Tag: Yorkshire Dales SC Page 1 of 3

Zippy Zero at the 2021 Northern Championships

By

On October 31, 2021

In Events, News, Open Meetings, Zippy Zero Blog

It was a mild October weekend and the DZeros were beginning to gather for the end of season Northern Championships at Yorkshire Dales SC. This report is brought to you by Zippy Zero, one of the boats competing at this fine annual event.

The high winds forecasted had put off several potential entries, but my Owner (Liz Potter) and the Class Chairman (Paul Jefferies) had arrived early on the Friday afternoon to avoid the traffic and decided to set off for a delightful sunset cruise around the lake perimeter to count the buoys and check that they’d rigged us correctly. It’s a peculiar thing how the humans can still mis-rig us after all this time, then whizz off to a blustery start line on a screaming reach with half rudder before realising the errors in their rigging efforts. They then face an agonising re-rig, using two fingers, a chin or two, a shoulder and some teeth to maintain control and get to the start on time. We boats raise one eyebrow and mutter “really?”. There were mutterings before we’d even left the trollies.

The following morning, 16 boats were lined up on a windy lake slipway. Will Hitchman’s boat had a raised eyebrow and was inspecting its Owner’s borrowed wetsuit boots, kindly loaned by Francis Neill when Will discovered he’d left his at home.

The first race started promptly in a very blustery, shifty Southerly Force 5-6. Many boats were making their Owners practice water starts, followed by rail riding skills. Those who were rubbish at it were practicing capsizing techniques.

The day progressed like something out of the latest James Bond film, but with the cool cars being replaced by us even sexier boats.

After 20 minutes of racing, Ian Baillie was in the lead. The rescue boat was on standby next to the leeward mark and managed to get the buoy’s rope caught around the propellor (have they used that in a James Bond film yet?). Several boats then rounded a different mark instead and the RO Movie Director Richard shouted “cut” – raising a flag to end the fiasco and started us again. Plenty of raised boat eyebrows and several sighs.

The race re-started with Ian, Tom Southwell and Niel Richie making a clean getaway from the fleet. Will suffered a huge capsize at the gybe mark and Francis-the-Destroyer ploughed into the disaster zone.

In the wings, someone from the movie crew shouted “cut”, so Francis planed across Will’s sail, locking his gps target locator on the boots he’d lent Will earlier, cleanly ripping the sail’s head off. As the movie plot was clearly becoming more sinister, more than a third of the film cast departed the set to avoid the difficult sailing conditions and risk of another decapitation.

Rhodri Thomas went on to win the race from Tom and Niel.

Race 2 saw Will return with a replacement sail. The wind continued to howl and shift wildly. Owner and I had a few swims to keep us from overheating, amongst a few others. Niel went on to win from Tom and Will in the brutal sailing conditions, with Rhodri, Jon Bassett and Gordon Stewart following closely behind.

Race 3 saw Will and Ian make a clean break from the fleet soon after the start. On the first upwind cross, Ian ducked beneath Will, only to be hit with a huge gusty lift which capsized him. Further in the race, just ahead of us at the gybe mark, more capsizing was going on. This time, a raft of 3 boats were upturned. Cue Francis the Destroyer (muhahaha) looking for more heads to chop off. He located Andy Spencer and fired his underwater missile. Once again, the Director called “cut” and the boat obeyed, slicing the sail on impact.

This was becoming a horror movie of epic proportions and I can only blame David Valentine for not being there to edit the script. Instead, he had sent his flunky and poster boy, Tom to star in one of the leading roles.

Unfortunately, that race’s 4th left Tom just short behind Will, Niel and Rhodri, but still in the Oscar nominations at the end of the days’ racing.

A tired and drenched collection of boats and humans came ashore that evening and they enjoyed a hearty supper provided by YDSC superb new caterer Karen Laxton. The sailors spent the night snuggled up with wet sails and damp gear in tents and vans, listening to the 30 knot winds outside.

The next morning, I found myself all packed up and ready to go home, in anticipation of the heavy rain and even stronger gales.

However, the wind had calmed down a bit and Mick Green, who was racing his brand new DZero (both on and under the water) persuaded my Owner to put on some bigger (is that possible?) and braver pants, man-up and get out there. Well said Mick. She, in turn, passed that message of camaraderie onto Jon Bassett, who was also thinking of leaving the set for a new movie. Such is the DZero fleet enthusiasm and support for eachother, that I’m thinking the title of our Hollywood production should be “One Zero is never enough”.

The fourth race was started in much more manageable winds, although they were even shiftier. The race was led and won by Ian, with Andy Spencer sailing a superb race with a replacement sail, coming in 2nd. In third was Tom, but more significantly, the series discard had now kicked in, putting Will in first place overall. Interestingly, Will’s sail number is Triple 07 (307). Perhaps our movie’s Bond character had revealed himself at last. He went on to win both of the last races, to become the DZero Superhero Northern Champion.

The competition before the final race was so tight that only 4 points separated the top 5 boats, with Tom, Niel, Rhodri and Ian all possible winners, but finishing in that order overall. Jon put in his best races of the weekend, including a 3rd and 4th, finishing 6th overall, justifying going out for that second day.

Despite the increasing wind in the final race, we also had a better day, finishing 7th overall, just behind Jon.

Mick secured the Lanterne Rouge of the weekend by being the last boat to complete every race.

So, the curtains came down upon our final event of the year, The plot had it all; heroes, villains, unbelievable storylines. We had a great Director (thanks, Richard and race team), superb Producer (Richard Paynter – our local DZero rep and event organiser, with assistant Lee Carter) fabulous location and set (YDSC), excellent canteen (Thanks Karen), film crew (Thanks Paul Hargraves and Alice Carter) and terrific cast (fellow DZeros afloat and onshore – Abby, Ed, Paul).

See you all at the Red Carpet Premiere next Spring!

Zippy Zero 333

2021 D-Zero Northern Championships – 23rd/24th October

By

On October 11, 2021

In Events, News, Open Meetings

The 2021 D-Zero Northern Championships will take place at Yorkshire Dales SC on the 3rd and 24th October 2021. With good numbers of D-Zero already indicating they are going to make the trip, not just from the north, it should be a great event to round out the traditional sailing season.

Yorkshire Dales SC is a favourite with the D-Zero class and hosts a named event for us most years. This year we have the lake to ourselves so make the most of it. There will be food at the club Friday and Saturday evening (details to follow).

You find out more and enter online by clicking here.

Further information from Yorkshire Dales SC with regards to catering arrangements:

We are currently sorting out the details for the forthcoming Yorkshire Dales D-Zero Open, and will be offering a meal on Friday evening (+ bar) as well as a meal Saturday evening and breakfasts Saturday and Sunday mornings.

The menus from our caterer are below.

Please could you let me know if you are intending to have a meal in the club Friday and Saturday evenings so we can get a feel for numbers. Thanks!

RURAL RECIPES @ Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club

Hi D-Zeros,
We have prepared a menu for you to peruse, we hope you would like to eat at the YDSC as we would love to cater for you.If you would like to dine with us please could you order at the galley on arrival so we can prepare your evening dinner. Also if anyone has any dietary needs or doesn’t like what’s on the menu please come and have a chat and see what we can do to help.We will also have a full Bar serving drinks and we again hope you will use our facilities. The Bar will be open until 9/9.30pm. Hope all this reads well and we look forward to hearing from you

Best Wishes

Karen/ Catering 07794087154
David / Bar 07708313120

1 course £7.25, 2 courses £9.25

Friday Supper & Bar

Tender Chicken Breast Thai Green Curry, Coriander & Ginger sideSalad with Basmati Rice

Spinach, Chickpea & Sweet Potato Curry Coriander & Ginger sideSalad with Basmati Rice

Hot Chicken Jalfrezi with Rice, Pickles, Popadom & Naan Bread

Fish Pie, Haddock, Salmon & Prawn in a Cream White Wine Sauce served with Garden Peas

Desserts

Hot Chocolate Fudge with Ice Cream or Cream

Deep Filled Apple Pie with Custard or Cream

Carrot Cake with Cream

Cheese Board with Grapes Homemade Chutney & Biscuits Includes Nibbles Before Dinner

Tea, Coffee, Hot Chocolate or Soft Cordial Drink

Please send your name & Order to Karen 07794087154 by TEXT

Saturday Evening Dinner Menu

Tender Medium Spiced Lamb Tagine with Sweet Pepper CousCous,Mint & Cucumber Yoghurt Dip & a Hot Flat Bread

Slow Cooked Mediterranean Vegetable Tagine with Sweet PepperCousCous, Mint Yoghurt Dip & a Hot Flat Bread

Creamy Chicken & Ham Hock Flaky Pastry Top Pie Served with Mash Potatoes & Seasonal Veg

Slow Cooked Beef & Local Ale Shortcrust Pastry Top Pie Served with Mash Potatoes & Seasonal Veg & Beef Ale Gravy

Desserts

Hot Chocolate Fudge with Ice Cream or Cream

Deep Filled Apple Pie with Custard or Cream

Carrot Cake with Cream

Cheese Board with Grapes Homemade Chutney & Biscuits

Includes Nibbles Before Dinner

Tea, Coffee, Hot Chocolate or Soft Cordial Drink

Please Order at The Galley on arrival or Early afternoon

Northern Championships at Yorkshire Dales SC – Cancelled

By

On August 4, 2020

In Events, Open Meetings

The class association has been advised by Yorkshire Dales SC that they have taken the difficult decision to cancel all their remaining open meetings for 2020.

This is due to the local outbreak in the area. The club feels that encouraging people to travel to and stay in the area is not appropriate at this time.

They look forward to welcoming us back in 2021.

Covid-19 Update

By

On July 24, 2020

In Events, News, Open Meetings

As things are now slowly starting to return to a new normal we can reveal some updates with regards to events.

Regrettably most of the 2020 Open Meeting calendar has fallen victim to Covid-19 with the UK National Championships being postponed until 2021. As many of you will know we are keeping the same venue and weekend as this year and have managed to retain the sponsors we already had in place. Thanks to the team at Largs SC who have been working hard on this and doing all the background work,

Back to 2020 now. We have been in touch with Grafham Water SC who are our hosts for the 2020 Inland Championships. They are confident they can run us an event at the start of September as currently scheduled on the class calendar. We are therefore anticipating a good turnout as this will show the ‘best in class’ of 2020 in lieu of the 2020 National Championships not taking place.

We also have a 2 day event scheduled at Yorkshire Dales SC at the end of October. The host club are confident this event will take place and should allow us to go of the year of a high. I know many D-Zero sailors are already making plans for the trip to Yorkshire which has long been a favourite for class having twice hosted our Inland Championships.

The class is also hopeful that some of the other events that were cancelled can be rescheduled. The fleet are Hunts SC are actively seeking a date for an Open Meeting having had last years ‘weeded’ off and the early scheduled date postponed. So do keep an eye on the 2020 Events page and the class Facebook group for updates.

The Adventures of Zippy Zero – Zippy, Hannah and the Great Yorkshire Tea Monster

By

On May 1, 2019

In Zippy Zero Blog

It’s Zippy, the Zero, checking in after another exciting weekend away, this time at the D-Zero Inland Championships at Yorkshire Dales. Despite the extreme wind weather forecasts depicting Storm Hannah’s track across the country for Saturday, 22 D-Zeros turned up from as far as Aberdeen, Glasgow, Devonshire, Sussex and Cambridge.

Ready to launch and fight with Hannah Photo copyright Paul Hargreaves

We set off on a wet Friday afternoon, with the hope of getting a practice sail in. After 4 hours of diverting off motorways, we approached the reservoir on it’s long scenic road, which Owner fondly refers to as the “Top Gear Run”; still the same as she remembered it last September, complete with speed trap grills and exotic birds lined up on the fences to admire my attractive rear end flying behind her vehicle.

The heavy rain was accompanied by low temperatures, so I got ditched alongside my fellow travellers, all in the same state of full waterproofs and total bedraglement. I noticed that some Zeros were wearing their underpants on top of their overcovers. These were obviously a Super Hero breed and I made a silent note to try out their cool fashion when no-one was looking. The Owners all disappeared to the clubhouse in search of warm drinks and a weather app which did not depict 35 knots of wind for the next day.

Carving through the tea Photo copyright Paul Hargreaves

Saturday dawned cold and wet, though not too windy. That was yet to come. A quick call home on my secret mobile informed me that West Kirby boat park had already seen gusts in excess of 50 knots and there were some boats that were lying down to evade the worst of it. Back at the Dales, us boats were rigged and ready to go afloat by 1pm. The first freaky Hannah gusts had begun and Owner had to sit on my nose for a while to stop me taking off before launching. The Race Officer started the race sequence on time and we set off minus half of the ​fleet. I shot off the pin end and tried to weather the huge gusts, rounding the first mark around 7th. I could see the leading boats ahead of me reaching to the first gybe mark and then a huge gust hit them and all I could see were plumes of spray the colour of cold tea, from the ochreous waters of Grimwith Reservoir. They fell over like sticks as they attempted to gybe, and there was so much debris by the time we got there with my cockpit full of the finest Yorkshire tea, that Owner did a carving gybe worthy of a Top Gear chicane and we shot off to the next gybe mark to manoeuvre through the next group of upturned hulls. By the second lap, some of the boats behind had caught up on the shift up the beat. We survived upright to finish 9th, with Aberdeen’s Neil Ritchie winning from National Champion Steve Bolland and Dalgety Bay’s Ian Baille in 3rd .

The wind continued to increase over the next race and the boat corpses continued to pile up at the gybe marks. The tea flew liberally and, on the tighter reach, Owner resigned herself to sailing by braille, occasionally filling her ears to avoid the biggest waves. By the last gybe mark of the day, we were still upright, but the Great Yorkshire Tea Monster had crept onboard and untied my mainsheet end and it was now being sucked out of the open transom by the denizen of the deep. Owner fought back bravely, retrieving great wodges of it and trying to re-tie a bowline, whilst screeching downwind, clinging to my tiller and performing strange windscreen wiper actions to remove the tea jets out of her eyes.

Sending the tea flying Photo copyright Paul Hargreaves

The Race Officer had somehow failed to hoist the shortened course flag, and was shouting at the race leaders Ian Baille and Neil because they had sailed to the wrong mark, so we all had to go another round with Hannah. The race was won by Steve Bolland, with Jon Bassett from Largs 2nd and his truly, God Almighty, Zero maker, overtaker with mast raker, David Valentine in 3rd place. By the end of the day, we were lying in 6th place overall, thanks to the swimmers, the absconders and my blistering downwind boatspeed. My Owner was a mere passenger.​

Once ashore, the action was far from over, as a small tornado passed down the reservoir, uprooting a new Zero from its trolley and decimating the tent of Jon Cowper on the shoreline. I am told that it’s not the first time he’s been troubled by passing wind and he joined the cold and homeless in the back of somebody’s car that night.

By Day 2, the winds had thankfully abated and changed direction, so we were given a fabulous reaching course, where I bagged a 5th place, behind the winner Steve Bolland, Prestwick’s Alistair McLaughlin, our Zero Assoc Chairman Paul Jefferies and Jon Bassett. For the next two races, the wind swung around and played havoc with us poor boats. The windward mark was pushed up into a far corner under a hill and the technique was to sneak up on it without the wind noticing. Two unsuccessful sneakers were Neil Ritchie, who got tacked by a large wind shift before he noticed and then let go of his mainsheet, capsizing with much oooooo noooooooo’s on top of Alistair Glen’s boat. Neil’s boat tried to insert it’s mast inside Alistair’s boom sleeve and it was all getting a little steamy as I zipped past, whilst the Owners were trying to disentangle them.

Owner looking happy Photo copyright Paul Hargreaves

I wasn’t very good at the silly wind game game and finished up with a mid-fleet discard. Ian Baille and Paul Jefferies took the first two dodgy wind race places, followed by Gavin Flemming from Hunts SC.

By the final race, the wind was behaving very badly. This made the mark roundings potentially hazardous. Luckily, the DZ Owners are a friendly lot and seemed to enjoy a lot of jovial banter with each other. I usually struggle to understand what they are saying, particularly if they are Scottish, but the exchanges which are most often passed are “Room”, which must be an offer to stay the night, “Starboard” (oh look, our booms are touching), “Up” (can I help you over the start line?). I even heard “Can I go?” called to every boat by a Scotsman on Port tack, even though he’d only arrived the night before and on outward appearances, seemed to be having fun. It was to be the last race, as the wind dwindled away and the time ran out. Tom Southwell ​was the last race winner, with Paul Jefferies enjoying the sneaky conditions and bagging a second, with Gordon Stewart in 3rd .

We were packed up in pleasant sunshine and the new Inland Champion Steve Bolland was crowned, with Paul Jefferies taking the runner up prize, followed by Tom Southwell. The prizes were sponsored by David Valentine of dzero.co.uk and Chichester Harbour Gin.

I came 11th overall, tying for points with Mr God Valentine, maker, heartbreaker and taker of 10th place on some obscure factor known only to the Genie inside the Sailwave programme.

It was a truly wonderful weekend, supported by a professional, warm and welcoming club, with great volunteers, fabulous food and underfloor heating. It was a weekend of winning and losing, give and take. I gained a brand new kicker, after seeing Mick Green’s explode in the windy race and I lost a trolley tyre on the Skipton roundabout on the way home. Owner lost critical places on the final short beat of the last race, but gained a whole load of new friends and some happy memories.

Next up is Largs in a month, so I have around 30 days to learn a new language. Until then;

“Awa’, an bile yer heid”
Zippy Zero 187

Dzero.co.uk Chichester Harbour Gin D-Zero Inland Championship 2019 – Report and Results

By

On April 30, 2019

In Events, News, Open Meetings

The last weekend in April saw the D-Zero fleet gather at Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club for their 2019 Inland Championships which were sponsored by the UK D-Zero dealer dzero.co.uk and Chichester Harbour Gin.

As the weekend approached a fair bit of attention was paid to the forecast with the late announcement that Storm Hannah would be venting her fury across the country on Saturday.

Charge! Photo Copyright Paul Hargreaves

The early arrivals on Friday all canned the idea of going for a friendly sail in the afternoon as the rain fell giving the surrounding countryside a good wash. Thoughts soon turned to the evening entertainment and a good contingent of the early arrivals decamped to The Forresters in nearby Grassington for an evening meal and the usual D-Zero class banter to start. With the following day in mind though most of the fleet opted for an early night.

Saturday dawned and it was clear the Hannah was wreaking havoc with the sailing calendar with events to the south being cancelled or postponed. Not so for us. Dodging the rain and the showers boats were prepared ready for battle. Following a hearty lunch and briefing boats wee moved down to the shore ready to launch. At this point Hannah decided that a squall was just what we needed. Dave Valentine seemed to pay no attention and luanch anyway soon followed by Niel Ritchie who went of for a bit of a blast. Dave soon realised the rest of us were waiting and came back to cower on shore whilst the squall went through.

Gavin Fleming battles the breeze Photo Copyright Paul Hargreaves

Race 1

Race 1 got underway in a good breeze. After a clean start, relative newcomer to the fleet Gavin Fleming showed everyone how to master the conditions and led us round the windward mark. From there he held on in the increasing wind and looked set for the bullet until the last beat to the line where he decided that getting stuck in irons would be a fun game to play and slipped down the order eventually crossing in 8th. For most people it was survival conditions but the big boys were having a ball with Niel Ritchie taking the bullet ahead of current National Chamopion Steve Bolland in second and Ian Ballie completing the podium.

Not so keen on this cold Yorkshire Tea! Photo Copyright Paul Hargreaves

Race 2

Race 2 was back to back with race 1 and Hannah decided that there simply wasnt enough wind across the course so ramped it up another notch. What happened for most of the race your roving reporter cannot say but there were people hanging on for grim death and cpasized boats littering the race course.

The only event of note was that the race leaders seemed to have a navigational issue and headed off to the wrong mark. This left your roving reporter in a nett 3rd place only needing to bring it home. unfortunately this proved to be impossible and after a long swim I have the pleasure of being the only boat towed ashore.

Niel and Ian gracefully retired having realised their error. this left Steve to take the bullet followed home by relative lightweight Jon Basset and Dave Valentine completing the podium. Steve was heard to utter his phrase of ‘weapons grade wind’ to which everyone agreed.

So overnight Steve led from Dave and Tom. With many people counting at least 1 DNF/DNS Sunday could see everything change.

As the fleet relaxed in the clubhouse waiting for dinner it seemed that Hannah had one final trick up her sleeve. As we watched on a huge squall came down the lake, ripping spray off the surface, blowing 1 boat of its trolley (with only minor damage thankfully) and shredding Jon Cowpers tent and giving his bedding a shower.

After the excitement of the squall (too exciting for some including D-Zero poster boy Tom Southwell who took a nap on the sofa) Yorkshire Dales excelled themselves providing an excellent meal for the assembled competitors. Tom seemed to be energised after his nap and managed to consume the extra puddings, a total of 4 (perhaps he was hoping for more wind on Sunday). After plenty of banter some aching bodies retired to their accommodation whilst other once again made their way to The Forresters for more beer and banter.

Sunday dawned dry and bright with a gentle breeze blowing from the north, a complete contrast to Saturday. With an earlier start posted in the hopes of completing 4 races the fleet launched early and full contingent made their way over the start.

2019 Inland Champion Steve Bolland Photo Copyright Paul Hargreaves

Race 3

on a crowded and slightly starboard biased line it was clear that getting off the line would be key. The fleet were a little too keen and combined with a shift the RO decided we should all come back and try again.

At the second time of asking, and under black flag, we got away cleanly. This time Steve and your roving report (and class chair) led the fleet up to the first mark. Not everyone was as successful with someone electing to take a dip right after tacking (apparently the mainsheet was dropped as they hiked out). Cue some encouragement from their fellow competitors At the windward mark Steve led closely followed by myself with Alistair ‘Storky’ McLaughlin in hot pursuit. By the next mark Storky had managed to sneak past me and set off in pursuit of Steve. It was not to be though and Steve took the bullet from Storky with me completing the podium. Notably Liz Potter in Zippy Zero (the resident class blogging boat) came home 4th seemingly finding the lighter conditions very much to her liking (also notable that Liz and Zippy were one of the few boats that didn’t take a dip the previous day).

This result meant Steve had 1 hand on the trophy but with the wind being fickle at times and no one really having a consistent series everything could change.

The Mr Happy of the D-Zero fleet…. Photo Copyright Paul Hargreaves

Race 4

Race 4 got away immediately after race 3 and the chances of getting all 6 races in were looking good.

This time your roving reporter shot off the start line to lead at the windward mark followed by Ian and Gavin just ahead of a large chunk of boats. Steve was buried in the fleet, could he pull it back?

Ian and Gavin both got past me on the next beat but the wind gods decided to throw a curve ball with the wind bec
Photo Copyright Paul Hargreaves oming increasingly fickle at the start of the second lap. Gavin seemed to miss the wind filling in allowing me back past and I set off in pursuit of Ian. Catching him quickly down the reach I was thinking of glory as Gavin found himself slipping back towards the chasing pack. Again it was not to be with Ian extending out down the final reach to take the bullet followed by myself with Gavin completing the podium.

This threw a lifeline to Steves’ rivals, could they take advantage? Cue another curve ball from the wind gods who decided a shift was in order. After a couple of attempts to get us away that were abandoned due to shifts, the wind dropping away completely then filling in from a different direction it looked as though that might be it.

The RO decided we had not had enough though and got us away for a 5th race.

Paul Jefferies gets his ‘game face’ on Photo Copyright Paul Hargreaves 

Race 5

With the wind now coming in streaks from the north east corner it was clear that whoever got in to one would be home and free, could anyone do that? The answer was yes with Storky getting away and showing the fleet a clean transom. Behind him it was very much a game of snakes and ladders with those who were dead and buried one minute finding themselves back up at the front the next. On the second lap you roving reporter decided there was nothing to lose by following everyone high on the run and decided to gybe off after spotting what looked to be some wind coming off the eastern shore. This paid handsomely and, much to the chagrin of the entire fleet except Storky (who was long gone) and Tom (who managed to stay ahead), I popped out in 3rd place. Only 2 and a bit legs to go for another goo result. With the wind filling in a little it seemed Tom and I were destined to battle it our for second. Tom managed to hook into some new breeze by the next mark and extended away leaving me to try and hold off Steve for 3rd.

After a nervy leg where the wind filled in behind I rounded the final mark just ahead of Steve with Gordon Stewart closing rapidly on us. Steve tried some Jedi mind tricks to try and encourage me to tack before the filling breeze reached us. In the end he tacked away from underneath and we drag raced to the line, me taking it by a boat length. Unfortunately for Steve he was OCS.

But what had happened to Storky who had crossed the line to silence? Turns out he was a little too keen at the start and was over along with Steve. This promoted Tom to race winner, myself to another second and Gordon to 3rd.

At this point the RO had decided we had enough and sent us ashore as the wind dropped further and became even more shifty. Back on shore people were speculating on the result. It looked like Steve had done enough to add the Inlands title to his National Championship title but who was second and third?

None were more surprised than myself to discover I had come second overall with Tom completing the podium.

At prize giving the host club, sponsors and competitors were all thanked. Richard Paynter from the host club announced the winners with Dave Valentine from dzero.co.uk presenting the prizes. Everyone agreed it was a great event and, thanks to the generosity of the prizes from the event sponsors and Yorkshire Dales no one went away empty handed.

Paul Hargreaves was on site over the weekend, you can see his excellent photos by clicking here. The class would like to extend their thanks to Paul for allowing us to use his photos.

W

Full results can be found by clicking here. A summary of the prize winners is below:

1st Steve Bolland Bristol Corinthinan Yacht Club
2nd Paul Jefferies Hunts SC
3rd Tom Southwell Netley SC
1st Lady Liz Potter West Kirby SC
Furthest Traveller Niel Ritchie Aberdeen and Stonehaven SC

From here the D-Zero class moves on to Largs SC on the 18th/19th May for the dzero.co.uk Chichester Harbour Gin D-Zero Scottish Championships.

DZero.co.uk/Chichester Harbour Gin D-Zero Inland Championships

By

On April 24, 2019

In Events, Open Meetings

At the time of writing entries are well into the 20s and the forecast is looking good for the weekend. So if you are still not sure then what else do you need us to do to change your mind? Entry on the day is possible but you must be a CA member to compete at the event (Event membership is available to non-boat owners who have borrowed/chartered a boat).

Yorkshire Dales are making their final preparations and are offering a meal on the Saturday evening as well as having the bar open for the usual post race chat and banter.

The current offering is Chicken with Coriander, CousCous and Rice with a selection of puddings for the princely sum of £10/head. There will be a vegetarian option available.

If you want the meal we do need an idea of numbers so the caterers can ensure they have enough to feed us all. So please either comment on the Facebook post to say you would like it or (if you don’t use Facebook) please complete the form below:

DZero.co.uk sponsor the 2019 D-Zero Inland Championships

By

On February 11, 2019

In Events, News

The D-Zero class association are delighted to announce that the UK D-Zero dealer, DZero.co.uk, will be sponsoring the 2019 D-Zero Inland Championships at Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club on the 27th and 28th April 2019.

David Valentine from DZero.co.uk says:

Hayling Island, UK – February 11, 2019 – DZero, the UK exclusive dealer for Devoti D-Zero & Optimist sailing dinghies are pleased to announce their sponsorship of the Devoti D–Zero Inland Championships at Yorkshire Dales SC over the weekend of 27–28 April 2019. With a recent surge of new and used D-Zero dinghies, especially across the Northern and Scottish areas of the UK, DZero are keen to assist where possible to keep pushing the Class forward.

The DZero.co.uk demo boat is available on either a 1 race per demo sailor on a free of charge basis, or on a £250 charter fee which is refunded upon purchase of a new D-Zero within 1 month of the event.

The Class Association and DZero work in close liaison sharing the stand at the RYA Dinghy Show, and ensuring dealer and association representatives at every D-Zero sailing event, offering demonstration sails, and seeking greater engagement with the owners to ensure the fun and enjoyment of sailing the D-Zero to continue through the post-sail discussions and socials.

For more information, please contact DZero via their website www.dzero.co.uk, email – david@dzero.co.uk, Facebook @dzero.co.uk or via Instagram #dzero

D-Zero UK Class Association Chair Paul Jefferies says:

We are pleased to tie up this sponsorship deal with DZero.co.uk the UK D-Zero dealer. Since they took over and offered their brokerage service as well as new boats the used D-Zero market has become very active with sailors upgrading knowing their boat is already sold on to a new owner.

With 2019 being the 5th anniversary of the launch of the boat it is great to see so many faces from the early adopters still active in the class together with a lot of new faces joining us. We are please to be returning to the venue of the first Inland Championships back in 2015.

The class is growing particularly well in the north of the country and in Scotland.

DZero.co.uk will be offering demo sails in the boat throughout the weekend starting Friday afternoon (subject to weather conditions and the approval from the host club). To book in surf on over to their website www.dzero.co.uk

D-Zero Winter Series Rounds 3 and 4

By

On January 2, 2019

In Events, News, Open Meetings

The busy Christmas period saw rounds 3 and 4 of the D-Zero and Selden Sailjuice Winter Series take place at Yorkshire Dales and Grafham Water respectively. A short report for each and the series results update can be found below.

Nick Craig hiking just a little bit. Photo Copyright Tim Olin/Sailracer

The Brass Monkey

On the 27th December we had 4 entries for this event including a new face in a D-Zero in no other than Nick Craig. Nick had tried the D-Zero when on holiday and liked how the boat sailed and was keen to try the boat out in a competitive environment. Up stepped class chair Paul Jefferies with the offer of his boat for the day. Happily the boat was on the route up and back for Nick so all he had to do was stop, hitch on and go.

Unfortunately the wind decided not to play ball. Combined with fog this meant a long postponement and an early lunch. Luckily Yorkshire Dales SC is set in a very pretty part of the world so once the fog had cleared the competitors had something nice to look at.

The ever consistent Andrew Spencer at the Brass Monkey. Photo Copyright Tim Olin/Sailracer

After lunch the wind had picked up enough to allow a race to be attempted. Nick showed his pedigree by doing a horizon job on the rest of the single handed fleet and had looked good for the win until the race team spotted they had got his start time wrong. Once the results were recalculated Nick placed second overall. Still a pretty good result for the first competitive sail in a boat he didn’t know.  Combine this with the fact that he was the only boat in his fleet to do 5 laps so combine that with a dying breeze and I think we can all see just how well Nick sailed.

For the other D-Zero sailors Andrew Spencer was second home in his class and a very respectable 13th overall and Mick Green was 3rd overall in class with an equally respectable 21st overall. Unfortunately class perennial traveller and flag flyer Nigel Austin didn’t show due to illness.

The Grafham Grand Prix

Sunday 30th December saw the second of these 2 quick fire events. In all 9 D-Zeros were entered with 5 of those coming from the home club. At Grafham it is all about traffic management with the D-Zero being the slowest boat in the large medium fleet which this year was 74 boats. Some managed this better than others with Grafham local Joel Walker coming out on top of the pile class wise. He was followed home by Gavin Fleming from Hunts SC with series leader Tom Southwell only able to manage 3rd.

Photo Copyright Tim Olin/Sailracer

The mark roundings were very busy at times with up to 8 wide and the first beat almost a write off unless you got lucky and managed to stay in clean wind. Very difficult when the slower boat in a fleet.

Overall this means there is no real change in the overall results with Tom holding on to 1st overall and the ever consistent Andrew in 2nd and Nigel staying 3rd. There are still 4 events to go though and with only 4 to count someone could come in and shake the order up. The overall results can be found by clicking here.

D-Zero winter series leader Tom Southwell. Photo Copyright Tim Olin/Sailracer

In the Selden Sailjuice Winter series the D-Zero class is currently sitting 5th overall in the Class rankings. Andrew Spencer is flying the class flag in the Overall rankings sitting just inside the top 10 with Tom Southwell next in 22nd (although Tom has only done 3 events).

The next event on the Winter Series calendar is the Bloody Mary at Queen Mary SC on the 12th January. For more details and a link to online entry see the Events page for 2019.

D-Zero Winter Series Round 1 and 2 roundup

By

On December 14, 2018

In Events, News, Open Meetings

Nigel Austin and Andrew Spencer in close proximity. Photo  Copyright Tim Olin/Sailracer

With 2 rounds of the Winter Series already completed it seems the year is drawing to a close at breakneck speed. So a short roundup of both events and some results seem to be in order.

3 D-Zeros travelled to Draycote in November for the Dash, class poster boy Tom Southwell, ever present Nigel Austin and class newcomer Andrew Spencer. The weekend promised an easterly wind which is never a good direction for Draycote Water. this meant it was variable in both strength and direction. Tom had a superb 5th in race 4 on the Saturday which put some distance between himself and the rest. he duly held it together on Sunday in slightly stronger conditions to take class honours and record 38th overall. Andrew came home 77th overall just pipping Nigel in 82nd out of the 103 boats that took to the water over the weekend.

Tom Southweell on his way to Class honours. Photo  Copyright Tim Olin/Sailracer

Moving on to the Datchet Flyer. With the wind gods promising a good blow it was with some trepidation that the sailors rigged on the Saturday morning. For this event 5 D-Zeros came to play with Seb Prowse and James Gerwat joining the 3 who had contested round 1. The forecast was definitely correct and even said to be on the conservative side.

Tom enjoying the breeze at the Flyer. Photo  Copyright Tim Olin/Sailracer

With class stalwart Nigel reporting the conditionals as ‘brutal’ the D-Zeros stuck t out despite the conditions and had fun despite a couple of people being ejected during the huge squalls. Unfortunately for Seb his day was cut short when he was ejected out the boat in a squall which caused some minor damage to his mast.

Sunday dawned and the conditions had moderated somewhat. Seb and James decided to call it a weekend after their adventures the previous day leaving Tom, Nigel and Andrew to battle it out for class honours. tom duly prevailed again posting a 15th in the double points pursuit race to take class honours and 31st overall with Andrew sneaking  ahead of Nigel in the pursuit with them taking 40th and 41st overall with Andrew being a single point ahead of Nigel.

It never looks at windy in a photo… Photo  Copyright Tim Olin/Sailracer

So overall Tom is leading the series with 2 firsts, Andrew second with 2 seconds, Nigel 3rd with 2 thirds followed by James and Seb.

In the Selden Sailjuice.com Winter Series Tom Southwell is flying the class flag in 18th overall after 2 round. More details and full results for this series can be found by clicking here.

From here we move on to the Brass Monkey up at Yorkshire Dales on the 27th December where entry is currently full but they have a waiting list if you are wanting to go. This is followed by the Grafham Grand Prix on the 30th December where we are hoping for a decent turnout given the large home fleet that is there.

More information on the D-Zero Winter Series can be found by clicking here.

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