 1 was a good start but unfortunately the only race on Saturday as the wind dropped away to play hide and seek through the afternoon, so needs must, cold beer on the balcony in the sunshine with a stunning backdrop of the Clyde and it’s islands, it could be worse. Much talk of what tomorrow was bringing, and what could have been, and where some went well and others not so...
Sunday arrived with the forecasts showing less breeze, it didn’t look hopeful, but a dark line climbed up the channel from the south. 40 boats launched, marks and lines laid efficiently by the slipway and race support team and we’re back underway for Race 2. Clear air up the beat and find the pressure paid and at the end of it the Stork wins, pushed again by Roo. Back in the melee Slimb found out that grumbling at the Aberdonian in front whilst rear ending him, followed by a stylish slowmo 360 isn’t a winning mark rounding strategy, a good discard well secured.
A couple of the heavyweights (90-100kg sailors) in the fleet weren't suffering in the light stuff, and were still in the Top 5/10 and were challenging the flyweights (60-75kgs), another benefit of the D-Zero !
Race 3 kicked off with Martin Latimer delivering his best timed run to hit the line with pace at the gun, pity though he was still a boat length behind everybody else and the resulting general recall snuffed that nonsense out. Good effort though. Shock horror! at the end of this one the Stork didn’t win, knocked off his perch by Roo. The RO stated how we were so close finishing and seconds dividing many, the close racing benefit (or not) of the D-Zero.
Smooth turnarounds by the RO and into Race 4, clearly there’s going to be some needle at the front and the last race to determine the event. Tight everywhere and particularly at the gybe marks with 3 and 4 boats abeam claiming water and rights. At the last windward mark the plaintiff cry of a stork could be heard echoing across the Clyde asking Roo if he’d like to do a wee penalty turn; natural order restored, the Stork wins.
Plaudits and thanks to the Largs race team and supporting volunteers, 4 good races in difficult conditions to deliver a very successful event. congratulations to Storky, discarding a clearly unacceptable 2nd to win the event and take the crown for Scottish D Zero champion. Thanks to Harken again for their support.
This was a great warm up for the Euros / Nationals at the end of June in Portland, if you haven’t already entered yet you should, don’t miss out there’s still time to make it a 50 boat fleet.
See you all in Portland.
Report : thanks to Simon Limb
Photos : thanks to Glenn Andrews
D Zero Open Meeting - Hunts SC 12th May 2024
Visitors from Grafham SC and North Herts EBSC were greeted with the forecast light wind and nice sunny weather for the Hunts D Zero Open.
Seven boats started the first race, which saw local Jon Cowper 42 go info the lead of the (complicated) course, followed by Gary Tompkins 158 who made a navigational error on the 2nd lap and then retired. Jon held onto his lead, followed by John Aston 3 and Gordon Stewart 358. Gavin had a DNF and didn't restart for the day.
The 2nd race (back to back)was sailed in similarly light winds being led by most of it by Gary. Paul managed to get by on the last lap, and only just managed to hold Gary off to take the win.
After lunch the wind filled in quite nicely with Paul taking an early lead. He decided it would be a good idea to dramatically kite the boat to windward on the dead run, then decided it would be an even better idea to go for a swim. This handed the lead to Jon who held on to win followed by John A with Paul recovering to 3rd.
The 4th (back to back) was sailed with John A leading the way round followed by Gary. Paul and Jon C managed to pass him but couldn't catch John A.
The racing was very close all day, and so we're the results with Jon C winning the Open by beating John A on countback.
A big thanks to R/O Richard Christmas for setting good courses and running the meeting well. Also thanks to the Rescue boat team and the galley for keeping us fed and watered.
Result Sailor Sail No. R1 R2 R3 R4 Total
1 Jon Cowper 42 1 3 1 3 5 points
2 John Aston 3 2 4 2 1 5 points
3 Paul Jefferies 345 4 1 3 2 6 points
4 Gary Tompkins 158 DNF 2 5 4 11 points
5 Gordon Stewart 358 3 5 4 5 12 points
6 Adam Wright 361 5 6 6 6 17 points
Visitors from Grafham SC and North Herts EBSC were greeted with the forecast light wind and nice sunny weather for the Hunts D Zero Open.
Seven boats started the first race, which saw local Jon Cowper 42 go info the lead of the (complicated) course, followed by Gary Tompkins 158 who made a navigational error on the 2nd lap and then retired. Jon held onto his lead, followed by John Aston 3 and Gordon Stewart 358. Gavin had a DNF and didn't restart for the day.
The 2nd race (back to back)was sailed in similarly light winds being led by most of it by Gary. Paul managed to get by on the last lap, and only just managed to hold Gary off to take the win.
After lunch the wind filled in quite nicely with Paul taking an early lead. He decided it would be a good idea to dramatically kite the boat to windward on the dead run, then decided it would be an even better idea to go for a swim. This handed the lead to Jon who held on to win followed by John A with Paul recovering to 3rd.
The 4th (back to back) was sailed with John A leading the way round followed by Gary. Paul and Jon C managed to pass him but couldn't catch John A.
The racing was very close all day, and so we're the results with Jon C winning the Open by beating John A on countback.
A big thanks to R/O Richard Christmas for setting good courses and running the meeting well. Also thanks to the Rescue boat team and the galley for keeping us fed and watered.
Result Sailor Sail No. R1 R2 R3 R4 Total
1 Jon Cowper 42 1 3 1 3 5 points
2 John Aston 3 2 4 2 1 5 points
3 Paul Jefferies 345 4 1 3 2 6 points
4 Gary Tompkins 158 DNF 2 5 4 11 points
5 Gordon Stewart 358 3 5 4 5 12 points
6 Adam Wright 361 5 6 6 6 17 points
Zippys report on Annandale D-Zero Open - 27 & 28 April 2024
It's a big hello from Zippy the D-Zero in my first report of this year. The event was the D-Zero Northern Championships, held at a new venue for us at Annandale Sailing Club, 4 miles West of Lockerbie in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
The nearby local town of Lochmaber was a key player in the Wars of Independence between the Scots and the English in the 13th century and clearly, there was more than just a bit of sailing at stake last weekend, with four Scottish entries and four English competitors fighting for glory and the Northern Championship Trophy!
D-Zero Northern Championships at Annandale - photo © Tony Wadlen. In the briefing, Race Officer Chris Nurney advised us all of the hazards we might encounter, including a submerged pipe surrounded by rocks, an Island with submerged causeway that we were not to cross on any account and plenty of oozing mud at the bottom of the shallow Loch, should we capsize. There was something else about "no turtles", but I was already putting together my plan of entertainment for the weekend.
The wind on Saturday was light and a tad shifty. I set up a strong lead, with my awe-struck helm Liz Potter. On the third lap, final beat, with the finish line in sight, I stumbled onto the pipe rocks and Owner had to get out in calf deep water to turn me around, after lifting my foils and having lots of Words. There, I watched most of the fleet pass. Life sucks, folks.
D-Zero Northern Championships at Annandale - photo © Tony Wadlen. After my little Horn "Pipe" dance, I rejoined the back of the fleet and saw Jon Bassett win the race from Tom Southwell (the longest distance traveller at 371 miles) and our home club host D-Zeroist Richard Bryant in third.
The second race started with a new course; slightly shorter up the loch to suit the lighter winds. Those light winds shifted often to shuffle the D-Zero pack order, but the stars of this show were Gordon and Billy McCarlie. I watched in great amusement as Gordon tried to tack on top of Billy. Like a handbrake turn it was, in slow motion.
Of course Billy continued to power on and up, until Gordon's boom joined Billy on the side deck, then in his cockpit, then in his sail. By sheeting out to avoid a capsize, Gordon steered Billy's boat into a graceful pirouette; a Pas de Deux. With the dance competition hotting up, I was looking to collect a fourth, only to be pipped by Richard and Gordon Stewart on an unbelievably unfair wind bend to leeward of me.
It never came my way. Just ahead of me, Jon, Ian and Tom scraped through the finish line on the old wind. Yeah, life sucks.
D-Zero Northern Championships at Annandale - photo © Tony Wadlen. A new course went up for Race 3. Jon had used up a fair bit of luck and now sailed at the back of the fleet for a while. Tom and Ian took the lead to finish first and second and I snuck in behind them with a handy third.
That concluded the day of the ballet pumps and twinkle toes dance contest, with the Scots (Jon) and English (Tom) drawn on 6 points apiece.
The Owners gulped down an ale on the slipway and were treated to a fabulous curry in the clubhouse, thanks to the club members catering team!
D-Zero Northern Championships at Annandale - photo © Stephen Hinton-Smith. By Sunday, the wind had increased, turned 180 degrees and was now strong enough to warrant some hiking.
In race 4, Gordon won the pin from Ian, who was called OCS. Tom took the lead from Gordon, whilst Richard worked his local knowledge to deal with the blustery wind shifts. Ian, returning to re-start, worked his way through the fleet. Elsewhere, the dancing theme continued. Billy, going upwind on port tack, enabled his mast to do a Highland Fling with Tom's mast (heeled, going downwind on starboard). There was a pirouette as part of this routine of course.
The race was won by Tom, with Ian finishing a credible 2nd after his OCS. In third was Richard.
On my way back to the start line for Race 5, I noticed Tom's boat having a little lie down, whilst Tom was enjoying a gentle swim. It was an endearing image. Little did I realise that there was some boaty wardrobe malfunction going on and Tom was trying to bodge a piece of rope for a clew tie-down.
I know it was a bodge, because I saw it explode whilst Tom was to leeward of me at the start. There were Words. Slightly different to the ones my Owner used, but the tone was the same. Tom limped his boat back to base for some A&E treatment (9 hour waiting list!), so that was the end of his Championships.
Back on the race course, Jon, Gordon and Ian pushed ahead to establish a good lead in front of Richard, Billy, Me and Mick. On the last run, the wind ran out for the leaders, whilst we brought our own wind to the party. There was a bit of a Ceilidh at the leeward mark and a few pointy noses were inserted where they weren't due, but Jon held on to win from Gordon and Ian.
D-Zero Northern Championships at Annandale - photo © Stephen Hinton-Smith. By the last race, the wind shifts were violent and sudden. A huge header caused chaos on the start, but we tacked off sharply. From here, I could see Mick Green walking his boat over a submerged group of rocks, presumably looking for a nearby castle or something. Mick looked like he was attempting some sort of break-your-ankle-between-the-rocks dance, which should have seen his entry validated in the competition. I yelled some encouragement, but the wind whisked my words away.
On the final downwind leg, I was doing okay and looking for a best result of day, so Owner chose to retract an unwise chunk of foil and apply some mega-heel for some superwhizz.
Before I could say "I don't think so, Mrs", there was a load bang (my mast whacking the water) and much laughter from all those around us. I sunk my mast head underwater in shame, until the new sail was sunk a foot deep into the muddy sediment below.
It was one of the best spas I've had yet. Once I'd scooped my irate Ownership up, I tried to share the experience with her by showering great clods of gloop from my mast onto my decks and on her head. Appreciation is not always her thing, but she smelt great for the rest of the day.
Meanwhile, Ian was finishing the final race with his first win, followed by Jon in second. Next over the line was Billy, with a satisfying Do-Si-Do port cross over rival Gordan; poetic justice for the earlier misdemeanour.
D-Zero Northern Championships at Annandale - photo © Stephen Hinton-Smith. So ended a weekend of racing, with Jon Bassett crowned as Northern Champion and with Ian Baillie in second and Richard Bryant in third.
In the greater scope of things, the Scots took the first three places to put a comma behind 700 years of scrimmage in Dumfries and Galloway. Sorted.
Overall Results:
Pos Sail No Helm Club R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Pts
1 306 John Bassett Largs 1 1 4 1 1 2 6
2 336 lan Baillie Dalgety Bay 4 2 2 2 3 1 10
3 189 Richard Bryant Annandale SC 3 4 5 3 4 5 19
4 328 Thomas Southwell Lee on the Solent 2 3 1 5 9 9 20
5 358 Gordon Stewart NHEBSC 7 5 7 4 2 4 22
6 265 Billy McCarlie Largs 6 8 6 6 5 3 26
7 333 Liz Potter West Kirby 5 6 3 7 6 7 27
8 344 Mick Green Leigh & Lowton 8 7 8 8 7 6 36
It's a big hello from Zippy the D-Zero in my first report of this year. The event was the D-Zero Northern Championships, held at a new venue for us at Annandale Sailing Club, 4 miles West of Lockerbie in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
The nearby local town of Lochmaber was a key player in the Wars of Independence between the Scots and the English in the 13th century and clearly, there was more than just a bit of sailing at stake last weekend, with four Scottish entries and four English competitors fighting for glory and the Northern Championship Trophy!
D-Zero Northern Championships at Annandale - photo © Tony Wadlen. In the briefing, Race Officer Chris Nurney advised us all of the hazards we might encounter, including a submerged pipe surrounded by rocks, an Island with submerged causeway that we were not to cross on any account and plenty of oozing mud at the bottom of the shallow Loch, should we capsize. There was something else about "no turtles", but I was already putting together my plan of entertainment for the weekend.
The wind on Saturday was light and a tad shifty. I set up a strong lead, with my awe-struck helm Liz Potter. On the third lap, final beat, with the finish line in sight, I stumbled onto the pipe rocks and Owner had to get out in calf deep water to turn me around, after lifting my foils and having lots of Words. There, I watched most of the fleet pass. Life sucks, folks.
D-Zero Northern Championships at Annandale - photo © Tony Wadlen. After my little Horn "Pipe" dance, I rejoined the back of the fleet and saw Jon Bassett win the race from Tom Southwell (the longest distance traveller at 371 miles) and our home club host D-Zeroist Richard Bryant in third.
The second race started with a new course; slightly shorter up the loch to suit the lighter winds. Those light winds shifted often to shuffle the D-Zero pack order, but the stars of this show were Gordon and Billy McCarlie. I watched in great amusement as Gordon tried to tack on top of Billy. Like a handbrake turn it was, in slow motion.
Of course Billy continued to power on and up, until Gordon's boom joined Billy on the side deck, then in his cockpit, then in his sail. By sheeting out to avoid a capsize, Gordon steered Billy's boat into a graceful pirouette; a Pas de Deux. With the dance competition hotting up, I was looking to collect a fourth, only to be pipped by Richard and Gordon Stewart on an unbelievably unfair wind bend to leeward of me.
It never came my way. Just ahead of me, Jon, Ian and Tom scraped through the finish line on the old wind. Yeah, life sucks.
D-Zero Northern Championships at Annandale - photo © Tony Wadlen. A new course went up for Race 3. Jon had used up a fair bit of luck and now sailed at the back of the fleet for a while. Tom and Ian took the lead to finish first and second and I snuck in behind them with a handy third.
That concluded the day of the ballet pumps and twinkle toes dance contest, with the Scots (Jon) and English (Tom) drawn on 6 points apiece.
The Owners gulped down an ale on the slipway and were treated to a fabulous curry in the clubhouse, thanks to the club members catering team!
D-Zero Northern Championships at Annandale - photo © Stephen Hinton-Smith. By Sunday, the wind had increased, turned 180 degrees and was now strong enough to warrant some hiking.
In race 4, Gordon won the pin from Ian, who was called OCS. Tom took the lead from Gordon, whilst Richard worked his local knowledge to deal with the blustery wind shifts. Ian, returning to re-start, worked his way through the fleet. Elsewhere, the dancing theme continued. Billy, going upwind on port tack, enabled his mast to do a Highland Fling with Tom's mast (heeled, going downwind on starboard). There was a pirouette as part of this routine of course.
The race was won by Tom, with Ian finishing a credible 2nd after his OCS. In third was Richard.
On my way back to the start line for Race 5, I noticed Tom's boat having a little lie down, whilst Tom was enjoying a gentle swim. It was an endearing image. Little did I realise that there was some boaty wardrobe malfunction going on and Tom was trying to bodge a piece of rope for a clew tie-down.
I know it was a bodge, because I saw it explode whilst Tom was to leeward of me at the start. There were Words. Slightly different to the ones my Owner used, but the tone was the same. Tom limped his boat back to base for some A&E treatment (9 hour waiting list!), so that was the end of his Championships.
Back on the race course, Jon, Gordon and Ian pushed ahead to establish a good lead in front of Richard, Billy, Me and Mick. On the last run, the wind ran out for the leaders, whilst we brought our own wind to the party. There was a bit of a Ceilidh at the leeward mark and a few pointy noses were inserted where they weren't due, but Jon held on to win from Gordon and Ian.
D-Zero Northern Championships at Annandale - photo © Stephen Hinton-Smith. By the last race, the wind shifts were violent and sudden. A huge header caused chaos on the start, but we tacked off sharply. From here, I could see Mick Green walking his boat over a submerged group of rocks, presumably looking for a nearby castle or something. Mick looked like he was attempting some sort of break-your-ankle-between-the-rocks dance, which should have seen his entry validated in the competition. I yelled some encouragement, but the wind whisked my words away.
On the final downwind leg, I was doing okay and looking for a best result of day, so Owner chose to retract an unwise chunk of foil and apply some mega-heel for some superwhizz.
Before I could say "I don't think so, Mrs", there was a load bang (my mast whacking the water) and much laughter from all those around us. I sunk my mast head underwater in shame, until the new sail was sunk a foot deep into the muddy sediment below.
It was one of the best spas I've had yet. Once I'd scooped my irate Ownership up, I tried to share the experience with her by showering great clods of gloop from my mast onto my decks and on her head. Appreciation is not always her thing, but she smelt great for the rest of the day.
Meanwhile, Ian was finishing the final race with his first win, followed by Jon in second. Next over the line was Billy, with a satisfying Do-Si-Do port cross over rival Gordan; poetic justice for the earlier misdemeanour.
D-Zero Northern Championships at Annandale - photo © Stephen Hinton-Smith. So ended a weekend of racing, with Jon Bassett crowned as Northern Champion and with Ian Baillie in second and Richard Bryant in third.
In the greater scope of things, the Scots took the first three places to put a comma behind 700 years of scrimmage in Dumfries and Galloway. Sorted.
Overall Results:
Pos Sail No Helm Club R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Pts
1 306 John Bassett Largs 1 1 4 1 1 2 6
2 336 lan Baillie Dalgety Bay 4 2 2 2 3 1 10
3 189 Richard Bryant Annandale SC 3 4 5 3 4 5 19
4 328 Thomas Southwell Lee on the Solent 2 3 1 5 9 9 20
5 358 Gordon Stewart NHEBSC 7 5 7 4 2 4 22
6 265 Billy McCarlie Largs 6 8 6 6 5 3 26
7 333 Liz Potter West Kirby 5 6 3 7 6 7 27
8 344 Mick Green Leigh & Lowton 8 7 8 8 7 6 36
Devoti D-Zero Report – Bough Beech SC Open – Saturday 13 April 2024
Saturday 13th April saw the 2nd event of the D-Zero National Traveller series held at Bough Beech SC in sunny Kent.
8 visiting & 2 home D-Zeros were greeted by a freshening SW from the dam wall with the sun threatening an appearance.
RO & 600 Nat champion George Smith briefed the assembled masses warning of a healthy breeze and begging please don't infringe the anglers.
Competitors scurried to get afloat along with fellow fleets Finns & Streakers making for a lively race area.
R1 presented a port biased line close’ish to the bank with aforementioned anglers strategically positioned to port.
Tom Southwell arrived at the pin and stayed there all day creating a circle of terror for anyone thinking similarly.
The Morgan sails D-Zero class flag dropped and we were away clean with Southwell and the port enders having to tack & cross to avoid the obstructions.
Bough Beech offered the usual snakes & ladders but Southwell navigated the maze first with David Valentine snapping at his rudder, Gordon Stewart & Paul Jefferies in the mix rounding the top onto a cracking if shifty reach then a long tactical run. Staying by the lee and crucially staying in the breeze gained places. The leading pack of 4 pulled out a lead with Southwell commanding the race, Jefferies, Stewart & Valentine trading places but finished in that order.
R2 saw a similar start, but without anglers allowing a few boats to bang hard left in search of the elusive Bough Beech port layline lift. Not to be disappointed on this occasion Tim Humphries on blue rig sneaked in from the far left in front of Southwell & Valentine leaving starboard layliners double & triple tacking. Southwell showing superior downwind pace quickly reasserted dominance, Stewart, Humphries, Jefferies, Valentine & Tim Weeden all chasing hard to finish in that order.
Lunch intervened allowing competitors to bulk up on Pauline's pasty & beans ready for another helping of toenail withering hiking.
R3 started breezy with a port shift tempting many to bang off right at the earliest opportunity
Tragically for some left was not delivering but Valentine delivered a storming right hander with Southwell, Stewart & Humphries arriving some time later from the left.
Breeze properly on now, with pasties helping keep glass under carbon, Valentine & his heavy duty hiking strap held his lead from the closing Southwell, Stewart, Humphries & Jefferies all gasping along behind.
By R4 the breeze seemed to have abated slightly. Kim May-Papailliou, Hannah Hutchings, Ian Patrick & Tim Weeden decided 3 windy races was plenty punishment leaving a reduced fleet.
Then the status quo of start line order was thrown into turmoil by a fearless John Cowper sitting on top of Southwell at 30 seconds resulting in a kerfuffle at the pin, reducing the fleet still further and allowing Humphries & Valentine unfettered access to the line. Humphries held on to play the size not important card and round first closely followed by Valentine & Gordon. After a bit of place swapping the order into the penultimate bottom rounding was Valentine , Humphries, Gordon, however things got confusing for a bit resulting in Humphries re-rounding slowly and Valentine doing twirls thus gifting Gordon a comfortable lead and a good belly laugh all the way round to the finish, Humphries Valentine & Jefferies bringing up the rear.
A great day of almost champagne sailing in spring sunshine with tight competition. Thanks to George Smith & the race team, all the rescue & beach volunteers & Pauline for cooking. Looking forward to being invited back to Bough Beech next year
Saturday 13th April saw the 2nd event of the D-Zero National Traveller series held at Bough Beech SC in sunny Kent.
8 visiting & 2 home D-Zeros were greeted by a freshening SW from the dam wall with the sun threatening an appearance.
RO & 600 Nat champion George Smith briefed the assembled masses warning of a healthy breeze and begging please don't infringe the anglers.
Competitors scurried to get afloat along with fellow fleets Finns & Streakers making for a lively race area.
R1 presented a port biased line close’ish to the bank with aforementioned anglers strategically positioned to port.
Tom Southwell arrived at the pin and stayed there all day creating a circle of terror for anyone thinking similarly.
The Morgan sails D-Zero class flag dropped and we were away clean with Southwell and the port enders having to tack & cross to avoid the obstructions.
Bough Beech offered the usual snakes & ladders but Southwell navigated the maze first with David Valentine snapping at his rudder, Gordon Stewart & Paul Jefferies in the mix rounding the top onto a cracking if shifty reach then a long tactical run. Staying by the lee and crucially staying in the breeze gained places. The leading pack of 4 pulled out a lead with Southwell commanding the race, Jefferies, Stewart & Valentine trading places but finished in that order.
R2 saw a similar start, but without anglers allowing a few boats to bang hard left in search of the elusive Bough Beech port layline lift. Not to be disappointed on this occasion Tim Humphries on blue rig sneaked in from the far left in front of Southwell & Valentine leaving starboard layliners double & triple tacking. Southwell showing superior downwind pace quickly reasserted dominance, Stewart, Humphries, Jefferies, Valentine & Tim Weeden all chasing hard to finish in that order.
Lunch intervened allowing competitors to bulk up on Pauline's pasty & beans ready for another helping of toenail withering hiking.
R3 started breezy with a port shift tempting many to bang off right at the earliest opportunity
Tragically for some left was not delivering but Valentine delivered a storming right hander with Southwell, Stewart & Humphries arriving some time later from the left.
Breeze properly on now, with pasties helping keep glass under carbon, Valentine & his heavy duty hiking strap held his lead from the closing Southwell, Stewart, Humphries & Jefferies all gasping along behind.
By R4 the breeze seemed to have abated slightly. Kim May-Papailliou, Hannah Hutchings, Ian Patrick & Tim Weeden decided 3 windy races was plenty punishment leaving a reduced fleet.
Then the status quo of start line order was thrown into turmoil by a fearless John Cowper sitting on top of Southwell at 30 seconds resulting in a kerfuffle at the pin, reducing the fleet still further and allowing Humphries & Valentine unfettered access to the line. Humphries held on to play the size not important card and round first closely followed by Valentine & Gordon. After a bit of place swapping the order into the penultimate bottom rounding was Valentine , Humphries, Gordon, however things got confusing for a bit resulting in Humphries re-rounding slowly and Valentine doing twirls thus gifting Gordon a comfortable lead and a good belly laugh all the way round to the finish, Humphries Valentine & Jefferies bringing up the rear.
A great day of almost champagne sailing in spring sunshine with tight competition. Thanks to George Smith & the race team, all the rescue & beach volunteers & Pauline for cooking. Looking forward to being invited back to Bough Beech next year
Chichester Harbour Race Week
Notes, comments and thoughts from the Slipper race team…
Day 1 and breeze was forecast, with an early start for all racers with 1st starts at 1025, so breakfast was early, some even down at 7am, yes 7am for sail racing!
Kit on, boats rigged and 15 knots average, with a true SW direction, we were starting across Pilsey Bank for Series B, and down near the Thorney corner for Series A. Series A starts were pushing hard against the tide, though the pin end looked tasty and a sprint across to East Head, however just before the start of the 3rd start for the D-Zero’s and Hadrons (total 14) they quickly moved the bias of the pin end, so a fast reset to the mid-line. Valentine started well and bolted for the East head shore, chased hard by ESC’ James Jenkins, and the two didn’t look back, with Valentine taking the first bullet of the week in the increasing breeze. Simon Boylin took a swim in his D-Zero in the waves, and decided an early bath was a really smart move.
Some exciting sailing on the way through the waves over the Winner Bank breaking onto the East head shore, and having the Mengham mark boat for Series B wing right in the line for the Series A wing mark – some great close-up photo opportunities could have been had, but no.
Nick Mason had taken a “sickie” in his Phantom, Richard Sharp in the following start to the D-Z’s in his Finn came home 5th having worked hard in the wind and waves. Andrew Gould finished 2nd in the Asy Handicap fleet with his Musto Skiff, sailing an extended circuit to the first 4 starts of Series A. Mikey T and Helen Moore in her first ever Chi race Week pulled their RS200 into 8th. Unusually Mark Riddington was pushed into 2nd place in the Aero 7’s by a Felpham sailor (its ok, he’s had words with himself and was promising more for tomorrow), and Tom Kennedy also in an Aero 7 was 4th. Claire Power came home 6th in her Aero 5, being challenged by plenty of breeze. Josh Pope in his ILCA 4 (Laser 4.7 for the traditionalists!) ignored his lighter weight and won his race.
Allegedly Sean Curtis was absent on day one, as when he read the tea leaves at breakfast, there was an image of his 300 pitchpoling! Wise move maybe…
Off to Slipper for a Spanish sports drink or two, purely for vitamin and carb replenishment (so says our local Olympic physio) at “Home” to review the day that was! According to one non-sailor, every night at “Fed Week” is a Friday night, which is fine if you’re not sailing, mentioning no names Rick K???
Plus, we had to discuss WHO will be in the Slipper Team, that took at least another one or two sports drinks to discuss…
Day 2, Team selected – Valentine, Riddington, Gould, Josh Pope and Sharp. No pressure then Team, Go Slipper! A slightly lower breeze than Monday, this time with a lower 8-9 knots and from a more Westerly direction, leading to queries on where to start – do you run down the Pilsey/Stocker Bank, or do you go to East Head, then bang right. Some of the 15s went to East Head and popped out at the windward mark years ahead of the rest of the fleet. Valentine went down the bank on the right-hand side, which also worked, though had to push hard against the Hadrons.
However, D-Zero 66 held on despite being pushed and being kept honest by a Locks SC D-Zero and a Hadron on the downhills, though kept it ultra flat on the last beat to take another bullet. Simon Boylin worked hard in his D-Zero and came home 10th, where the mid fleet racing was close and intense. Nick Mason came 22nd in his Phantom in a busy fleet, Sean Curtis came 30th without his 300 trying to kill him, Richard Sharp had a much better day and took 2nd in the Finn, Andrew Gould in the Musto came 3rd, Mikey T and Helen in the 200 hugely improved to 5th, Mark had another 2nd and more words of improvement from Andy maybe needed – something like, “get to the front and stay there”, or “go faster than others” ! Tom K slipped one place to 5th, too many bacon sarnies in the lighter breeze maybe? Claire improved by two places in her Aero 5 to a 4th, and Josh Pope had a frustrating day with an apparent lack of pointing and slipped into 5th.
Some of Team Slipper headed to Mengham RSC in the evening to win back the Quiz Cup where apparently “we wuz robbed” a few years ago and Andrew was up for reclaiming the prize and eat a sausage or two! Andrew was over-excited as the music round was the Eighties.
Day 3 and very light winds forecast, southerly 3-4knots, though forecast was to increase. Valentine, as many know absolutely loves lightwind sailing and is well-known as a specialist in these conditions or NOT, with a super lightweight build and we don’t mean the boat! so pressure on… just wish it was wind pressure…
Starting from down near Mill Rythe for Series A, and the middle of Pilsey Bank for B’s, a general postponement on the beach and then more at the start areas. Flags up to go, so we were away. In the A’s do you go pin end and starboard tack across Pilsey or Committee boat end and run up the edge of the bank avoiding the tidal stream. Valentine went Committee end and managed to pull a lead, watching a Hadron at the pin and running towards a darker patch just off East Head slowly moving 20 degrees west. The breeze came in and a 3-knot increase, with Valentine being kept honest all the way round by a Hadron and a Locks D-Z, though managed to pull away on the last beat again to take his 3rd bullet.
Simon Boylin had decided that a day at home was well worth building the brownie points and getting some stuff done. Nick Mason had a better day and came 15th, Sean had a much better day and came 26th improving nicely, Richard Sharp was working hard and came home 3rd building more points, whilst Alex Thorsby with plans to just race 3 days and win all came 11th, Andrew Gould also 3rd, Mikey T and Helen slipping to 5th, Mark Riddington flew into a 1st place benefiting from all his lightwind skills and practice, with Tom K in 11th, Claire doing superbly and coming 2nd, so improving 2 places every day, no pressure there then ! Josh Pope came a consistent 5th.
Notes from the Whats App Slipper feed were as follows, and I’m not making this up: “Watching Mark fix Sean’s mast today with literally a knife and fork was priceless this morning, never have I seen such anquish, like watching Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel with a roller from Wickes”, and “the Slipper boat bimbling reached new heights today especially with Thomsons 80grit and compass sanding block”. “I do think Michelangelo is a bit OTT, maybe more Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen” and lastly “today was a great example of why this stuff should never be done in a dinghy park unless it is an emergency” IF you want to witness more of this, get your entry in for the 60th Anniversary next year!!
Team Slipper went off for a curry in the evening to chat and replenish as wind was due on Thursday, one way or the other!! Pressure off for Valentine who had won the D-Zero, Hadron H2 and Aero 9 class with 3 wins, and was very happy. More Whats App, and “rhetorical question, though obviously the guys who eat pies does pay off” and “I said we should have put Claire in the team! too much modesty”.
Day 4 with a good 12 knots from the East, forcing most sailors to get inshore along Thorney as close as they could. Valentine rocketed off the start and worked his way up the middle of the Bank and using the tide to get to windward, with a 200m lead, tacked right and reached off at pace to East Head, and then the wind dropped with the fleet piling in behind. As the wind softened, Valentine held it in the top 3 being overtaken on the run, though kept in touch. Max from ESC in his D-Zero took the inshore line which has an eddy as the tide runs out to help you go East, where Valentine didn’t want to just follow, so went more towards the middle, and lost out at the line and took 2nd. Simon Boylin back into 10th mid fleet, Nick in his Phantom came 21st, Sean not far behind in 27th so the 300 can be tamed at times, Richard came home 8th with Alex T just behind in 9th, Andy took another 3rd, Mikey T had apparently tried to sink Helen and abandoned or was just an excuse to get to the bar earlier stake his place and get ready for the Band.
Some went home, some stayed at the bar and waited for the Band and refreshed themselves very early.
Day 5, Valentine had gone off to watch helicopters and other winged things, though had tricked Andrew with a flippant comment of “I can’t be bothered to sail Friday having sewn it up early”. Andrew’s face for a moment was of seething contempt… only for a moment then realised he was being joked.
Mikey T is now known to be a soothsayer, as he had refreshed himself so much at the bar on Thursday, as Big Al said “he’s yet to surface from his pit yet” though obviously knowing that the wind was too much, and the event was going to be called off! After much delay and pondering on the beach and the race hut, the flags were hoisted and the racing abandoned, except for the Elites who had already left the shore.
Prizegiving was, ahem, a little delayed and Team Slipper decided to abandon the dinghy park also, though Tom K and David back from watching flying things collected the plates and pleased to hear that Slipper had been awarded 2nd place overall in the Interclub series. Just one point in it between that and 1st place, so maybe next year we’ll win again!!
Notes, comments and thoughts from the Slipper race team…
Day 1 and breeze was forecast, with an early start for all racers with 1st starts at 1025, so breakfast was early, some even down at 7am, yes 7am for sail racing!
Kit on, boats rigged and 15 knots average, with a true SW direction, we were starting across Pilsey Bank for Series B, and down near the Thorney corner for Series A. Series A starts were pushing hard against the tide, though the pin end looked tasty and a sprint across to East Head, however just before the start of the 3rd start for the D-Zero’s and Hadrons (total 14) they quickly moved the bias of the pin end, so a fast reset to the mid-line. Valentine started well and bolted for the East head shore, chased hard by ESC’ James Jenkins, and the two didn’t look back, with Valentine taking the first bullet of the week in the increasing breeze. Simon Boylin took a swim in his D-Zero in the waves, and decided an early bath was a really smart move.
Some exciting sailing on the way through the waves over the Winner Bank breaking onto the East head shore, and having the Mengham mark boat for Series B wing right in the line for the Series A wing mark – some great close-up photo opportunities could have been had, but no.
Nick Mason had taken a “sickie” in his Phantom, Richard Sharp in the following start to the D-Z’s in his Finn came home 5th having worked hard in the wind and waves. Andrew Gould finished 2nd in the Asy Handicap fleet with his Musto Skiff, sailing an extended circuit to the first 4 starts of Series A. Mikey T and Helen Moore in her first ever Chi race Week pulled their RS200 into 8th. Unusually Mark Riddington was pushed into 2nd place in the Aero 7’s by a Felpham sailor (its ok, he’s had words with himself and was promising more for tomorrow), and Tom Kennedy also in an Aero 7 was 4th. Claire Power came home 6th in her Aero 5, being challenged by plenty of breeze. Josh Pope in his ILCA 4 (Laser 4.7 for the traditionalists!) ignored his lighter weight and won his race.
Allegedly Sean Curtis was absent on day one, as when he read the tea leaves at breakfast, there was an image of his 300 pitchpoling! Wise move maybe…
Off to Slipper for a Spanish sports drink or two, purely for vitamin and carb replenishment (so says our local Olympic physio) at “Home” to review the day that was! According to one non-sailor, every night at “Fed Week” is a Friday night, which is fine if you’re not sailing, mentioning no names Rick K???
Plus, we had to discuss WHO will be in the Slipper Team, that took at least another one or two sports drinks to discuss…
Day 2, Team selected – Valentine, Riddington, Gould, Josh Pope and Sharp. No pressure then Team, Go Slipper! A slightly lower breeze than Monday, this time with a lower 8-9 knots and from a more Westerly direction, leading to queries on where to start – do you run down the Pilsey/Stocker Bank, or do you go to East Head, then bang right. Some of the 15s went to East Head and popped out at the windward mark years ahead of the rest of the fleet. Valentine went down the bank on the right-hand side, which also worked, though had to push hard against the Hadrons.
However, D-Zero 66 held on despite being pushed and being kept honest by a Locks SC D-Zero and a Hadron on the downhills, though kept it ultra flat on the last beat to take another bullet. Simon Boylin worked hard in his D-Zero and came home 10th, where the mid fleet racing was close and intense. Nick Mason came 22nd in his Phantom in a busy fleet, Sean Curtis came 30th without his 300 trying to kill him, Richard Sharp had a much better day and took 2nd in the Finn, Andrew Gould in the Musto came 3rd, Mikey T and Helen in the 200 hugely improved to 5th, Mark had another 2nd and more words of improvement from Andy maybe needed – something like, “get to the front and stay there”, or “go faster than others” ! Tom K slipped one place to 5th, too many bacon sarnies in the lighter breeze maybe? Claire improved by two places in her Aero 5 to a 4th, and Josh Pope had a frustrating day with an apparent lack of pointing and slipped into 5th.
Some of Team Slipper headed to Mengham RSC in the evening to win back the Quiz Cup where apparently “we wuz robbed” a few years ago and Andrew was up for reclaiming the prize and eat a sausage or two! Andrew was over-excited as the music round was the Eighties.
Day 3 and very light winds forecast, southerly 3-4knots, though forecast was to increase. Valentine, as many know absolutely loves lightwind sailing and is well-known as a specialist in these conditions or NOT, with a super lightweight build and we don’t mean the boat! so pressure on… just wish it was wind pressure…
Starting from down near Mill Rythe for Series A, and the middle of Pilsey Bank for B’s, a general postponement on the beach and then more at the start areas. Flags up to go, so we were away. In the A’s do you go pin end and starboard tack across Pilsey or Committee boat end and run up the edge of the bank avoiding the tidal stream. Valentine went Committee end and managed to pull a lead, watching a Hadron at the pin and running towards a darker patch just off East Head slowly moving 20 degrees west. The breeze came in and a 3-knot increase, with Valentine being kept honest all the way round by a Hadron and a Locks D-Z, though managed to pull away on the last beat again to take his 3rd bullet.
Simon Boylin had decided that a day at home was well worth building the brownie points and getting some stuff done. Nick Mason had a better day and came 15th, Sean had a much better day and came 26th improving nicely, Richard Sharp was working hard and came home 3rd building more points, whilst Alex Thorsby with plans to just race 3 days and win all came 11th, Andrew Gould also 3rd, Mikey T and Helen slipping to 5th, Mark Riddington flew into a 1st place benefiting from all his lightwind skills and practice, with Tom K in 11th, Claire doing superbly and coming 2nd, so improving 2 places every day, no pressure there then ! Josh Pope came a consistent 5th.
Notes from the Whats App Slipper feed were as follows, and I’m not making this up: “Watching Mark fix Sean’s mast today with literally a knife and fork was priceless this morning, never have I seen such anquish, like watching Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel with a roller from Wickes”, and “the Slipper boat bimbling reached new heights today especially with Thomsons 80grit and compass sanding block”. “I do think Michelangelo is a bit OTT, maybe more Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen” and lastly “today was a great example of why this stuff should never be done in a dinghy park unless it is an emergency” IF you want to witness more of this, get your entry in for the 60th Anniversary next year!!
Team Slipper went off for a curry in the evening to chat and replenish as wind was due on Thursday, one way or the other!! Pressure off for Valentine who had won the D-Zero, Hadron H2 and Aero 9 class with 3 wins, and was very happy. More Whats App, and “rhetorical question, though obviously the guys who eat pies does pay off” and “I said we should have put Claire in the team! too much modesty”.
Day 4 with a good 12 knots from the East, forcing most sailors to get inshore along Thorney as close as they could. Valentine rocketed off the start and worked his way up the middle of the Bank and using the tide to get to windward, with a 200m lead, tacked right and reached off at pace to East Head, and then the wind dropped with the fleet piling in behind. As the wind softened, Valentine held it in the top 3 being overtaken on the run, though kept in touch. Max from ESC in his D-Zero took the inshore line which has an eddy as the tide runs out to help you go East, where Valentine didn’t want to just follow, so went more towards the middle, and lost out at the line and took 2nd. Simon Boylin back into 10th mid fleet, Nick in his Phantom came 21st, Sean not far behind in 27th so the 300 can be tamed at times, Richard came home 8th with Alex T just behind in 9th, Andy took another 3rd, Mikey T had apparently tried to sink Helen and abandoned or was just an excuse to get to the bar earlier stake his place and get ready for the Band.
Some went home, some stayed at the bar and waited for the Band and refreshed themselves very early.
Day 5, Valentine had gone off to watch helicopters and other winged things, though had tricked Andrew with a flippant comment of “I can’t be bothered to sail Friday having sewn it up early”. Andrew’s face for a moment was of seething contempt… only for a moment then realised he was being joked.
Mikey T is now known to be a soothsayer, as he had refreshed himself so much at the bar on Thursday, as Big Al said “he’s yet to surface from his pit yet” though obviously knowing that the wind was too much, and the event was going to be called off! After much delay and pondering on the beach and the race hut, the flags were hoisted and the racing abandoned, except for the Elites who had already left the shore.
Prizegiving was, ahem, a little delayed and Team Slipper decided to abandon the dinghy park also, though Tom K and David back from watching flying things collected the plates and pleased to hear that Slipper had been awarded 2nd place overall in the Interclub series. Just one point in it between that and 1st place, so maybe next year we’ll win again!!
Zippy and friends enjoy the West Kirby and Dee SC Regattas.
Hello from a very hot Zippy the Dzero, steaming in the boat park after a delightful sunny weekend of cavorting around the cans with my DZero friends in our home Open meeting, which was also part of the West Kirby and Dee SC Regattas.
We actually started the event a day early, with a warm up race around Hilbre Island, which was not part of the open meeting, but involved a traditional DZero silver trophy, modelled on the large green channel marker HE4, which we usually round on the way. Previous winners of this cup have been Mick Green and latterly yours truly, so the race was on!
Hilbre Island perches welcomingly at the entrance of the Dee estuary, flanked by the smaller islands Middle Eye and Little Eye. The waters around them are so shallow that you humans can walk across the sand from West Kirby to them a few hours after high water.
Ian Baillie had driven all the way from Dalgety Bay, near Edinburgh for his first visit to my home waters, as did John Pickett from Leigh on Lowton. Gordon Stewart from Bedfordshire had been here before, but not around Hilbre and Mick Green from Lancashire was due to arrive for the weekend.
The wind Gods had set us a downwind start to the Islands, so we plotted our path in the shallows to avoid the very strong spring flood tide. The choice of shallows were multiple; mid-channel sandbanks or inshore? The mass fleet start included 20 other dinghies and a fleet of larger local keelboats; the Hilbre and Star classes, which started half an hour before us. In the light winds, the boats spread out quickly and converged again as we approached the Island. There, the options again were plenty. The turning mark at the far side of the Island was to be left to Starboard, but the Island was considered a mere obstacle!
Ian chose to follow the Falcon sailors on the shore side of the Island, which seemed to have less tide, but also less wind. Gordon hugged the estuary side of the Island and picked up a handy, speedy back eddy, which took him to meet Ian at the mark. I had stayed on the bank in the estuary in more wind, but adverse tide, so missing the sneaky back eddy.
Ian rounded first and, not having a clue what was going on, followed the Hilbre class boats on the estuary side homewards. Gordon rounded second and, not having a clue what was going on, went the opposite way to Ian.
I went around next and, having no clue at all what was going on, led Mick and John around the Island behind Gordon.
Ian had chosen wisely and shot off to our upwind mark, far up estuary from Dee Sailing Club. For the rest of us, it was the longest starboard tack in my living memory. By the time we had passed Dee, the wind had almost died and a stowaway spider had sewn the startings of a web between my mast and wind indicator.
Ian was by then home, showered and supping a cold beer on the slipway, minding our trollies. He won the dinghy race by an impressive 4 minutes in a race lasting over 2 hours from the second placed IC and nearly 17 minutes ahead of Gordon’s DZero and 22 minutes ahead of me. John wasn’t far behind, but failed to pass through the lap line and was kindly diverted back home by the rescue boat before the wind died and tide swept him around Hilbre Island for a second round.
Ian was duly presented with the HE4 trophy and the competitors lounged on the patio with a bbq in the sunshine, late into the evening.
The wind forecast for the entire weekend had looked very light, so the following morning our sailing sec, Mike Hartley kindly offered to run us a few races on the marine lake, to be used as a back up incase the wind failed to arrive.
We completed four short sprint races; 3 of which were won by Ian and 1 won by me. I ended the last race swinging on the pin mark by my rudder at the finish, trying to beat Gordon’s boat in a tiny gap that the wind didn’t allow me to use.
The Owners gathered for a coffee at Mick’s van and discussed the morning’s efforts. On the slipway, us boats all agreed that the Owners were getting the hang of starting by the last race.
By midday, the water had arrived and we tootled off to sea and a trapezoidal course set by RO Andrew Potter (Owner’s Owner and Commodore of DSC.)
Of all our starts so far, this had been John’s best one and his boat chose this moment to drop it’s halyard. It’s a trick I tried at the Brixham Nationals last year and was then met with a grumpy, angry helm, so not one I’d recommend. John managed the little problem well though and managed to re-hoist the sail, though it cost him some distance from the fleet.
Ian had a good start and set off crossing tacks with Mick until close to the windward mark, where one good tack by Ian inside Mick, who had overstood the mark slightly, got him through into first. Gordon was close behind Mick on the reach and I was chasing puffily behind. On the third running leg, I managed to sail through the three of them and held onto the lead until the next upwind leg, where Ian passed me as I tacked to cover Mick and Gordon. Mick’s boat had convinced him it was the finish after lap 2 and they eased off to practice a few tacks before realising the race was still ongoing. Back at the sharp end, it was Ian with the win from Me and Gordon.
The second race was led by Ian from the start, followed by Me.
Gordon managed to squeeze past me on the third lap to put me in third with Mick and John not far behind.
We boats were showered and returned to the boat park, whilst the Owners travelled to DSC for a huge regatta buffet, the day’s prizegiving and a stunning sunset on the cliffside above the Dee estuary.
On Sunday, it was the turn of WKSC to run the regatta. We would be using the 4 results from both regatta days (with 1 discard) as the Open Series decider. In the morning, us DZero’s had chosen to have another Owner training session on the lake. Lord knows they need it. There was no wind at all, so we sat around with our sails up whilst the Ownerdoms poked, pulled and sweated over us. Some adjustments were made and one alert Owner even noticed that my top batten wasn’t correctly inserted, Thanks Gordon! Mick then performed minor surgery involving a set of keys and a small screwdriver. All without anaesthetic and a kidney-shaped tray to catch the pieces.
By afternoon, a small and sufficient bit of wind had arrived. RO Mike Hartley set up a windward/leeward course close inshore to try to negate the effects of the very strong tide. It was a one-sided beat up the shore, where we all overstood the mark. Ian led the way, followed closely by Me, Gordon and John, finishing in that order too.
For race 2, the tide had slackened a little during the first lap and started ebbing more strongly for laps 2&3. We had a great first start, unlike poor Mick who was over the line and had to return through a tightly packed line of starters. I arrived at the windward mark first, only to be overtaken by Ian with superior downwind boat speed.
Gordon was not far behind and we had a battle for overall second place going on between us. With a crafty last run in the shallows out of the tide, I managed to defend our second place by 11 seconds. Behind us, John was having a tussle with a 420, who had rounded the leeward mark rather better, leaving him an awkward gap on the finish line. His boat stroked the committee boat with its boom as a parting gesture to a wonderful day’s racing.
Once ashore, the results were quite straightforward, with Ian winning, my Owner Liz in second, Gordon in third, Mick fourth and John in fifth.
Ian was presented with a new DZero perpetual trophy for the event. It is small and silver, acquired by Owner on Ebay especially for the occasion. If you look very closely, the inscription reads “Best Alsatian in Show”. A worthy winner indeed.
Many thanks to all the helpers, rescuers, feeders, RO’s, results team and most importantly the competitors, especially my DZero friends who travelled all this way to be with me.
Until we all meet again, stay sane and happy!
Zippy Zero here to edit.
Hello from a very hot Zippy the Dzero, steaming in the boat park after a delightful sunny weekend of cavorting around the cans with my DZero friends in our home Open meeting, which was also part of the West Kirby and Dee SC Regattas.
We actually started the event a day early, with a warm up race around Hilbre Island, which was not part of the open meeting, but involved a traditional DZero silver trophy, modelled on the large green channel marker HE4, which we usually round on the way. Previous winners of this cup have been Mick Green and latterly yours truly, so the race was on!
Hilbre Island perches welcomingly at the entrance of the Dee estuary, flanked by the smaller islands Middle Eye and Little Eye. The waters around them are so shallow that you humans can walk across the sand from West Kirby to them a few hours after high water.
Ian Baillie had driven all the way from Dalgety Bay, near Edinburgh for his first visit to my home waters, as did John Pickett from Leigh on Lowton. Gordon Stewart from Bedfordshire had been here before, but not around Hilbre and Mick Green from Lancashire was due to arrive for the weekend.
The wind Gods had set us a downwind start to the Islands, so we plotted our path in the shallows to avoid the very strong spring flood tide. The choice of shallows were multiple; mid-channel sandbanks or inshore? The mass fleet start included 20 other dinghies and a fleet of larger local keelboats; the Hilbre and Star classes, which started half an hour before us. In the light winds, the boats spread out quickly and converged again as we approached the Island. There, the options again were plenty. The turning mark at the far side of the Island was to be left to Starboard, but the Island was considered a mere obstacle!
Ian chose to follow the Falcon sailors on the shore side of the Island, which seemed to have less tide, but also less wind. Gordon hugged the estuary side of the Island and picked up a handy, speedy back eddy, which took him to meet Ian at the mark. I had stayed on the bank in the estuary in more wind, but adverse tide, so missing the sneaky back eddy.
Ian rounded first and, not having a clue what was going on, followed the Hilbre class boats on the estuary side homewards. Gordon rounded second and, not having a clue what was going on, went the opposite way to Ian.
I went around next and, having no clue at all what was going on, led Mick and John around the Island behind Gordon.
Ian had chosen wisely and shot off to our upwind mark, far up estuary from Dee Sailing Club. For the rest of us, it was the longest starboard tack in my living memory. By the time we had passed Dee, the wind had almost died and a stowaway spider had sewn the startings of a web between my mast and wind indicator.
Ian was by then home, showered and supping a cold beer on the slipway, minding our trollies. He won the dinghy race by an impressive 4 minutes in a race lasting over 2 hours from the second placed IC and nearly 17 minutes ahead of Gordon’s DZero and 22 minutes ahead of me. John wasn’t far behind, but failed to pass through the lap line and was kindly diverted back home by the rescue boat before the wind died and tide swept him around Hilbre Island for a second round.
Ian was duly presented with the HE4 trophy and the competitors lounged on the patio with a bbq in the sunshine, late into the evening.
The wind forecast for the entire weekend had looked very light, so the following morning our sailing sec, Mike Hartley kindly offered to run us a few races on the marine lake, to be used as a back up incase the wind failed to arrive.
We completed four short sprint races; 3 of which were won by Ian and 1 won by me. I ended the last race swinging on the pin mark by my rudder at the finish, trying to beat Gordon’s boat in a tiny gap that the wind didn’t allow me to use.
The Owners gathered for a coffee at Mick’s van and discussed the morning’s efforts. On the slipway, us boats all agreed that the Owners were getting the hang of starting by the last race.
By midday, the water had arrived and we tootled off to sea and a trapezoidal course set by RO Andrew Potter (Owner’s Owner and Commodore of DSC.)
Of all our starts so far, this had been John’s best one and his boat chose this moment to drop it’s halyard. It’s a trick I tried at the Brixham Nationals last year and was then met with a grumpy, angry helm, so not one I’d recommend. John managed the little problem well though and managed to re-hoist the sail, though it cost him some distance from the fleet.
Ian had a good start and set off crossing tacks with Mick until close to the windward mark, where one good tack by Ian inside Mick, who had overstood the mark slightly, got him through into first. Gordon was close behind Mick on the reach and I was chasing puffily behind. On the third running leg, I managed to sail through the three of them and held onto the lead until the next upwind leg, where Ian passed me as I tacked to cover Mick and Gordon. Mick’s boat had convinced him it was the finish after lap 2 and they eased off to practice a few tacks before realising the race was still ongoing. Back at the sharp end, it was Ian with the win from Me and Gordon.
The second race was led by Ian from the start, followed by Me.
Gordon managed to squeeze past me on the third lap to put me in third with Mick and John not far behind.
We boats were showered and returned to the boat park, whilst the Owners travelled to DSC for a huge regatta buffet, the day’s prizegiving and a stunning sunset on the cliffside above the Dee estuary.
On Sunday, it was the turn of WKSC to run the regatta. We would be using the 4 results from both regatta days (with 1 discard) as the Open Series decider. In the morning, us DZero’s had chosen to have another Owner training session on the lake. Lord knows they need it. There was no wind at all, so we sat around with our sails up whilst the Ownerdoms poked, pulled and sweated over us. Some adjustments were made and one alert Owner even noticed that my top batten wasn’t correctly inserted, Thanks Gordon! Mick then performed minor surgery involving a set of keys and a small screwdriver. All without anaesthetic and a kidney-shaped tray to catch the pieces.
By afternoon, a small and sufficient bit of wind had arrived. RO Mike Hartley set up a windward/leeward course close inshore to try to negate the effects of the very strong tide. It was a one-sided beat up the shore, where we all overstood the mark. Ian led the way, followed closely by Me, Gordon and John, finishing in that order too.
For race 2, the tide had slackened a little during the first lap and started ebbing more strongly for laps 2&3. We had a great first start, unlike poor Mick who was over the line and had to return through a tightly packed line of starters. I arrived at the windward mark first, only to be overtaken by Ian with superior downwind boat speed.
Gordon was not far behind and we had a battle for overall second place going on between us. With a crafty last run in the shallows out of the tide, I managed to defend our second place by 11 seconds. Behind us, John was having a tussle with a 420, who had rounded the leeward mark rather better, leaving him an awkward gap on the finish line. His boat stroked the committee boat with its boom as a parting gesture to a wonderful day’s racing.
Once ashore, the results were quite straightforward, with Ian winning, my Owner Liz in second, Gordon in third, Mick fourth and John in fifth.
Ian was presented with a new DZero perpetual trophy for the event. It is small and silver, acquired by Owner on Ebay especially for the occasion. If you look very closely, the inscription reads “Best Alsatian in Show”. A worthy winner indeed.
Many thanks to all the helpers, rescuers, feeders, RO’s, results team and most importantly the competitors, especially my DZero friends who travelled all this way to be with me.
Until we all meet again, stay sane and happy!
Zippy Zero here to edit.
Zippy Zero's Adventure at Menai Straits Regatta
Ahoy there Mateys! Gather round and let me spin you a tale of high winds, sandbanks, whirlpools and buoy blunders from the prospective of yours truly, Zippy the D-Zero 333. I’ve been through quite a fortnight of drama with my trusty Owner and skipper Liz Potter, at the Menai Straits Regatta in North Wales.
The Regatta has a long history, originally dating back to the 19th century, when daring sailors and their trusty vessels braved the swirling waters in search of glory. Over the years it has become a colourful tradition that celebrates both skilled sailing and the joy of camaraderie. Our escapades are just a drop in the vast ocean of tales that this regatta has witnessed. So here it is; the tale of the 2023 event from the little boat that was there.
The opening day was a blustery affair, run by the Royal Dee Yacht Club. I launched in the lee of Beaumaris Pier in a nice little breeze, which, within 20 metres became a honking, big wave, tidal 20-knotter.
Owner was delicately perched over my transom, tending to my rudder, when I careered off in a plume of spray and foam to let her know what we were really dealing with. The message from the engine room read “Rough passage ahead. Fasten bra straps. Remove dentures and sunglasses.” Luckily there were no false teeth or sunglasses, as the drizzle was making the visibility quite a challenge. Only two dinghies; me and the GP14 sailed by Tim and Paul Scott-Wilson plus a handful of keelboats braved the scary conditions. It was a very wet 34 minutes of ploughing beneath waves and flying over crests, which ended in a deafening bang. I checked my body parts and all were still intact. Owner was also in one piece and incredibly, still on board. Then I realised it was a canon and I’d finished. It was a win for me and a second for Tim.
The next morning was the turn of Bangor Town to run the races. We started from Beaumaris and raced towards the bridges on a windward/leeward course, finishing at the Gazelle Hotel. There, we had a wait in the shallows, whilst the race team started the sequence for the second race back to Beaumaris.
The overall results put me in second, just behind Tim’s GP14 who took the win, with Mark and Phil Finch coming third in their Wayfarer.
Tuesday had been a long day out at sea before starting out on the epic 20km race to Caernarfon through the Straits the following day. I was enjoying my snooze on the Green that night and was rudely awakened at 5am on Weds morning by Owner stripping off my cozy covers and whipping my trolley from underneath me like some cheap tablecloth trick. Off she went with all my stuff and trailer, to relocate my bits to Caernarfon ready for my planned arrival later that day. The wind was forecast to be light, so the organisers postponed the start by an hour to allow the big spring tide to work in our favour. It was awesome sailing beneath the first huge bridge and I gave the bridge pillars a lot of room as the tide swirled fiercely around them.
During the crossing of these tidal swirls, know as the Swellies, I gave my cockpit a thorough washout in the crazy whirlpools, which had kindly been provided for us, presumably by the Nelson Man on the plinth overlooking the water park. I also spent some time collecting foil-fulls of flowers (seaweed) for Owner in appreciation of her thoughtful spa treatment for me.
It was a beat for the next two hours and I’d already caught up with most of the keelboats from the previous half-hour of starts before we cleared the second bridge.
The Straits shot by in the ever-increasing current and my flower collection was now streaming out behind me like ribbons on a maypole. I barely had time to flap my leech at my friends at Port Dinorwic Sailing Club, before we were making the final approaches towards Caernarfon. The canons fired at me to signal the end of my day, giving me a 3rd place on corrected time behind the Finches Wayfarer in 2nd and Scotts GP in 1st. Caernarfon Castle is the home of the Royal Welsh Yacht Club, who were our hosts for the evening. They provided the competitors with a generous buffet after racing and the singing of the Welsh sailors could be heard from my overnight berth on the banks of the Aber Foreshore over the river.
The next morning it was the wind that was howling like an overenthusiastic sea shanty and we were back to some severe toestrap weather. Our race set off on a very long one-sided beat towards Y-Felinheli. All the handicap dinghies were quite close. Once we rounded the mark, I sped off on a broad reach, with my white-eyed owner rapidly becoming a no-eyed Owner as the spray increased.
After our long reach-by-braille, the wind shifted to give us a fetch and reaching course, where we were able to lose the rest of the fleet and win by a considerable margin. The Scotts GP was second, followed by the Finches in the Wayfarer and then the Albacore sailed by Andrew and Caroline Willatt in fourth.
The stories in the boatpark that night highlighted the trickier aspects the mark roundings behind me, as the tide strengthened. The Wayfarer and Albacore both struggled to lay the windward mark and had to tack several times to lay it. On the first approach, crew Phil of the Wayfarer called out to helm Mark “Have you seen the Star (boat) to the East?”. “Yes, I see it” said Mark. “Then follow the Star” said Phil. Unfortunately there were two Stars and Mark hadn’t seen the first one. By that time, they were one wise man and a few sheep short of making a neat bear away to duck its transom, so a slam tack was performed and another attempt to round the mark started. Needless to say, they were last to the Inn after sailing, with little gold left but plenty of mirth.
The next day, the wind was still blowing onshore, which meant a short beating and long reaching course and a repeat of the previous days racing. It was a little lighter, but still Zipping conditions and we went on to win that one too, with a repeat of Thursday’s finishing positions for the rest of the fleet too.
Storm Anthone was due the following day and the racing at Port Dinorwic was cancelled, meaning we’d wrapped up the first week’s series with a win overall. The boats were packed up and the Owners were treated to another evening of beer and food at the Castle, as they had every evening in Caernarfon. Well done RWYC – great hospitality!
I was allowed to rest on my trailer for the weekend before the start of week 2. A few more dinghies had arrived on the Green; another GP14, a Laser 2000 and three Yellow Perils – Fireflies from Liverpool University, which were being sailed by a selection of 9 students; recently graduated from American Universities, who had been on summer tour in the North of England competing in various sailing events. The Young Ones brought with them a wave of youthful positive energy and I loved them even more when they came to admire me in the boat park. They all promised to buy DZeros when they returned home mid-week.
The positive vibes on that Monday morning were short-lived for us.
After a great start, we made a final tack to round the windward mark, which was positioned on the edge of a visible sandbank.
I felt the telltale scrape beneath me. Yes, my friends, we had run aground! I imagined the sand grains chuckling to themselves as they held me captive for an extensively embarrassing time. Despite raising daggerboard and rudder, I just found another bit of land clinging on to me. Owner eventually got out into calf deep water and waded about a bit, whilst I built a sandcastle, ordered an ice-cream and played with the seagulls. By then we’d given the rest of the fleet a reasonable time to get away.
It took us an hour to get back with the pack and I worked very hard downwind to gain some distance ahead. There was more drama to come.
At the leeward mark, the keelboats were rounding it to starboard and I was reaching in on port to round to port. There was only one very slow Menai Strait One Design boat which seemed to be timed for trouble, but he still had a kite up and wasn’t looking like he was up for a neat mark rounding at all. Yeah, you know what I was thinking. Nippy Zippy right? I decided on a little prayer to help with proceedings but could only remember one and the words “Lead me not into temptation” didn’t seem very appropriate given the manoever I was about to perform, so I settled for “Deliver me from Evil”, which should at least keep my insurers happy.
I picked my wave and moment, carve gybed into the still available space beside the buoy and waved politely at Mr MSOD, who gasped as he saw me for the first time. I immediately tacked onto starboard and looked ahead to see the entire Fife fleet approaching me downwind on port tack – a sea of kites and masts and not a single face in view. The hailing was hopeless and my grey sail was in stealth mode. Owner held her nerve and weaved through them in a Zippy near-death experience, only remembering about the final turning mark (which we had since passed) once the horror was over. We tacked back and reached to the last mark, writing off the whole experience with a 5th place discard. The race was won by Jean Louis-Simmons in the GP14, followed by one of the Yellow Perils in a Firefly, sailed by Michelle Lahrkamp in second.
Third was the GP14 sailed by the Scott-Wilsons.
At last, one of my favourite days had arrived. It was the play with the Seals day and occasionally Puffins too, if in season. The wind was zephyringly light and we all hugged the shore before the start of the famous Round Puffin Island Race. There was a fierce tide running towards the Island, which was good, but not helpful for the start. We timed the 180 degree turn to run across the start line, allowing for a considerable safety margin, as an OCS was effectively game over. The Firefly sailed by Michelle had a spot on start and sped along with the tide to lead the dinghy race until just short of the Island, where they overstood the channel mark and lost ground reaching back. At this point, there were two slower keelboats ahead of me, which had started some half hour before.
I overtook both before Penmon Point and proudly led all of the fleets around the Island and home. I was not allowed to play with seals and the Puffins were on holiday abroad, but Owner shared her biscuit with me and spilt considerable coffee over my cockpit, so I guess we had a good time.
The handicap thing put us in 6th place and the 1st and 2nd places went to Yellow Perils of Michelle Lahrkamp and Ciara Rodriguez Horan – go ladies!!!
And in third place, the Finches Wayfarer enjoyed the long spinnaker run home.
Another day, more wind and the turn of Hoylake Sailing Club to run the racing. It was a low tide affair, with plenty of sandbanks on offer. My bucket and spade were unpacked by Owner, while she gave me a bit of a pep talk. Then we launched into the strong, still ebbing tide. A number of dinghies were OCS and we had to tack up the bank to make ground. The Scotts GP14 was braver than me and went further inshore beyond Bangor Pier to take a lead around the first mark. It was a dead run and very gusty, so I shot off with Owner holding on very tight. A glorious reach across the channel followed; all of 3 or 4 minutes of pleasure followed by another long beat up the sandbanks.
After 2 laps, I still hadn’t made enough distance from the GP, who took the win, followed by Lahrkamp in second and me in third.
The final day of racing was super light. We started after several postponements and inter-fleet confusion about whether mark 10 was part of our course or not. The extra buoy had appeared on the shore course boards before our start, but wasn’t on our dinghy whiteboard when we signed on. I sailed around to do a quick poll of what everyone thought and then, as we would likely be lead boat, decided not to include it. At the start gun, the Albacore sailed by Andrew and Kathryn Willatt found a very narrow conveyor belt of favourable tide and, like Aladdin on his magic carpet, he shot off into the distance, where he found some wind to increase his lead.
The rest of us bobbed around in no wind, gently floating on a bit of tide in the right general direction. I took Owner over to the right of the course, where I could smell a little breeze arriving and we took that with us to the windward mark, followed closely by the GP sailed by Jean-Louis and Izzy Simons and the Wayfarer.
Once around the mark, the Albacore went and parked up in the big hole that we all had been sitting in. I hung onto my breeze on the other side and the Simons GP followed not too far behind with the help of its kite. It was a long slow run to the next mark and any boredom was broken by unexpected events, such as the Milnes needing to cross me to go around mark 10 (which was grumpy because we’d boycotted it). The moment I gave him permission to pass me, the wind flipped around 180 degrees to a beat. We skipped off and his heavier keelboat did some sail-dancing, without moving its feet. It was a relief to see the shortened flag up, and the GP14 finished close enough behind me to finish first on handicap. The rest of the fleet wallowed some time longer, with the Laser 2000 of Stan van den Berg and Sheena picking up a third.
So ended the fortnight, as strong winds returned for the last 2 days causing abandoned races.
The event was won overall by Tim and Paul Scott-Wilson in their GP14, by one point from me and my Owner Liz Potter. Mark and Phil Finch came 3rd overall.
As Zippy, the D-Zero boat, I’ve weathered these humorous misadventures with my skipper Liz. And while victory may have eluded us this time around, the memories and laughter we’ve shared on the Menai Strait with our fellow boats and Owners will be forever etched into our fibreglass hulls or wooden planks and into our sailor’s hearts. Until the next regatta, fair winds and blue seas my friends!
Zippy Zero 333
[Editor - if you've got this far, the editor has had a word with Zippy whom apologises for a number of photos of old funny looking wooden boats and not super-sexy fibreglass foam sandwich, carbon-fibre and kevlar...]
Ahoy there Mateys! Gather round and let me spin you a tale of high winds, sandbanks, whirlpools and buoy blunders from the prospective of yours truly, Zippy the D-Zero 333. I’ve been through quite a fortnight of drama with my trusty Owner and skipper Liz Potter, at the Menai Straits Regatta in North Wales.
The Regatta has a long history, originally dating back to the 19th century, when daring sailors and their trusty vessels braved the swirling waters in search of glory. Over the years it has become a colourful tradition that celebrates both skilled sailing and the joy of camaraderie. Our escapades are just a drop in the vast ocean of tales that this regatta has witnessed. So here it is; the tale of the 2023 event from the little boat that was there.
The opening day was a blustery affair, run by the Royal Dee Yacht Club. I launched in the lee of Beaumaris Pier in a nice little breeze, which, within 20 metres became a honking, big wave, tidal 20-knotter.
Owner was delicately perched over my transom, tending to my rudder, when I careered off in a plume of spray and foam to let her know what we were really dealing with. The message from the engine room read “Rough passage ahead. Fasten bra straps. Remove dentures and sunglasses.” Luckily there were no false teeth or sunglasses, as the drizzle was making the visibility quite a challenge. Only two dinghies; me and the GP14 sailed by Tim and Paul Scott-Wilson plus a handful of keelboats braved the scary conditions. It was a very wet 34 minutes of ploughing beneath waves and flying over crests, which ended in a deafening bang. I checked my body parts and all were still intact. Owner was also in one piece and incredibly, still on board. Then I realised it was a canon and I’d finished. It was a win for me and a second for Tim.
The next morning was the turn of Bangor Town to run the races. We started from Beaumaris and raced towards the bridges on a windward/leeward course, finishing at the Gazelle Hotel. There, we had a wait in the shallows, whilst the race team started the sequence for the second race back to Beaumaris.
The overall results put me in second, just behind Tim’s GP14 who took the win, with Mark and Phil Finch coming third in their Wayfarer.
Tuesday had been a long day out at sea before starting out on the epic 20km race to Caernarfon through the Straits the following day. I was enjoying my snooze on the Green that night and was rudely awakened at 5am on Weds morning by Owner stripping off my cozy covers and whipping my trolley from underneath me like some cheap tablecloth trick. Off she went with all my stuff and trailer, to relocate my bits to Caernarfon ready for my planned arrival later that day. The wind was forecast to be light, so the organisers postponed the start by an hour to allow the big spring tide to work in our favour. It was awesome sailing beneath the first huge bridge and I gave the bridge pillars a lot of room as the tide swirled fiercely around them.
During the crossing of these tidal swirls, know as the Swellies, I gave my cockpit a thorough washout in the crazy whirlpools, which had kindly been provided for us, presumably by the Nelson Man on the plinth overlooking the water park. I also spent some time collecting foil-fulls of flowers (seaweed) for Owner in appreciation of her thoughtful spa treatment for me.
It was a beat for the next two hours and I’d already caught up with most of the keelboats from the previous half-hour of starts before we cleared the second bridge.
The Straits shot by in the ever-increasing current and my flower collection was now streaming out behind me like ribbons on a maypole. I barely had time to flap my leech at my friends at Port Dinorwic Sailing Club, before we were making the final approaches towards Caernarfon. The canons fired at me to signal the end of my day, giving me a 3rd place on corrected time behind the Finches Wayfarer in 2nd and Scotts GP in 1st. Caernarfon Castle is the home of the Royal Welsh Yacht Club, who were our hosts for the evening. They provided the competitors with a generous buffet after racing and the singing of the Welsh sailors could be heard from my overnight berth on the banks of the Aber Foreshore over the river.
The next morning it was the wind that was howling like an overenthusiastic sea shanty and we were back to some severe toestrap weather. Our race set off on a very long one-sided beat towards Y-Felinheli. All the handicap dinghies were quite close. Once we rounded the mark, I sped off on a broad reach, with my white-eyed owner rapidly becoming a no-eyed Owner as the spray increased.
After our long reach-by-braille, the wind shifted to give us a fetch and reaching course, where we were able to lose the rest of the fleet and win by a considerable margin. The Scotts GP was second, followed by the Finches in the Wayfarer and then the Albacore sailed by Andrew and Caroline Willatt in fourth.
The stories in the boatpark that night highlighted the trickier aspects the mark roundings behind me, as the tide strengthened. The Wayfarer and Albacore both struggled to lay the windward mark and had to tack several times to lay it. On the first approach, crew Phil of the Wayfarer called out to helm Mark “Have you seen the Star (boat) to the East?”. “Yes, I see it” said Mark. “Then follow the Star” said Phil. Unfortunately there were two Stars and Mark hadn’t seen the first one. By that time, they were one wise man and a few sheep short of making a neat bear away to duck its transom, so a slam tack was performed and another attempt to round the mark started. Needless to say, they were last to the Inn after sailing, with little gold left but plenty of mirth.
The next day, the wind was still blowing onshore, which meant a short beating and long reaching course and a repeat of the previous days racing. It was a little lighter, but still Zipping conditions and we went on to win that one too, with a repeat of Thursday’s finishing positions for the rest of the fleet too.
Storm Anthone was due the following day and the racing at Port Dinorwic was cancelled, meaning we’d wrapped up the first week’s series with a win overall. The boats were packed up and the Owners were treated to another evening of beer and food at the Castle, as they had every evening in Caernarfon. Well done RWYC – great hospitality!
I was allowed to rest on my trailer for the weekend before the start of week 2. A few more dinghies had arrived on the Green; another GP14, a Laser 2000 and three Yellow Perils – Fireflies from Liverpool University, which were being sailed by a selection of 9 students; recently graduated from American Universities, who had been on summer tour in the North of England competing in various sailing events. The Young Ones brought with them a wave of youthful positive energy and I loved them even more when they came to admire me in the boat park. They all promised to buy DZeros when they returned home mid-week.
The positive vibes on that Monday morning were short-lived for us.
After a great start, we made a final tack to round the windward mark, which was positioned on the edge of a visible sandbank.
I felt the telltale scrape beneath me. Yes, my friends, we had run aground! I imagined the sand grains chuckling to themselves as they held me captive for an extensively embarrassing time. Despite raising daggerboard and rudder, I just found another bit of land clinging on to me. Owner eventually got out into calf deep water and waded about a bit, whilst I built a sandcastle, ordered an ice-cream and played with the seagulls. By then we’d given the rest of the fleet a reasonable time to get away.
It took us an hour to get back with the pack and I worked very hard downwind to gain some distance ahead. There was more drama to come.
At the leeward mark, the keelboats were rounding it to starboard and I was reaching in on port to round to port. There was only one very slow Menai Strait One Design boat which seemed to be timed for trouble, but he still had a kite up and wasn’t looking like he was up for a neat mark rounding at all. Yeah, you know what I was thinking. Nippy Zippy right? I decided on a little prayer to help with proceedings but could only remember one and the words “Lead me not into temptation” didn’t seem very appropriate given the manoever I was about to perform, so I settled for “Deliver me from Evil”, which should at least keep my insurers happy.
I picked my wave and moment, carve gybed into the still available space beside the buoy and waved politely at Mr MSOD, who gasped as he saw me for the first time. I immediately tacked onto starboard and looked ahead to see the entire Fife fleet approaching me downwind on port tack – a sea of kites and masts and not a single face in view. The hailing was hopeless and my grey sail was in stealth mode. Owner held her nerve and weaved through them in a Zippy near-death experience, only remembering about the final turning mark (which we had since passed) once the horror was over. We tacked back and reached to the last mark, writing off the whole experience with a 5th place discard. The race was won by Jean Louis-Simmons in the GP14, followed by one of the Yellow Perils in a Firefly, sailed by Michelle Lahrkamp in second.
Third was the GP14 sailed by the Scott-Wilsons.
At last, one of my favourite days had arrived. It was the play with the Seals day and occasionally Puffins too, if in season. The wind was zephyringly light and we all hugged the shore before the start of the famous Round Puffin Island Race. There was a fierce tide running towards the Island, which was good, but not helpful for the start. We timed the 180 degree turn to run across the start line, allowing for a considerable safety margin, as an OCS was effectively game over. The Firefly sailed by Michelle had a spot on start and sped along with the tide to lead the dinghy race until just short of the Island, where they overstood the channel mark and lost ground reaching back. At this point, there were two slower keelboats ahead of me, which had started some half hour before.
I overtook both before Penmon Point and proudly led all of the fleets around the Island and home. I was not allowed to play with seals and the Puffins were on holiday abroad, but Owner shared her biscuit with me and spilt considerable coffee over my cockpit, so I guess we had a good time.
The handicap thing put us in 6th place and the 1st and 2nd places went to Yellow Perils of Michelle Lahrkamp and Ciara Rodriguez Horan – go ladies!!!
And in third place, the Finches Wayfarer enjoyed the long spinnaker run home.
Another day, more wind and the turn of Hoylake Sailing Club to run the racing. It was a low tide affair, with plenty of sandbanks on offer. My bucket and spade were unpacked by Owner, while she gave me a bit of a pep talk. Then we launched into the strong, still ebbing tide. A number of dinghies were OCS and we had to tack up the bank to make ground. The Scotts GP14 was braver than me and went further inshore beyond Bangor Pier to take a lead around the first mark. It was a dead run and very gusty, so I shot off with Owner holding on very tight. A glorious reach across the channel followed; all of 3 or 4 minutes of pleasure followed by another long beat up the sandbanks.
After 2 laps, I still hadn’t made enough distance from the GP, who took the win, followed by Lahrkamp in second and me in third.
The final day of racing was super light. We started after several postponements and inter-fleet confusion about whether mark 10 was part of our course or not. The extra buoy had appeared on the shore course boards before our start, but wasn’t on our dinghy whiteboard when we signed on. I sailed around to do a quick poll of what everyone thought and then, as we would likely be lead boat, decided not to include it. At the start gun, the Albacore sailed by Andrew and Kathryn Willatt found a very narrow conveyor belt of favourable tide and, like Aladdin on his magic carpet, he shot off into the distance, where he found some wind to increase his lead.
The rest of us bobbed around in no wind, gently floating on a bit of tide in the right general direction. I took Owner over to the right of the course, where I could smell a little breeze arriving and we took that with us to the windward mark, followed closely by the GP sailed by Jean-Louis and Izzy Simons and the Wayfarer.
Once around the mark, the Albacore went and parked up in the big hole that we all had been sitting in. I hung onto my breeze on the other side and the Simons GP followed not too far behind with the help of its kite. It was a long slow run to the next mark and any boredom was broken by unexpected events, such as the Milnes needing to cross me to go around mark 10 (which was grumpy because we’d boycotted it). The moment I gave him permission to pass me, the wind flipped around 180 degrees to a beat. We skipped off and his heavier keelboat did some sail-dancing, without moving its feet. It was a relief to see the shortened flag up, and the GP14 finished close enough behind me to finish first on handicap. The rest of the fleet wallowed some time longer, with the Laser 2000 of Stan van den Berg and Sheena picking up a third.
So ended the fortnight, as strong winds returned for the last 2 days causing abandoned races.
The event was won overall by Tim and Paul Scott-Wilson in their GP14, by one point from me and my Owner Liz Potter. Mark and Phil Finch came 3rd overall.
As Zippy, the D-Zero boat, I’ve weathered these humorous misadventures with my skipper Liz. And while victory may have eluded us this time around, the memories and laughter we’ve shared on the Menai Strait with our fellow boats and Owners will be forever etched into our fibreglass hulls or wooden planks and into our sailor’s hearts. Until the next regatta, fair winds and blue seas my friends!
Zippy Zero 333
[Editor - if you've got this far, the editor has had a word with Zippy whom apologises for a number of photos of old funny looking wooden boats and not super-sexy fibreglass foam sandwich, carbon-fibre and kevlar...]
D-Zeros at Yorkshire Dales Event
Report author is Paul Jefferies (and others), all photos are Copyright Paul Hargreaves
On a cold, cloudy summers day in Yorkshire a small fleet of D-Zeros gathered at Yorkshire Dales to have an Open meeting and celebrate D-Zero sailor Ed Deacon getting married. Numbers were a little depleted as several D0Zero sailors decided (for reasons we simply cannot fathom) to sail other boats at the event. Ed is also a prominent Vago sailor.
With a leisurely start time of 'after lunch' to allow those travelling from the festivities the previous day to recover the early arrivals had a great view of the RS400s doing their first 2 races. Did you know it is really easy to sail the perfect race when you viewing from an elevated platform....
After a lovely lunch prepared by the club the fleet launched and headed down to mark 11 in the north east corner. With seconds to go Rohan decided that there really was a gap between Paul (your roving reporter for day 1) and Gordon. Unfortunately for him said gap was closing resulting in Paul and Rohan getting a little too close for comfort with Pauls mainsheet and Rohans windex enjoying a loving emnbrace. In the ensuing mess both boats ended up of port infringing Richard who had sensibly held back and just managed to squeak through. With turns done Paul and Rohan set off after the rest of the fleet who had a reasonable lead by this point. Depsite their best efforts they simply could not catch Mick and Gordon who were having a good scrap at the front. Gordon took the gun with Mick close behind followed at a distance by Rohan and Paul who had managed to overhaul Gary and Richard.
Race 2 was a more civil affair on the start line. Paul got off the line well then proceeded to miss every shift and find every hole and was at the back by the windward mark. Thi time Rohan and Mick were getting away. With the wind becoming increasingly light and flukey anything could happen. Mick managed to get ahead of Rohan and took the gun with Paul a distant 3rd having found some pressure to overhaul Gordon Richard and Gary on the penultimate beat.
So overnight a delighted Mick Green led the meeting, could he hold it on Sunday where the forecast was certainly mixed with no 2 matching except for the fact that it was going to be wet, very wet!
We retired to the clubhouse for an excellent street food buffet laid on by the club and for more celebration of Ed and Gaynors nuptials. As the evening progressed things go very silly with a decidedly secondhand Vago boom being pressed into service as a 'boom of doom' (Steve Bolland you have a lot to answer for my friend).
Sunday dawned to wet and overcast conditions but with a good breeze blowing from the nrtheast. Unfortunately Paul had to retire from proceedings early to return home so the remainder of the competitors take up the story:
Race 3:
Gordon flew off the line followed closely by Rohan, Mick had messed up his timings and crossed a little way behind, Gary found himself lining up on the gate line instead of the start. Gordon rounded the windward mark first followed by Rohan a few boat lengths behind. The race officers had been kind to us with the 2nd leg being a lengthy reach down to number 7 (or was it supposed to be 8, the D-Zeros have previous form with those 2 marks), it was at this point Gordon decided to go sightseeing looking for the next mark leaving the door wide open for Rohan to take the lead heading to D, this was also a lovely reach leading into a pretty fruity Gybe mark with rs400’s and laser vagos on full plane sailing their windward leeward course, heading down to the leeward mark Rohan decided that he was going to gybe very badly and take a quick dip in the water. Gordon retook the lead and maintained this lead right up to the 2nd time round D where he got into a bit of muddle with his mainsheet, allowing Rohan to retake the lead and hold on to take the bullet, Gordon followed in 2nd followed by Mick in 3rd, Gary had retired from the race.
Race 4
The wind had picked up for race 4, with the 3 of us lining up for the start, it was once again Gordon flying off the start at the committee boat end who was first round the windward mark followed by Rohan and then Mick, the course had stayed pretty much the same so Gordon didn't need to do any sightseeing and led for the first lap. After 2 more very wet reaches Gordon once again got muddled up with his main sheet on the gybe mark, Rohan planed passed him down to the leeward mark where he stuffed up his gybe and took quite a big dip in the water much to Gordon's amusement, he opted for the safe tack round the leeward mark and went on to take the bullet, Rohan followed in 2nd and Mick in 3rd.
As the wind increased again Rohan had drank enough Yorkshire tea and decided to call it a day and after a brief discussion Mick and Gordon followed in.
Once the results were in it was a very happy Gordon Stewart who took the meeting from Rohan with Mick in 3rd place.
Thank you to Yorkshire Dales who once again showed why they are a great venue to visit both on and off the water and congratulations to Ed and Gaynor as well as thank you for putting some money in the pot to make it a great weekend of celebration.
Report author is Paul Jefferies (and others), all photos are Copyright Paul Hargreaves
On a cold, cloudy summers day in Yorkshire a small fleet of D-Zeros gathered at Yorkshire Dales to have an Open meeting and celebrate D-Zero sailor Ed Deacon getting married. Numbers were a little depleted as several D0Zero sailors decided (for reasons we simply cannot fathom) to sail other boats at the event. Ed is also a prominent Vago sailor.
With a leisurely start time of 'after lunch' to allow those travelling from the festivities the previous day to recover the early arrivals had a great view of the RS400s doing their first 2 races. Did you know it is really easy to sail the perfect race when you viewing from an elevated platform....
After a lovely lunch prepared by the club the fleet launched and headed down to mark 11 in the north east corner. With seconds to go Rohan decided that there really was a gap between Paul (your roving reporter for day 1) and Gordon. Unfortunately for him said gap was closing resulting in Paul and Rohan getting a little too close for comfort with Pauls mainsheet and Rohans windex enjoying a loving emnbrace. In the ensuing mess both boats ended up of port infringing Richard who had sensibly held back and just managed to squeak through. With turns done Paul and Rohan set off after the rest of the fleet who had a reasonable lead by this point. Depsite their best efforts they simply could not catch Mick and Gordon who were having a good scrap at the front. Gordon took the gun with Mick close behind followed at a distance by Rohan and Paul who had managed to overhaul Gary and Richard.
Race 2 was a more civil affair on the start line. Paul got off the line well then proceeded to miss every shift and find every hole and was at the back by the windward mark. Thi time Rohan and Mick were getting away. With the wind becoming increasingly light and flukey anything could happen. Mick managed to get ahead of Rohan and took the gun with Paul a distant 3rd having found some pressure to overhaul Gordon Richard and Gary on the penultimate beat.
So overnight a delighted Mick Green led the meeting, could he hold it on Sunday where the forecast was certainly mixed with no 2 matching except for the fact that it was going to be wet, very wet!
We retired to the clubhouse for an excellent street food buffet laid on by the club and for more celebration of Ed and Gaynors nuptials. As the evening progressed things go very silly with a decidedly secondhand Vago boom being pressed into service as a 'boom of doom' (Steve Bolland you have a lot to answer for my friend).
Sunday dawned to wet and overcast conditions but with a good breeze blowing from the nrtheast. Unfortunately Paul had to retire from proceedings early to return home so the remainder of the competitors take up the story:
Race 3:
Gordon flew off the line followed closely by Rohan, Mick had messed up his timings and crossed a little way behind, Gary found himself lining up on the gate line instead of the start. Gordon rounded the windward mark first followed by Rohan a few boat lengths behind. The race officers had been kind to us with the 2nd leg being a lengthy reach down to number 7 (or was it supposed to be 8, the D-Zeros have previous form with those 2 marks), it was at this point Gordon decided to go sightseeing looking for the next mark leaving the door wide open for Rohan to take the lead heading to D, this was also a lovely reach leading into a pretty fruity Gybe mark with rs400’s and laser vagos on full plane sailing their windward leeward course, heading down to the leeward mark Rohan decided that he was going to gybe very badly and take a quick dip in the water. Gordon retook the lead and maintained this lead right up to the 2nd time round D where he got into a bit of muddle with his mainsheet, allowing Rohan to retake the lead and hold on to take the bullet, Gordon followed in 2nd followed by Mick in 3rd, Gary had retired from the race.
Race 4
The wind had picked up for race 4, with the 3 of us lining up for the start, it was once again Gordon flying off the start at the committee boat end who was first round the windward mark followed by Rohan and then Mick, the course had stayed pretty much the same so Gordon didn't need to do any sightseeing and led for the first lap. After 2 more very wet reaches Gordon once again got muddled up with his main sheet on the gybe mark, Rohan planed passed him down to the leeward mark where he stuffed up his gybe and took quite a big dip in the water much to Gordon's amusement, he opted for the safe tack round the leeward mark and went on to take the bullet, Rohan followed in 2nd and Mick in 3rd.
As the wind increased again Rohan had drank enough Yorkshire tea and decided to call it a day and after a brief discussion Mick and Gordon followed in.
Once the results were in it was a very happy Gordon Stewart who took the meeting from Rohan with Mick in 3rd place.
Thank you to Yorkshire Dales who once again showed why they are a great venue to visit both on and off the water and congratulations to Ed and Gaynor as well as thank you for putting some money in the pot to make it a great weekend of celebration.
Sailing Chandlery D-Zero National Championships 2023
23rd – 25th June 2023 Nationals Race Report
What a weekend was had by all at the 2023 D-Zero National Championships, kindly sponsored by Sailing Chandlery
We were welcomed at the Llandudno Sailing Club with fine food and plenty of local ale, which was enjoyed but not over indulged (it is the National Championships after all). Thanks for the club’s support throughout the weekend where everything was always a positive.
Day 1 - Racing started on Friday afternoon and by this point the wind had filled in from the south and was blowing up to 30 knots I believe. There was one boat displaying the number 66 missing from the start line though, as David having been “bullied” the week before during a rugby match and a cut on his leg became infected so while we sailed to the start David sat in a hospital looking depressed at the trees blowing well in the breeze – read on as he didn’t do too badly overall and there’s always next year !!!
Race 1, Seeing everyone get a clean start, Jon Bassett led the way to the windward mark where he proceeded to do a 3 point turn to get around it after getting stuck in irons after his tack, this opened the door for Ian Baillie who didn’t look back and led the way to his first win of the weekend with Jon and Will Hitchman coming in for the remaining top spots. To give an indication of the conditions, out of the 26 boats that started there were 8 who retired due to the wind and sea state.
Race 2, The wind died a little for this one but not by much and the waves were picking up nicely (if you like that sort of thing), lots of drama on the first beat with Billy McCarlie taking a kiss from Zippy in a port / starboard altercation (think it was more like a Glaswegian handshake though! (Look it up if you have no idea what I am on about!!)) Luckily Billy was not sailing flat like he should so the impact did not make a clear hole in the hull so could continue, this was all going on whilst Ian gave a masterclass for anyone who could see him during this race which unfortunately was only likely for the rescue crews as he was so far in front that none of us could get remotely close to him to see where he had hidden the secret motor! So, Ian for the win with Jon and myself (Scott Munro) following on (a leg behind!!)
Race 3, With a freshening wind there were a few that decided two races for the day was enough for them and headed in, two brave souls headed back out from hiding onshore for one wild race and for the rest of us we set off again and whilst Ian wasn’t as far ahead this time he still pulled away to a considerable lead and the results were a duplicate from race 2 for the top three spots.
A well-earned evening Spag Bol, at LSC gave everyone a chance to recover and talk through the thrills and spills of the day, and the odd refreshment and more than a few IPA’s.
Day 2 - The wind had swung round a little to a SW and was blowing up to 38+ knots on the committee boat so the racing was postponed for an hour then a further 2 to try and let it settle. LSC provided some ham and cheese rolls to keep us all going, which was a great idea and very welcomed. The race organisers wasted no time getting back on the water to start racing again though and had pulled the race course right into the bay to try and get more sheltered wind by using some unique and long narrow courses. Some who had been enjoying a short re-fuelling stop at the local eateries ended up with a more Le Mans style start with running down the Promenade and slip to get onto the water and out to the race area (you know who you are!)
Race 4, With the race course beating into the bay the winds were incredibly shifty with large holes that needed avoiding! These conditions seemed to favour the pond sailors with Wil taking the win followed by Jon and myself.
Race 5, Another shifty race with another port / starboard altercation on the first beat with Simon Limb getting a Glaswegian handshake this time from James Jenkins! Unlucky for Simon that he obviously was sailing with a bit of windward heal at the time and this made a nice flat target for the D-Zero bow to punch though! All this was taking place behind the leader of the fleet for the race as the Stork (Alistair McLaughlin) took to the front to fly round for the win closely followed by John and Will.
Race 6, If you went right at the start that was wrong! If you went left this was right. Stork and David, I believe almost went up the pebble beach, though shot into the lead at the first mark. The wind was dying and this confused the already shifty conditions to make for interesting racing, with large holes appearing from nowhere to trap most of the fleet other than the leading 3 then a huge wind shift to the South seen us all with our heads on swivels looking for where the marks were being moved to by the Race Committee, it was confusing but they did a great job and gave us a fantastic last beat to the finish with plenty of shifts to get those further back up into the running again. The Stork took line honours again followed by Ian and myself.
Day 3 - Another fresh wind was there to help those involved in the Saturday night karaoke freshen up! The race course was pushed out to sea a little from Day 2 but still had us beating back into the bay with an SSW wind coming though. Two races to go and all to play for, it was tight in the top 5.
Race 7, Everyone was gunning for the perfect start but unfortunately for Ian and Gordon Stewart they were a fraction too eager and ended up with some OCS’s. It turned out to be a tightly fought race but ultimately Colin Glover took the win with Jon and the Stork following on.
Race 8, It all came down to this race for who would take home the coveted D-Zero National champion trophy!! The swell was building and with a nice stable wind and screaming reaches there were silly D-Zero grins all over the racecourse, some might have been grimaces though as muscles were starting to fade fast, and some only do grimaces and not grins anyway!! Ian didn’t get it all his own way with, Tin Man/ Dealer David leading from the start (he almost made it stick) and Colin making him work for the win but ultimately Ian took the win with David and myself following on. To explain how tight it all was, Colin went from 3rd to 10th on the last beat after one tack left him stuck in irons!! The new National Champion was even polite enough to apologise to David for beating him at the line having led for so long – that’s the sign of a true Champ
So that was it, the racing was done and dusted with Ian taking the glory for the year, which was very well deserved, Congratulations Ian Baillie – our 2024 SAILING CHANDLERY D-ZERO NATIONAL CHAMPION 2023.
Huge thanks to the following:
Sailing Chandlery for their support and prize sponsorship; Noble Marine Insurance for support to the Class; dzero.co.uk for providing spares support, fixing boats to keep sailors on the water and driving D-Zero’s throughout the UK; Georgie Altham @ Photoboat https://photoboat.co.uk/ for the fantastic photos; and lastly the D-Zero Class Association for organising the event.
See you all next year for the 2024 Europeans/Nationals and 10th Anniversary Celebrations at Weymouth😊
Written by Scott Munro – Overall 4th Place
Overall Results
Rank Name Sail No. Sailing Club R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 Total Nett
1 Ian Baillie 336 Dalgety Bay SC 1 1 1 (4) 4 2 (29) 1 43 10
2 Jon Bassett 306 Largs SC 2 2 2 2 2 (7) 2 (5) 24 12
3 Wil Hitchman 307 Carsington SC 3 5 6 1 3 3 (8) (9) 38 21
4 Scott Munro 353 Aberdeen &
Stonehaven YC (11) 3 3 3 (7) 4 7 3 41 23
5 Alistair McLaughlin 22 Largs SC 7 6 (8) 7 1 1 3 (29) 62 25
6 James Jenkins 151 Emsworth SC 4 (8) 5 5 (29) 8 4 4 67 30
7 Rohan Daniels 224 Ogston SC 9 4 (10) 8 8 (10) 9 6 64 44
8 Gordon Stewart 358 North Herts
East Beds 8 9 7 6 (29) 15 (29) 8 111 53
9 Paul Jefferies 74 Hunts SC 5 (15) (29) 12 5 14 6 14 100 56
10 David Valentine 66 ESSC (29) (29) 29 10 6 6 5 2 116 58
11 Paul Murphy 218 GWSC 10 7 9 (17) 13 (19) 10 11 96 60
12 Jon Cowper 42 Hunts SC (14) 11 14 13 11 11 12 (29) 115 72
13 Billy McCarlie 265 Largs SC 13 (16) 12 14 12 (18) 11 13 109 75
14 Martin Latimer 57 Largs SC (29) (29) 4 21 16 13 13 12 137 79
15 John Aston 3 GWSC (29) (29) 29 11 14 5 17 7 141 83
16 Colin Glover 351 GWSC 6 13 (29) (29) 29 29 1 10 146 88
17 Richard Bryant 189 Annandale SC (29) (29) 29 9 9 12 14 15 146 88
18 Mick Green 344 Rossendale
Valley SC 15 10 13 (19) 17 (21) 19 17 131 91
19 Liz Potter 333 West Kirby SC 16 12 15 18 15 17 22 20 135 93
20 Mike Grant 281 Largs SC 17 14 16 16 (19) (20) 16 16 134 95
21 Gary Tompkins 158 Hunts SC 18 17 17 20 20 (22) 21 (22) 157 113
22 Neal Sanders 192 GWSC 12 18 (29) (29) 29 29 15 19 180 122
23 Simon Boylin 311 ESSC (29) (29) 29 29 18 16 20 18 188 130
24 Dave Watkins 77 Chase SC (29) (29) 29 29 10 9 29 29 193 135
25 Simon Limb 160 Largs SC (29) (29) 11 15 29 29 29 29 200 142
26 Joe Constable 8 GWSC (29) (29) 29 29 29 29 18 21 213 155
27 Abby Freeley 115 Hunts SC (29) (29) 29 29 29 29 29 29 232 174
28 Andy McIvor 360 Blackwater SC (29) (29) 29 29 29 29 29 29 232 174
Special Prizes supported by Sailing Chandlery & Noble Marine:
Trophy/ Prize Awardee Club
Lanterne Rouge
- Endeavour Trophy Gary Tompkins Hunts SC
Hard Graft Award Mick Green Rossendale Valley SC
Joe Constable GWSC
1st Lady Liz Potter West Kirby SC
Impairment Awards Simon Limb Largs SC
Billy McCarlie Largs SC
(Re) Dress Award Paul Jefferies Hunts SC
Best Bollard Rounding Martin Latimer Largs SC
23rd – 25th June 2023 Nationals Race Report
What a weekend was had by all at the 2023 D-Zero National Championships, kindly sponsored by Sailing Chandlery
We were welcomed at the Llandudno Sailing Club with fine food and plenty of local ale, which was enjoyed but not over indulged (it is the National Championships after all). Thanks for the club’s support throughout the weekend where everything was always a positive.
Day 1 - Racing started on Friday afternoon and by this point the wind had filled in from the south and was blowing up to 30 knots I believe. There was one boat displaying the number 66 missing from the start line though, as David having been “bullied” the week before during a rugby match and a cut on his leg became infected so while we sailed to the start David sat in a hospital looking depressed at the trees blowing well in the breeze – read on as he didn’t do too badly overall and there’s always next year !!!
Race 1, Seeing everyone get a clean start, Jon Bassett led the way to the windward mark where he proceeded to do a 3 point turn to get around it after getting stuck in irons after his tack, this opened the door for Ian Baillie who didn’t look back and led the way to his first win of the weekend with Jon and Will Hitchman coming in for the remaining top spots. To give an indication of the conditions, out of the 26 boats that started there were 8 who retired due to the wind and sea state.
Race 2, The wind died a little for this one but not by much and the waves were picking up nicely (if you like that sort of thing), lots of drama on the first beat with Billy McCarlie taking a kiss from Zippy in a port / starboard altercation (think it was more like a Glaswegian handshake though! (Look it up if you have no idea what I am on about!!)) Luckily Billy was not sailing flat like he should so the impact did not make a clear hole in the hull so could continue, this was all going on whilst Ian gave a masterclass for anyone who could see him during this race which unfortunately was only likely for the rescue crews as he was so far in front that none of us could get remotely close to him to see where he had hidden the secret motor! So, Ian for the win with Jon and myself (Scott Munro) following on (a leg behind!!)
Race 3, With a freshening wind there were a few that decided two races for the day was enough for them and headed in, two brave souls headed back out from hiding onshore for one wild race and for the rest of us we set off again and whilst Ian wasn’t as far ahead this time he still pulled away to a considerable lead and the results were a duplicate from race 2 for the top three spots.
A well-earned evening Spag Bol, at LSC gave everyone a chance to recover and talk through the thrills and spills of the day, and the odd refreshment and more than a few IPA’s.
Day 2 - The wind had swung round a little to a SW and was blowing up to 38+ knots on the committee boat so the racing was postponed for an hour then a further 2 to try and let it settle. LSC provided some ham and cheese rolls to keep us all going, which was a great idea and very welcomed. The race organisers wasted no time getting back on the water to start racing again though and had pulled the race course right into the bay to try and get more sheltered wind by using some unique and long narrow courses. Some who had been enjoying a short re-fuelling stop at the local eateries ended up with a more Le Mans style start with running down the Promenade and slip to get onto the water and out to the race area (you know who you are!)
Race 4, With the race course beating into the bay the winds were incredibly shifty with large holes that needed avoiding! These conditions seemed to favour the pond sailors with Wil taking the win followed by Jon and myself.
Race 5, Another shifty race with another port / starboard altercation on the first beat with Simon Limb getting a Glaswegian handshake this time from James Jenkins! Unlucky for Simon that he obviously was sailing with a bit of windward heal at the time and this made a nice flat target for the D-Zero bow to punch though! All this was taking place behind the leader of the fleet for the race as the Stork (Alistair McLaughlin) took to the front to fly round for the win closely followed by John and Will.
Race 6, If you went right at the start that was wrong! If you went left this was right. Stork and David, I believe almost went up the pebble beach, though shot into the lead at the first mark. The wind was dying and this confused the already shifty conditions to make for interesting racing, with large holes appearing from nowhere to trap most of the fleet other than the leading 3 then a huge wind shift to the South seen us all with our heads on swivels looking for where the marks were being moved to by the Race Committee, it was confusing but they did a great job and gave us a fantastic last beat to the finish with plenty of shifts to get those further back up into the running again. The Stork took line honours again followed by Ian and myself.
Day 3 - Another fresh wind was there to help those involved in the Saturday night karaoke freshen up! The race course was pushed out to sea a little from Day 2 but still had us beating back into the bay with an SSW wind coming though. Two races to go and all to play for, it was tight in the top 5.
Race 7, Everyone was gunning for the perfect start but unfortunately for Ian and Gordon Stewart they were a fraction too eager and ended up with some OCS’s. It turned out to be a tightly fought race but ultimately Colin Glover took the win with Jon and the Stork following on.
Race 8, It all came down to this race for who would take home the coveted D-Zero National champion trophy!! The swell was building and with a nice stable wind and screaming reaches there were silly D-Zero grins all over the racecourse, some might have been grimaces though as muscles were starting to fade fast, and some only do grimaces and not grins anyway!! Ian didn’t get it all his own way with, Tin Man/ Dealer David leading from the start (he almost made it stick) and Colin making him work for the win but ultimately Ian took the win with David and myself following on. To explain how tight it all was, Colin went from 3rd to 10th on the last beat after one tack left him stuck in irons!! The new National Champion was even polite enough to apologise to David for beating him at the line having led for so long – that’s the sign of a true Champ
So that was it, the racing was done and dusted with Ian taking the glory for the year, which was very well deserved, Congratulations Ian Baillie – our 2024 SAILING CHANDLERY D-ZERO NATIONAL CHAMPION 2023.
Huge thanks to the following:
Sailing Chandlery for their support and prize sponsorship; Noble Marine Insurance for support to the Class; dzero.co.uk for providing spares support, fixing boats to keep sailors on the water and driving D-Zero’s throughout the UK; Georgie Altham @ Photoboat https://photoboat.co.uk/ for the fantastic photos; and lastly the D-Zero Class Association for organising the event.
See you all next year for the 2024 Europeans/Nationals and 10th Anniversary Celebrations at Weymouth😊
Written by Scott Munro – Overall 4th Place
Overall Results
Rank Name Sail No. Sailing Club R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 Total Nett
1 Ian Baillie 336 Dalgety Bay SC 1 1 1 (4) 4 2 (29) 1 43 10
2 Jon Bassett 306 Largs SC 2 2 2 2 2 (7) 2 (5) 24 12
3 Wil Hitchman 307 Carsington SC 3 5 6 1 3 3 (8) (9) 38 21
4 Scott Munro 353 Aberdeen &
Stonehaven YC (11) 3 3 3 (7) 4 7 3 41 23
5 Alistair McLaughlin 22 Largs SC 7 6 (8) 7 1 1 3 (29) 62 25
6 James Jenkins 151 Emsworth SC 4 (8) 5 5 (29) 8 4 4 67 30
7 Rohan Daniels 224 Ogston SC 9 4 (10) 8 8 (10) 9 6 64 44
8 Gordon Stewart 358 North Herts
East Beds 8 9 7 6 (29) 15 (29) 8 111 53
9 Paul Jefferies 74 Hunts SC 5 (15) (29) 12 5 14 6 14 100 56
10 David Valentine 66 ESSC (29) (29) 29 10 6 6 5 2 116 58
11 Paul Murphy 218 GWSC 10 7 9 (17) 13 (19) 10 11 96 60
12 Jon Cowper 42 Hunts SC (14) 11 14 13 11 11 12 (29) 115 72
13 Billy McCarlie 265 Largs SC 13 (16) 12 14 12 (18) 11 13 109 75
14 Martin Latimer 57 Largs SC (29) (29) 4 21 16 13 13 12 137 79
15 John Aston 3 GWSC (29) (29) 29 11 14 5 17 7 141 83
16 Colin Glover 351 GWSC 6 13 (29) (29) 29 29 1 10 146 88
17 Richard Bryant 189 Annandale SC (29) (29) 29 9 9 12 14 15 146 88
18 Mick Green 344 Rossendale
Valley SC 15 10 13 (19) 17 (21) 19 17 131 91
19 Liz Potter 333 West Kirby SC 16 12 15 18 15 17 22 20 135 93
20 Mike Grant 281 Largs SC 17 14 16 16 (19) (20) 16 16 134 95
21 Gary Tompkins 158 Hunts SC 18 17 17 20 20 (22) 21 (22) 157 113
22 Neal Sanders 192 GWSC 12 18 (29) (29) 29 29 15 19 180 122
23 Simon Boylin 311 ESSC (29) (29) 29 29 18 16 20 18 188 130
24 Dave Watkins 77 Chase SC (29) (29) 29 29 10 9 29 29 193 135
25 Simon Limb 160 Largs SC (29) (29) 11 15 29 29 29 29 200 142
26 Joe Constable 8 GWSC (29) (29) 29 29 29 29 18 21 213 155
27 Abby Freeley 115 Hunts SC (29) (29) 29 29 29 29 29 29 232 174
28 Andy McIvor 360 Blackwater SC (29) (29) 29 29 29 29 29 29 232 174
Special Prizes supported by Sailing Chandlery & Noble Marine:
Trophy/ Prize Awardee Club
Lanterne Rouge
- Endeavour Trophy Gary Tompkins Hunts SC
Hard Graft Award Mick Green Rossendale Valley SC
Joe Constable GWSC
1st Lady Liz Potter West Kirby SC
Impairment Awards Simon Limb Largs SC
Billy McCarlie Largs SC
(Re) Dress Award Paul Jefferies Hunts SC
Best Bollard Rounding Martin Latimer Largs SC
June 2023- East Lothian Yacht Club Regatta
Ok, here goes folks. First event report, from a first-eventer! East Lothian Yacht Club Regatta - an 80+ boat event with D-Zeros securing our own start with 6 boats on the entry list.
As background, I bought 111 last year and (despite there being another boat in the boat park at East Lothian) sailed alone last year in a handicap fleet. A number of work commitments and injuries have stopped me making open trips so far - so this was my first event lined up against other D-Zeros.
Saturday kicked off with an unbroken blue sky and a building sea breeze from 10-15 knots - certainly enough to get the thigh muscles working! We started on a shared line with the N12’s, Streakers (both having their Scottish Champs), lasers, and Aeros - with the D-zeros being somewhat frustratingly sandwiched in the middle of the starts despite being faster than some.
As a newcomer not knowing names very well, Race 1 kicked off with “Grey Hat” (Ian Baillie) and “Red Hat” (Stork) adopting an early (and ultimately unbreakable) pairing at the front. I managed to settle into a decent stride on the upwind and loosely hung on to their tails to the first mark, where my “learning curve” accelerated almost as fast as they did away from me. I was soon being hauled in by the others and put back in my place - and I realised I needed to learn to keep up downwind! Red Hat would win from Grey Hat, and I managed to hang on to a 3rd with very close pressure from the zippy, Mick and Bruce.
Race two saw the breeze up a bit, and a little more chop from the tide bringing a bit more
complexity to the upwind and keeping pace. Red and Grey were close for the entire race, with some of the other fleets bringing obstacles to weave around especially at the marks. Iain went on to win both remaining races and stamped a decent lead for the end of day one.
Sunday dawned with flat glassy calm and a light grey sky. After a brief postponement on the beach, the committee got everyone out to the start line in the very light 3-4 knots and tried to get a line setup. Given the tide due to build, the committee decided to wait for the breeze to fill rather than set everyone off into an upwind treadmill - but this turned out to be a decent two hour wait, only made somewhat bearable by good chat and a school of dolphins who put on a decent show right through the fleet as we waited.
When the breeze came, the starts rattled off and soon we were lining up for a gun in 6-8 knots. Storky demonstrated some fabulous height off the start to scupper my position and leave me suffering in his wake, whilst the lesser breeze wiped my weight advantage and I had to up my game again!
The delays in the start gave strong indication that the second race wouldn’t finish in time for the 3pm cutoff for a third race - but with all boats over the finish at 14:51, the race committee got straight into a new start sequence and (with a significantly fresher breeze and some decent waves coming through) we had to get one more race out of the tired legs and arms! The last race turned out to be an absolute corker - with the stronger breeze giving full flat-out reaches with the D-zeros weaving through the slower boats with ease and big smiles throughout! Ian took the final race bringing the top two level on points and needing a count back to separate, with Ian taking the overall event win.
On dry land, I was amazed how much interest the boat got. I was inundated with people from other fleets looking, asking, commenting. From “those things look great on the reaches” to “that rig looks great in the breeze” and so on. It’s definitely a boat that gets people talking. For me, a first event - I’m pretty happy with my consistency and had a superb weekend. More than that - I’m extremely grateful to Stork, Ian, Liz, Mick and Bruce who were so open and helpful with tips, answers to my questions and advice on getting more out of the boat. It’s really is a superb boat, and a superb bunch of people.
Hopefully we’ll see a few more of you next year at ELYC, and I’ll get myself sorted to get on the circuit a bit more!
Cheers
Andrew - D-Zero GBR111
(Note, there will be a correction to the scores with Liz having an RTD instead of DNC for race 5, meaning Liz will inch above Mick for 4th overall)
Photos and drone shots courtesy of Steve Fraser: https://www.flickr.com/photos/caledonian-schlepper/
Ok, here goes folks. First event report, from a first-eventer! East Lothian Yacht Club Regatta - an 80+ boat event with D-Zeros securing our own start with 6 boats on the entry list.
As background, I bought 111 last year and (despite there being another boat in the boat park at East Lothian) sailed alone last year in a handicap fleet. A number of work commitments and injuries have stopped me making open trips so far - so this was my first event lined up against other D-Zeros.
Saturday kicked off with an unbroken blue sky and a building sea breeze from 10-15 knots - certainly enough to get the thigh muscles working! We started on a shared line with the N12’s, Streakers (both having their Scottish Champs), lasers, and Aeros - with the D-zeros being somewhat frustratingly sandwiched in the middle of the starts despite being faster than some.
As a newcomer not knowing names very well, Race 1 kicked off with “Grey Hat” (Ian Baillie) and “Red Hat” (Stork) adopting an early (and ultimately unbreakable) pairing at the front. I managed to settle into a decent stride on the upwind and loosely hung on to their tails to the first mark, where my “learning curve” accelerated almost as fast as they did away from me. I was soon being hauled in by the others and put back in my place - and I realised I needed to learn to keep up downwind! Red Hat would win from Grey Hat, and I managed to hang on to a 3rd with very close pressure from the zippy, Mick and Bruce.
Race two saw the breeze up a bit, and a little more chop from the tide bringing a bit more
complexity to the upwind and keeping pace. Red and Grey were close for the entire race, with some of the other fleets bringing obstacles to weave around especially at the marks. Iain went on to win both remaining races and stamped a decent lead for the end of day one.
Sunday dawned with flat glassy calm and a light grey sky. After a brief postponement on the beach, the committee got everyone out to the start line in the very light 3-4 knots and tried to get a line setup. Given the tide due to build, the committee decided to wait for the breeze to fill rather than set everyone off into an upwind treadmill - but this turned out to be a decent two hour wait, only made somewhat bearable by good chat and a school of dolphins who put on a decent show right through the fleet as we waited.
When the breeze came, the starts rattled off and soon we were lining up for a gun in 6-8 knots. Storky demonstrated some fabulous height off the start to scupper my position and leave me suffering in his wake, whilst the lesser breeze wiped my weight advantage and I had to up my game again!
The delays in the start gave strong indication that the second race wouldn’t finish in time for the 3pm cutoff for a third race - but with all boats over the finish at 14:51, the race committee got straight into a new start sequence and (with a significantly fresher breeze and some decent waves coming through) we had to get one more race out of the tired legs and arms! The last race turned out to be an absolute corker - with the stronger breeze giving full flat-out reaches with the D-zeros weaving through the slower boats with ease and big smiles throughout! Ian took the final race bringing the top two level on points and needing a count back to separate, with Ian taking the overall event win.
On dry land, I was amazed how much interest the boat got. I was inundated with people from other fleets looking, asking, commenting. From “those things look great on the reaches” to “that rig looks great in the breeze” and so on. It’s definitely a boat that gets people talking. For me, a first event - I’m pretty happy with my consistency and had a superb weekend. More than that - I’m extremely grateful to Stork, Ian, Liz, Mick and Bruce who were so open and helpful with tips, answers to my questions and advice on getting more out of the boat. It’s really is a superb boat, and a superb bunch of people.
Hopefully we’ll see a few more of you next year at ELYC, and I’ll get myself sorted to get on the circuit a bit more!
Cheers
Andrew - D-Zero GBR111
(Note, there will be a correction to the scores with Liz having an RTD instead of DNC for race 5, meaning Liz will inch above Mick for 4th overall)
Photos and drone shots courtesy of Steve Fraser: https://www.flickr.com/photos/caledonian-schlepper/
May 2023 - Zippy at the Harken One Design Regatta, Largs
Hi there all! Here is the second part of my travelling adventures that I know you’ve all been waiting for. Just to recap, I’m Zippy the DZero reporting from the boat park back home at West Kirby Sailing Club after 11 days on tour of the North and Scotland. This part is about my adventures in Largs, where I had been entered in the Harken One Design Regatta.
I arrived in Largs a few days early, coming straight from the Northern Championships in Ullswater. The hospitality is always tops at Largs Sailing Club; home to probably the biggest D-Zero fleet in the country. I was invited to join in their club racing on Wednesday evening and a very pleasant night it turned out to be! Eight D-Zero’s raced in a mixed handicap fleet. A natty little start line set in front of the onshore race box and various hooters; lights; club buoys and a course which I just guessed at. It was like a teen disco – sweaty, heady, sometimes loud but all good fun.
The following Thursday morning was the big event prep day. It’s no small feat running this multi-class event, with some 60 boats entered overall. I must give a special mention to Julia Gibson, the Queen and High Priestess of Largs SC, who not only does 'officey' things in the clubhouse, but also comes out into the boat park to greet visitors like me and check that the security fencing is up to standard, keeping my fans and the press at bay. She also built me my own personal shower area opposite my berth and then scuttled off to organise food, coffee and The Men. I’m considering moving her onto my permanent staff list.
The other helpers that morning were numerous and included Dzeroists Billy and Janet Mc Carlie, Jon Bassett, Stu Moss and my Owner Liz Potter. They had a busy morning kitting out 8 ribs, a committee boat and the finish vessel with chains, warps, anchors, flags, recording stuff and repairing and inflating the massive buoys that we find it so hard not to hit.
By Friday, it was my turn for a warmup sail. The wind was very light and patchy and Owner announced in a “by the way” sort of way, that we were going to sail around the Isle of Cumbrae. She’d clearly been reading too much of Ken Fowler’s adventures in his RS Aero “Yoda”, who is just completing the circumnavigation of all 262 islands in England and Wales, raising £64,252 for cancer charities. If you can, please visit his website www.yodare.co.uk and donate to this incredible cause and journey. It’s been an epic in every way.
Back to my Owner and Cumbrae – there were a few notable differences between Ken’s mission and ours;
By 4pm, the wind had returned, so we set off for another little sail and rounded Cumbrae in 1 hour and 50 minutes. She then tootled off all triumphant to the clubhouse to quaff wine with the arriving visitor DZero sailors, only remembering to put my cover on inside-out as darkness fell. On my to do list is; Call Boatline, the RNLI, the coastguard and Julia.
Saturday heralded the start of the Largs Harken One Design Regatta. After an hour of windless postponement, 14 D-Zeros went to sea in a light breeze.
The wind was doing peculiar things and made some unexpected shifts. Willie Todd, Alistair (Storky) McLaughlin, Martin Latimer, and yours truly all went left, which was wrong if you wanted to get to the windward mark first. Willie somehow went far, far wronger than everyone else, which made it right and he got to the front of the pack. Storky had super-speed and used it to catch up and sail to the original windward mark on the second beat, which was also wrong, because there were actually two windward marks to keep up us out of Skiff traffic. As he approached the correct windward mark, he caught Simon Limb’s port tack D-Zero getting over friendly with Willie’s Starboard tack boat and suggested that someone do some turns so that he could pass by. Please. Meanwhile, Jon Bassett stayed out of trouble, sailed to the correct marks on each lap and won the race.
Race 2 saw a huge windshift that we were, once again, on the wrong side of. Storky took the lead and extended it to the horizon for a clear win. A closely packed fleet battled out the rest of the places, but the second beat changed to a fetch, making any place changes very tricky. Jon stayed ahead of the pack to finish second, followed by Ian Baillie and Richard Bryant.
By race 3, we had a minor onboard rebellion, as I was fed up with trailing at the back of the fleet. I took over as navigator, sail trimmer, flight controller and jellyfish liaison officer. We muddled our way up the first beat, rounding mid-fleet. The reach was fun and I really got into my element. By the run, I’d found some personal wind most humans would be embarrassed about. With Martin Latimer chomping at my wake, I overtook a number of boats, rounding the bottom mark behind Storky, Jon, Ian and Simon. Another good lap had me rounding the wing mark behind The Stork, where I was eyeing up his transom for my next assault. As it turned out Storky was OCS, giving me the win as I crossed the finish line. Close behind was Simon, followed by Jon and Ian.
There finished the racing for the day as the wind faded to nothing.
As it turned out, that was the end of the event, as Sunday was windless and racing was abandoned by midday. This meant we had no discards, which was tough on the OCS threesome of Storky, Scott Munro and our new junior sailor Finley Briggs (who’d put in a speedy 5th in the second race).
The points showed that Jon Bassett was our clear winner, Followed by Ian Baillie in second and Simon Limb in 3rd.
A great event enjoyed by all us boats and you Owners.
Thank you to the Club, the race teams, rescue boats and sponsors.
Zippy Zero 333
Hi there all! Here is the second part of my travelling adventures that I know you’ve all been waiting for. Just to recap, I’m Zippy the DZero reporting from the boat park back home at West Kirby Sailing Club after 11 days on tour of the North and Scotland. This part is about my adventures in Largs, where I had been entered in the Harken One Design Regatta.
I arrived in Largs a few days early, coming straight from the Northern Championships in Ullswater. The hospitality is always tops at Largs Sailing Club; home to probably the biggest D-Zero fleet in the country. I was invited to join in their club racing on Wednesday evening and a very pleasant night it turned out to be! Eight D-Zero’s raced in a mixed handicap fleet. A natty little start line set in front of the onshore race box and various hooters; lights; club buoys and a course which I just guessed at. It was like a teen disco – sweaty, heady, sometimes loud but all good fun.
The following Thursday morning was the big event prep day. It’s no small feat running this multi-class event, with some 60 boats entered overall. I must give a special mention to Julia Gibson, the Queen and High Priestess of Largs SC, who not only does 'officey' things in the clubhouse, but also comes out into the boat park to greet visitors like me and check that the security fencing is up to standard, keeping my fans and the press at bay. She also built me my own personal shower area opposite my berth and then scuttled off to organise food, coffee and The Men. I’m considering moving her onto my permanent staff list.
The other helpers that morning were numerous and included Dzeroists Billy and Janet Mc Carlie, Jon Bassett, Stu Moss and my Owner Liz Potter. They had a busy morning kitting out 8 ribs, a committee boat and the finish vessel with chains, warps, anchors, flags, recording stuff and repairing and inflating the massive buoys that we find it so hard not to hit.
By Friday, it was my turn for a warmup sail. The wind was very light and patchy and Owner announced in a “by the way” sort of way, that we were going to sail around the Isle of Cumbrae. She’d clearly been reading too much of Ken Fowler’s adventures in his RS Aero “Yoda”, who is just completing the circumnavigation of all 262 islands in England and Wales, raising £64,252 for cancer charities. If you can, please visit his website www.yodare.co.uk and donate to this incredible cause and journey. It’s been an epic in every way.
Back to my Owner and Cumbrae – there were a few notable differences between Ken’s mission and ours;
- It was Me, a highly tuned racing athlete involved in this foolhardy venture.
- There was no onshore support.
- No intensive planning, other than a 500ml bottle of water and a mobile phone, probably with a low battery and poor signal.
- Nobody knew about it.
By 4pm, the wind had returned, so we set off for another little sail and rounded Cumbrae in 1 hour and 50 minutes. She then tootled off all triumphant to the clubhouse to quaff wine with the arriving visitor DZero sailors, only remembering to put my cover on inside-out as darkness fell. On my to do list is; Call Boatline, the RNLI, the coastguard and Julia.
Saturday heralded the start of the Largs Harken One Design Regatta. After an hour of windless postponement, 14 D-Zeros went to sea in a light breeze.
The wind was doing peculiar things and made some unexpected shifts. Willie Todd, Alistair (Storky) McLaughlin, Martin Latimer, and yours truly all went left, which was wrong if you wanted to get to the windward mark first. Willie somehow went far, far wronger than everyone else, which made it right and he got to the front of the pack. Storky had super-speed and used it to catch up and sail to the original windward mark on the second beat, which was also wrong, because there were actually two windward marks to keep up us out of Skiff traffic. As he approached the correct windward mark, he caught Simon Limb’s port tack D-Zero getting over friendly with Willie’s Starboard tack boat and suggested that someone do some turns so that he could pass by. Please. Meanwhile, Jon Bassett stayed out of trouble, sailed to the correct marks on each lap and won the race.
Race 2 saw a huge windshift that we were, once again, on the wrong side of. Storky took the lead and extended it to the horizon for a clear win. A closely packed fleet battled out the rest of the places, but the second beat changed to a fetch, making any place changes very tricky. Jon stayed ahead of the pack to finish second, followed by Ian Baillie and Richard Bryant.
By race 3, we had a minor onboard rebellion, as I was fed up with trailing at the back of the fleet. I took over as navigator, sail trimmer, flight controller and jellyfish liaison officer. We muddled our way up the first beat, rounding mid-fleet. The reach was fun and I really got into my element. By the run, I’d found some personal wind most humans would be embarrassed about. With Martin Latimer chomping at my wake, I overtook a number of boats, rounding the bottom mark behind Storky, Jon, Ian and Simon. Another good lap had me rounding the wing mark behind The Stork, where I was eyeing up his transom for my next assault. As it turned out Storky was OCS, giving me the win as I crossed the finish line. Close behind was Simon, followed by Jon and Ian.
There finished the racing for the day as the wind faded to nothing.
As it turned out, that was the end of the event, as Sunday was windless and racing was abandoned by midday. This meant we had no discards, which was tough on the OCS threesome of Storky, Scott Munro and our new junior sailor Finley Briggs (who’d put in a speedy 5th in the second race).
The points showed that Jon Bassett was our clear winner, Followed by Ian Baillie in second and Simon Limb in 3rd.
A great event enjoyed by all us boats and you Owners.
Thank you to the Club, the race teams, rescue boats and sponsors.
Zippy Zero 333
May 2023 - Emsworth Slipper D-Zero Open - Results & Report
17 D-Zero's including 6 travellers descended upon sunny Emsworth with promises of a good F3, enticed by free entry fees, and quality racing from the locals...
A spicy 17 knot dead-run out to the race circuit challenged a few including Gordon whose halyard wasn't quite as high as it should have been, causing a quick detour to the visitors pontoon, and a couple of sailors to decide that the breeze was filling and maybe time to head for an early shower.
Race 1 underway, having let the general handicap series get away first in their race, with Tim, Andy and David pushing the pin end, Tim Weeden pinched up, Andy McIvor slowed and David Valentine managed to just pass them both, only to touch the putty 50 metres up, tack and then to be called starboard by Tom (aka Poster Boy), retack and Davids race went backwards quickly. Adam Cockerill, newbie D-Zero'ist, took a flyer on the start unbothered by others and led to the first mark. Close racing round mark 1, reaching across the harbour to 2, and a long downwind mixed things up, with some places changing, and David caught up a few nearly mounting a couple as they rounded mark 3 with a short reach to 4. Another local Ben Davis enjoying the conditions was putting in a good shift and staying in the mix. David had chased hard and taken some places only to try tacking quickly after the last mark, and went into irons dropping back a few places. However after a couple of laps, Adam took the bullet, James Jenkins 2nd, Tom 3rd and Gavin Fleming 4th.
Race 2 with the breeze strengthening, Adam and David got great starts, another local Max Jones and Gavin pushing hard to the 1st mark, Adam, then Max, Gavin and David, scorching across to the 2nd with Tom in reaching distance and Ian Patrick in the top 6 pulling away from the pack. 3 laps this time of the trapezoid, with David finding some downwind extra energy and pulling past Gavin fighting hard though David had the inside line at the 3rd, just behind Max. Max rounded 4th, tacked hard and hit some irons, with David managing to squeeze past followed closely by Gavin. Breezy upwind, Gavin got ahead of David, trying to close the gap on Adam, rounded Mark 1 hitting a wave and the boat stopping dead and hitting some irons, David reached past, as Gavin sorted himself though couldn't find quite enough on the downwind to overtake. Tom had some challenges after some bad habits picked up in the OK, and couldn't pull back enough. 1st Adam, 2nd David, 3rd Gavin, 4th Max, with Tom following up for 5th.
Race 3, a tad more breeze, with some extra waves as the wind swung more Easterly. Adam was being pushed by Gavin from the start, with David, Tom, Ian and Tim chasing hard. The tide was starting to change tactics as it started to ebb, and some interesting shifts up the long'ish beat where some legs looked to pay off better than others. Close rounding, deeper reaching across to 2, bunched a few up, and then a reach/run down to the 3rd. After 3 laps, Gavin was right on Adam's heels with Gavin tacking up to the finish just before Adam, forcing a quick tack and a drag race. Adam just took the bullet with less than a couple of seconds between Gavin. Tom and David were fighting it out, on the run, zigging and zagging to try and get some surfing going, though Tom took it from David, with Ian Patrick, a normal pond sailor relishing in the conditions beating James to 5th and 6th.
As the general handicap boats sailed off home, just the one start for the D-Zero's, and Adam had another great start though pushed hard by several - Tom, David, Gavin followed by Gordon who was back in the hunt, now the wind strength had subsided a bit. Tom and David fought down the first downhill again, with Gavin not far behind, though the first 3 were off and not wanting to be caught with only 2 laps. Fortunately the wind blew a bit on our reach and enabled us to build enough gap, and ended after some tough racing all round - Adam, Tom, David, Gavin and Gordon. Overall places were tied on a few places and after consulting the countback rules by our protest committee the results were as follows. Thanks very much to the RO team, it was the RO' Sean Curtis first event time as an RO, and photographer - @MichaelAustenPhoto, and to all the travellers coming down to challenge the locals. Maybe 2 days next year ? and bearing in mind another 17 were racing up at Largs, a good turnout from the D-Zero Class.
Results
Place Sail Number Helm Club R1 R2 R3 R4 Discard Total
1 199 Adam Cockerill ESSC 1 1 1 1 1 3
2 328 Tom Southwell Lee on Solent SC 3 5 3 2 5 8
3 66 David Valentine ESSC 9 2 4 3 9 9
4 183 Gavin Fleming Hunts SC 4 3 2 4 4 9
5 151 James Jenkins ESC 2 7 6 18 18 15
6 234 Max Jones ESC 5 4 9 8 9 17
7 335 Ian Patrick Bough Beech SC 14 6 5 9 14 20
8 319 Ben Davis TISC 6 13 8 6 13 20
9 312 Tim Weeden ESSC 7 8 7 7 8 21
10 358 Gordon Stewart NHEBSC 11 10 10 5 11 25
11 260 Gareth Davies ESSC 8 12 13 10 13 30
12 360 Andy McIvor Blackwater SC 10 9 11 15 15 30
13 268 Simon Robinson ESSC 12 11 14 11 14 34
14 114 Derrick Johnson ESSC 13 14 12 12 14 37
15 311 Simon Boylin ESSC 15 18 18 18 18 51
16 133 Jez Adams ESSC 18 18 18 18 18 54
17 186 Bob Jarvis ESC 18 18 18 18 18 54
17 D-Zero's including 6 travellers descended upon sunny Emsworth with promises of a good F3, enticed by free entry fees, and quality racing from the locals...
A spicy 17 knot dead-run out to the race circuit challenged a few including Gordon whose halyard wasn't quite as high as it should have been, causing a quick detour to the visitors pontoon, and a couple of sailors to decide that the breeze was filling and maybe time to head for an early shower.
Race 1 underway, having let the general handicap series get away first in their race, with Tim, Andy and David pushing the pin end, Tim Weeden pinched up, Andy McIvor slowed and David Valentine managed to just pass them both, only to touch the putty 50 metres up, tack and then to be called starboard by Tom (aka Poster Boy), retack and Davids race went backwards quickly. Adam Cockerill, newbie D-Zero'ist, took a flyer on the start unbothered by others and led to the first mark. Close racing round mark 1, reaching across the harbour to 2, and a long downwind mixed things up, with some places changing, and David caught up a few nearly mounting a couple as they rounded mark 3 with a short reach to 4. Another local Ben Davis enjoying the conditions was putting in a good shift and staying in the mix. David had chased hard and taken some places only to try tacking quickly after the last mark, and went into irons dropping back a few places. However after a couple of laps, Adam took the bullet, James Jenkins 2nd, Tom 3rd and Gavin Fleming 4th.
Race 2 with the breeze strengthening, Adam and David got great starts, another local Max Jones and Gavin pushing hard to the 1st mark, Adam, then Max, Gavin and David, scorching across to the 2nd with Tom in reaching distance and Ian Patrick in the top 6 pulling away from the pack. 3 laps this time of the trapezoid, with David finding some downwind extra energy and pulling past Gavin fighting hard though David had the inside line at the 3rd, just behind Max. Max rounded 4th, tacked hard and hit some irons, with David managing to squeeze past followed closely by Gavin. Breezy upwind, Gavin got ahead of David, trying to close the gap on Adam, rounded Mark 1 hitting a wave and the boat stopping dead and hitting some irons, David reached past, as Gavin sorted himself though couldn't find quite enough on the downwind to overtake. Tom had some challenges after some bad habits picked up in the OK, and couldn't pull back enough. 1st Adam, 2nd David, 3rd Gavin, 4th Max, with Tom following up for 5th.
Race 3, a tad more breeze, with some extra waves as the wind swung more Easterly. Adam was being pushed by Gavin from the start, with David, Tom, Ian and Tim chasing hard. The tide was starting to change tactics as it started to ebb, and some interesting shifts up the long'ish beat where some legs looked to pay off better than others. Close rounding, deeper reaching across to 2, bunched a few up, and then a reach/run down to the 3rd. After 3 laps, Gavin was right on Adam's heels with Gavin tacking up to the finish just before Adam, forcing a quick tack and a drag race. Adam just took the bullet with less than a couple of seconds between Gavin. Tom and David were fighting it out, on the run, zigging and zagging to try and get some surfing going, though Tom took it from David, with Ian Patrick, a normal pond sailor relishing in the conditions beating James to 5th and 6th.
As the general handicap boats sailed off home, just the one start for the D-Zero's, and Adam had another great start though pushed hard by several - Tom, David, Gavin followed by Gordon who was back in the hunt, now the wind strength had subsided a bit. Tom and David fought down the first downhill again, with Gavin not far behind, though the first 3 were off and not wanting to be caught with only 2 laps. Fortunately the wind blew a bit on our reach and enabled us to build enough gap, and ended after some tough racing all round - Adam, Tom, David, Gavin and Gordon. Overall places were tied on a few places and after consulting the countback rules by our protest committee the results were as follows. Thanks very much to the RO team, it was the RO' Sean Curtis first event time as an RO, and photographer - @MichaelAustenPhoto, and to all the travellers coming down to challenge the locals. Maybe 2 days next year ? and bearing in mind another 17 were racing up at Largs, a good turnout from the D-Zero Class.
Results
Place Sail Number Helm Club R1 R2 R3 R4 Discard Total
1 199 Adam Cockerill ESSC 1 1 1 1 1 3
2 328 Tom Southwell Lee on Solent SC 3 5 3 2 5 8
3 66 David Valentine ESSC 9 2 4 3 9 9
4 183 Gavin Fleming Hunts SC 4 3 2 4 4 9
5 151 James Jenkins ESC 2 7 6 18 18 15
6 234 Max Jones ESC 5 4 9 8 9 17
7 335 Ian Patrick Bough Beech SC 14 6 5 9 14 20
8 319 Ben Davis TISC 6 13 8 6 13 20
9 312 Tim Weeden ESSC 7 8 7 7 8 21
10 358 Gordon Stewart NHEBSC 11 10 10 5 11 25
11 260 Gareth Davies ESSC 8 12 13 10 13 30
12 360 Andy McIvor Blackwater SC 10 9 11 15 15 30
13 268 Simon Robinson ESSC 12 11 14 11 14 34
14 114 Derrick Johnson ESSC 13 14 12 12 14 37
15 311 Simon Boylin ESSC 15 18 18 18 18 51
16 133 Jez Adams ESSC 18 18 18 18 18 54
17 186 Bob Jarvis ESC 18 18 18 18 18 54
May 2023 - Ullswater Northern Championships Results & Report
Hello all, from Zippy the D-Zero, on tour for a double whammy of travellers events in the North. First up was Ullswater last weekend for the D-Zero Northerns. As a new venue on the D-Zero circuit, I was very excited to be packed up. There were promises of Great Lakes, spectacular scenery and many, many sheep.
There were further promises from Owner, to drive carefully and keep my wheels off the pavements and grass verges. In return, I promised not to capsize or challenge her poor sense of direction on the race course.
Twenty minutes into the journey, there I was, leaping over gutters onto the Liverpool pedestrians. A dry sail was not looking hopeful. Once at the venue, my frown melted away. Six other D-Zeros had arrived, coming from as far as Bedford (Gordon Stewart) and Aberdeen (Scott Munro); our sailing clubs spanning over 460 miles apart.
The first day had zephyringly light winds and, because my name also starts with Z, I claimed the day's racing as my own. All thoughts of dropping Owner in the drink were put aside for a carefree afternoon of capering on the quadrilateral course. The result was two convincing wins for me, with Owner as compulsory baggage. That left Gordon and Ian Baillie to take two seconds and two thirds respectively.
Futher down the fleet, Chris Everitt had to return to the shore before the first race, after rigging his new traveller with blocks upside down. These small mistakes are easily achieved by most Owners of all experience and ability. Mine is certainly no exception and has been known to set off in a partially rigged boat.
Perhaps I need to mention here the blonde moment she had in the campsite later, when placing her wetsuit boots on top of the front wheel of the camper van to dry. And then forgetting about them and driving off over them the next morning. I can only raise my eyebrows.
After the two light wind races, the RO Rick Boyce called a stop on the fickle wind sailing and postponed race 3 until Sunday.
The following morning, the wind had increased to 10-15 knots. A change of RO had been made and Harriot Pullman set up for the day's racing.
In Race 3, Ian made a clean break from the fleet after a clean and speedy start from the pin end on port tack. He went on to win from Scott, who had a close race with Gordon, who finished 3rd.
Mick Green's boat was busy performing 360s in response to its Owner's mark hitting rampage throughout the race. I caught a glimpse of the poor boat's raised eyebrows as I slipped past into 4th.
The wind continued to blow, so after the race whilst we were waiting for the fleets to finish, I took Owner to a quiet windless spot in the lee of some trees, where we could exchange pleasantries with some sheep I hadn't met yet. Gordon and Mick's boats came to join the party and it all got a bit close up, rafty and personal.
Mick's boat escaped at the 6 minute gun for race 4 and I broke free to hunt for wind at the last minute, sailing as fast as I could to the start line and crossing it as the gun went. Gordon's boat continued chatting away with the sheep, bobbling in a vacuum, which meant Gordon missed the start by several minutes.
Back up the fleet, disaster struck for John Pickett, as his kicker broke, resulting in a turtled capsize and injury to his hamstring. Fortunately the rescue crew were at hand to help out and all ended well. At the front end of the fleet, it was Scott who took the win from Ian, with me in third place.
The fleet came in for lunch and a warm up, returning for the last two races. Ian and Scott share out the firsts and seconds, with Gordon re-finding his form again with two thirds.
By now, two discards had been applied, leaving Ian and Scott on equal points. The deciding split was made on discards, giving Ian Baillie the Northern Championship Title and Scott Munro the runner up. Liz Potter was third, though it was all my hard work of course.
Thank you to Ullswater Yacht Club for being great hosts, particularly to the race teams for both days; Rick Boyce, Harriot Pullman, Kate Sargeant, Sam Smith and Chris Mulholland, plus the rescue teams, caterers and bar staff. We hope to come back next year!
Overall Results:
Pos Sail No Helm R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Pts
1st 336 Ian Baillie ‑3 ‑3 1 2 2 1 6
2nd 353 Scott Munro ‑5 ‑5 2 1 1 2 6
3rd 333 Liz Potter 1 1 ‑4 3 ‑4 4 9
4th 358 Gordon Stewart 2 2 ‑3 ‑5 3 3 10
5th 344 Mick Green 4 4 ‑5 4 ‑5 5 17
6th 203 Chris Everitt (DNC) ‑6 6 6 6 6 24
7th 314 John Pickett 6 7 (DNC) (DNC) DNC DNC 29
Please also see Yachts & Yachting Report
Hello all, from Zippy the D-Zero, on tour for a double whammy of travellers events in the North. First up was Ullswater last weekend for the D-Zero Northerns. As a new venue on the D-Zero circuit, I was very excited to be packed up. There were promises of Great Lakes, spectacular scenery and many, many sheep.
There were further promises from Owner, to drive carefully and keep my wheels off the pavements and grass verges. In return, I promised not to capsize or challenge her poor sense of direction on the race course.
Twenty minutes into the journey, there I was, leaping over gutters onto the Liverpool pedestrians. A dry sail was not looking hopeful. Once at the venue, my frown melted away. Six other D-Zeros had arrived, coming from as far as Bedford (Gordon Stewart) and Aberdeen (Scott Munro); our sailing clubs spanning over 460 miles apart.
The first day had zephyringly light winds and, because my name also starts with Z, I claimed the day's racing as my own. All thoughts of dropping Owner in the drink were put aside for a carefree afternoon of capering on the quadrilateral course. The result was two convincing wins for me, with Owner as compulsory baggage. That left Gordon and Ian Baillie to take two seconds and two thirds respectively.
Futher down the fleet, Chris Everitt had to return to the shore before the first race, after rigging his new traveller with blocks upside down. These small mistakes are easily achieved by most Owners of all experience and ability. Mine is certainly no exception and has been known to set off in a partially rigged boat.
Perhaps I need to mention here the blonde moment she had in the campsite later, when placing her wetsuit boots on top of the front wheel of the camper van to dry. And then forgetting about them and driving off over them the next morning. I can only raise my eyebrows.
After the two light wind races, the RO Rick Boyce called a stop on the fickle wind sailing and postponed race 3 until Sunday.
The following morning, the wind had increased to 10-15 knots. A change of RO had been made and Harriot Pullman set up for the day's racing.
In Race 3, Ian made a clean break from the fleet after a clean and speedy start from the pin end on port tack. He went on to win from Scott, who had a close race with Gordon, who finished 3rd.
Mick Green's boat was busy performing 360s in response to its Owner's mark hitting rampage throughout the race. I caught a glimpse of the poor boat's raised eyebrows as I slipped past into 4th.
The wind continued to blow, so after the race whilst we were waiting for the fleets to finish, I took Owner to a quiet windless spot in the lee of some trees, where we could exchange pleasantries with some sheep I hadn't met yet. Gordon and Mick's boats came to join the party and it all got a bit close up, rafty and personal.
Mick's boat escaped at the 6 minute gun for race 4 and I broke free to hunt for wind at the last minute, sailing as fast as I could to the start line and crossing it as the gun went. Gordon's boat continued chatting away with the sheep, bobbling in a vacuum, which meant Gordon missed the start by several minutes.
Back up the fleet, disaster struck for John Pickett, as his kicker broke, resulting in a turtled capsize and injury to his hamstring. Fortunately the rescue crew were at hand to help out and all ended well. At the front end of the fleet, it was Scott who took the win from Ian, with me in third place.
The fleet came in for lunch and a warm up, returning for the last two races. Ian and Scott share out the firsts and seconds, with Gordon re-finding his form again with two thirds.
By now, two discards had been applied, leaving Ian and Scott on equal points. The deciding split was made on discards, giving Ian Baillie the Northern Championship Title and Scott Munro the runner up. Liz Potter was third, though it was all my hard work of course.
Thank you to Ullswater Yacht Club for being great hosts, particularly to the race teams for both days; Rick Boyce, Harriot Pullman, Kate Sargeant, Sam Smith and Chris Mulholland, plus the rescue teams, caterers and bar staff. We hope to come back next year!
Overall Results:
Pos Sail No Helm R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Pts
1st 336 Ian Baillie ‑3 ‑3 1 2 2 1 6
2nd 353 Scott Munro ‑5 ‑5 2 1 1 2 6
3rd 333 Liz Potter 1 1 ‑4 3 ‑4 4 9
4th 358 Gordon Stewart 2 2 ‑3 ‑5 3 3 10
5th 344 Mick Green 4 4 ‑5 4 ‑5 5 17
6th 203 Chris Everitt (DNC) ‑6 6 6 6 6 24
7th 314 John Pickett 6 7 (DNC) (DNC) DNC DNC 29
Please also see Yachts & Yachting Report
April 2023 - Bough Beech Open Meeting Results & Report
Also viewable in Yachts & Yachting - D-Zero Open at Bough Beech Sailing Club (yachtsandyachting.com)
More photos also on Photos & Videos
Saturday 22nd April 2023 - The first D-Zero open of 2023 started with 7 sailors arriving from around the country to join Ian Patrick at his home club, though were met with almost no wind. Locals predicted the wind would come late morning so the first race would be postponed. No issue for the D-Zero’ists who checked over others boats, and then had a leisurely lunch and change, in readiness for 3 back to back races.
The RO got us under way at about 1330. Aston, Cowper and McIvor leading away
Photo 1 – R1 start 5 secs
A reasonable length beat in a light non-hiking breeze took us south towards the reservoir wall, and Andy McIvor in his new D-Zero was leading the pack with Valentine chasing hard, until the last 100m and then a huge windshift meant us tacking three times for the mark, whilst some of the others who’d gone left sailed over the top. Local Patrick then led the race having gone hard right from the start, with John Aston chasing hard all the way round. Gordon had split McIvor and Valentine, though with Jefferies behind followed by Tim H in his blue rig. The procession albeit close together stayed almost the same though Aston touched a wing mark, did a turn, though managed to catch Patrick up again on the run and were seperated by inches at the finish. 1st Patrick, 2nd Aston, 3rd McIvor
Photo 2 – R1 mid way
Race 2 got underway, with more breeze filling in nicely, meaning hiking was on and Valentine was hopeful though stuck at 30 seconds in a wind deadspot away from the line. At 5 seconds, Valentine charged to the line, though the door was shut by McIvor and a rapid reversal from Valentine avoided a bow shaped hole in the Committee boat. Cowper made a clean start down the pin end.
Photo 3 – R2 start
Crossing late, Valentine tacked hard right and drove hard to the windward mark leading Aston round and had pulled away from the rest of the fleet. Valentine held on for a while, though Aston rolled over ther top on the run having the benefit of at least 30kg difference taking effect. Not to be putoff, Valentine kept chasing hard until he was forced into a crash tack by a naughty Finn who was apparently racing but kept missing marks and letting go of his tiller when tacking.
Humphries was doing well in his blue rig, having overtaken Stewart and McIvor on the windier beat, only to lose the drag race on the reach and runs. Aston pulled away though Valentine kept it flat upwind and chased hard to take 2nd after 3 laps. Jefferies was catching having taken a wider route on the run though a nice reach into Mark 4 and overtaking a couple of others. 1st Aston, 2nd Valentine, 3rd Jefferies
Photos 4 & 5 – R2 DV1 & R2 Tim H Gordon
Race 3 and wind was up and down depending on the level of cloud or sun that rolled through, however no rain despite forecast yet. Fleet split again some hard left, some hard right. Valentine and Aston were seperated though neither paying off over the other, with Aston rounding first, closely followed by Valentine coming in from the right. It was a battle round most of the course with Valentine at times sitting on Aston’s transom after the beat only for Aston to pull away on the reach and runs. Valentine thought he’d done enough though the RO despite time pushing on went for another lap and the wind was dropping. Going up the centre seemed to work well till the last 50m and then a header knocked the benefit out of Valentines sails. Patrick, Stewart, Jefferies and Cowper then all caught just by the 2nd mark and Patrick and Stewart rolled over the top of Valentine, whilst Jefferies and Humphries going right with the hope of reaching past the 3rd mark. That blue sail was working well for Humphries even in the lighter downwind stuff – had he done enough to challenge the fleet.
Photo 6 – Race 3 John A
Stewart and Valentine watched Jefferies closely as his apparent rocking back n forth was not ooching or pumping but the dodgy wind coming off our sails – yeah, we’ll believe you. It was very very close round the final mark with a lot of D-Z’s in a very close space, however no pushing or shoving – well behaved lot ! A short stretch to the finish, who was going to take the 2nd place. Aston was away, and took the bullet. Jefferies and Patrick took the longer beat towards the Committee boat, Stewart followed, Valentine went for a quick tack round the mark and headed for the pin. A little header forced Valentine to tack though sailed across just ahead of Stewart to take 4th. Jefferies took 2nd just ahead of Patrick.
Results
Sail No. Helm R1 R2 R3 Total Nett
3 John Aston (2.0) 1.0 1.0 4.0 2.0
335 Ian Patrick 1.0 (7.0) 3.0 11.0 4.0
74 Paul Jefferies (7.0) 3.0 2.0 12.0 5.0
66 David Valentine (5.0) 2.0 4.0 11.0 6.0
360 Andy McIvor 3.0 5.0 (7.0) 15.0 8.0
358 Gordon Stewart 4.0 4.0 5.0 13.0 8.0
42 Jon Cowper 6.0 6.0 (8.0) 20.0 12.0
136 Tim Humphries (8.0) 8.0 6.0 22.0 14.0
Also viewable in Yachts & Yachting - D-Zero Open at Bough Beech Sailing Club (yachtsandyachting.com)
More photos also on Photos & Videos
Saturday 22nd April 2023 - The first D-Zero open of 2023 started with 7 sailors arriving from around the country to join Ian Patrick at his home club, though were met with almost no wind. Locals predicted the wind would come late morning so the first race would be postponed. No issue for the D-Zero’ists who checked over others boats, and then had a leisurely lunch and change, in readiness for 3 back to back races.
The RO got us under way at about 1330. Aston, Cowper and McIvor leading away
Photo 1 – R1 start 5 secs
A reasonable length beat in a light non-hiking breeze took us south towards the reservoir wall, and Andy McIvor in his new D-Zero was leading the pack with Valentine chasing hard, until the last 100m and then a huge windshift meant us tacking three times for the mark, whilst some of the others who’d gone left sailed over the top. Local Patrick then led the race having gone hard right from the start, with John Aston chasing hard all the way round. Gordon had split McIvor and Valentine, though with Jefferies behind followed by Tim H in his blue rig. The procession albeit close together stayed almost the same though Aston touched a wing mark, did a turn, though managed to catch Patrick up again on the run and were seperated by inches at the finish. 1st Patrick, 2nd Aston, 3rd McIvor
Photo 2 – R1 mid way
Race 2 got underway, with more breeze filling in nicely, meaning hiking was on and Valentine was hopeful though stuck at 30 seconds in a wind deadspot away from the line. At 5 seconds, Valentine charged to the line, though the door was shut by McIvor and a rapid reversal from Valentine avoided a bow shaped hole in the Committee boat. Cowper made a clean start down the pin end.
Photo 3 – R2 start
Crossing late, Valentine tacked hard right and drove hard to the windward mark leading Aston round and had pulled away from the rest of the fleet. Valentine held on for a while, though Aston rolled over ther top on the run having the benefit of at least 30kg difference taking effect. Not to be putoff, Valentine kept chasing hard until he was forced into a crash tack by a naughty Finn who was apparently racing but kept missing marks and letting go of his tiller when tacking.
Humphries was doing well in his blue rig, having overtaken Stewart and McIvor on the windier beat, only to lose the drag race on the reach and runs. Aston pulled away though Valentine kept it flat upwind and chased hard to take 2nd after 3 laps. Jefferies was catching having taken a wider route on the run though a nice reach into Mark 4 and overtaking a couple of others. 1st Aston, 2nd Valentine, 3rd Jefferies
Photos 4 & 5 – R2 DV1 & R2 Tim H Gordon
Race 3 and wind was up and down depending on the level of cloud or sun that rolled through, however no rain despite forecast yet. Fleet split again some hard left, some hard right. Valentine and Aston were seperated though neither paying off over the other, with Aston rounding first, closely followed by Valentine coming in from the right. It was a battle round most of the course with Valentine at times sitting on Aston’s transom after the beat only for Aston to pull away on the reach and runs. Valentine thought he’d done enough though the RO despite time pushing on went for another lap and the wind was dropping. Going up the centre seemed to work well till the last 50m and then a header knocked the benefit out of Valentines sails. Patrick, Stewart, Jefferies and Cowper then all caught just by the 2nd mark and Patrick and Stewart rolled over the top of Valentine, whilst Jefferies and Humphries going right with the hope of reaching past the 3rd mark. That blue sail was working well for Humphries even in the lighter downwind stuff – had he done enough to challenge the fleet.
Photo 6 – Race 3 John A
Stewart and Valentine watched Jefferies closely as his apparent rocking back n forth was not ooching or pumping but the dodgy wind coming off our sails – yeah, we’ll believe you. It was very very close round the final mark with a lot of D-Z’s in a very close space, however no pushing or shoving – well behaved lot ! A short stretch to the finish, who was going to take the 2nd place. Aston was away, and took the bullet. Jefferies and Patrick took the longer beat towards the Committee boat, Stewart followed, Valentine went for a quick tack round the mark and headed for the pin. A little header forced Valentine to tack though sailed across just ahead of Stewart to take 4th. Jefferies took 2nd just ahead of Patrick.
Results
Sail No. Helm R1 R2 R3 Total Nett
3 John Aston (2.0) 1.0 1.0 4.0 2.0
335 Ian Patrick 1.0 (7.0) 3.0 11.0 4.0
74 Paul Jefferies (7.0) 3.0 2.0 12.0 5.0
66 David Valentine (5.0) 2.0 4.0 11.0 6.0
360 Andy McIvor 3.0 5.0 (7.0) 15.0 8.0
358 Gordon Stewart 4.0 4.0 5.0 13.0 8.0
42 Jon Cowper 6.0 6.0 (8.0) 20.0 12.0
136 Tim Humphries (8.0) 8.0 6.0 22.0 14.0
April 2023 - Pleased to advise that Sailing Chandlery are offering the D-Zero Class members a 10% discount on everything except boats and boat packages. Please view the checkout code in the Members Only section.
April 2023 - A new website to show off the D-Zero Class Assoc properly, and also being very very simple to update and keep on top of.
March 2023 - A new system, WebCollect, for collecting membership subscriptions and also for National entries etc. Everything is being updated to make it easier and simpler to manage the Class, as we all just want to go sailing the D-Zero
February 2023 - The RYA Dinghy Show, displaying the standard D-Zero and also the new Black reduced sail...
everything else
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links
Devoti Sailing - factory website and the maker of the D-Zero, aswell as the D-One, the Finn Fantastica & Classic, Devoti ILCA, KDK Devoti Optimist, and many more...
UK dealer dzero.co.uk website - you'll see David the owner racing his own D-Zero, along with his van load of spares, and if you ask nicely, he'll even let you have a demo in his own boat...
Class Sponsors - Noble Marine. One of the best insurers on the market, when you need to claim, they pay out 99.9% of the time, and the David @ dzero.co.uk says they are really easy to deal with. Plus you get 10% off their insurance as a D-Zero Class Member...
D-Zero Supporters:
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Photoboat Photography - the best photos available - Photoboat
Paul Hargreaves Photography - the best photos from the North
North Sails - Racing Sails - Mainsails, Jibs, Genoas, Spinnakers | North Sails
Harken - Harken at the front | Harken
Spinlock - quality buoyancy aids - PFDs | Spinlock
Photoboat Photography - the best photos available - Photoboat
Paul Hargreaves Photography - the best photos from the North