News
Copyright Suntouched Sailboats Ltd. 2011
Devoti
D-One National Championships Queen Mary Sailing Club, 29th and 30th October.
The first British D-One National Championships, kindly sponsored by Harken UK, took place at Queen Mary Sailing Club, near London, the 29th and 30th October.
Competitors were greeted with good winds and fantastic weather for the time of year. Forecast for Saturday was F3 to F4 gusting F5 and proved to be exactly right, giving the D-Ones a fantastic blast up and down the reservoir with some spectacular close racing.
Saturday 29th Race 1
Andy Couch, the current National Champion in the Phantom class, took an early lead, with Nick Craig, the current National Champion in several classes and World Champion in the OK class 2nd, closely followed by Tim Garvin 3rd. The gusts and shifts were huge and a lot could be lost going the wrong way downwind. It was Craig who took line honours in the end, followed by Couch 2nd and Garvin 3rd.
Andrew Streeter and David Hitchcock, both from Hayling Island SC, in 4th and 5th.
Race 2
Was an exact copy of Race 1 with the exception that Couch and Craig appeared to be learning very quickly how to make the D-One perform on all points of the course.
Lots of places were changing but again the end results were -
1st Craig, 2nd Couch, 3rd Garvin, 4th Streeter, 5th Hitchcock.
Race 3
Andrew Streeter was 1st out of the blocks at the pin end and steamed upwind as the breeze increased. At the windward mark, it was Craig 1st, finding form, and Couch 2nd only to capsize and let Streeter through to 2nd with Peter Mitchell 3rd and Hitchcock 4th, Garvin 5th. A capsize for Streeter in a vicious gust while going upwind was particularly unfortunate and put him back to 7th. The final placings in Race three were 1st Nick Craig, 2nd Charlie Chandler, 3rd Peter Mitchell. Following a capsize; Andy Couch finished this one in 6th place.
So, overnight placings were -
1st Nick Craig
2nd Andy Couch
3rd Tim Garvin
4th David Hitchcock
5th Andrew Streeter
Sunday 30th
Sunday dawned with grey skies and lighter winds, which may have been a relief for those who had practiced their swimming skills and Saturday.
Race 4
Nick Craig showed great pace again followed by Pete Mitchell who had adjusted his mast rake to cater better for the wind conditions and stormed off to a safe 2nd.
Couch was 3rd, Hitchcock, National Champion in the K6 keelboat, now finding his form in the D-One in 4th and Garvin 5th, closely followed by Charlie Chandler 6th.
Race 5
Nick Craig, by this time, was really getting in the groove and showing us all how to do it. At the windward mark it was really close racing, Craig 1st, Couch 2nd , Hitchcock 3rd and the rest of the fleet closely behind. Going for clear air, Garvin gybed off early only to lose the gust completely and sit and watch the rest of the fleet burn off to the right hand side of the course. Final positions, Craig 1st, Couch 2nd, Hitchcock 3rd, Streeter 4th, Mitchell 5th, Chandler 6th, Garvin trailing along in 7th.
Race 6
Was the double points race with no discard allowed. Andy Couch managed a bullet from Craig 2nd, and a fantastic all round performance from Charlie Chandler to secure a 3rd from Hitchcock 4th, showing exceptional downwind speed and perfect angles. Robin Foster Taylor from Thorpe Bay finally got some serious pace on and was a respectable 5th.
After a perfect hand of 5 bullets, it was Nick Craig who took the trophy from Couch, three points behind in 2nd, Hitchcock 3rd, Chandler 4th and Garvin 5th.
A fantastic weekend was had by all competitors and thanks go to Queen Mary SC for hosting, what was a very well-run event, kindly sponsored by Harken UK, who supplied prizes for every competitor.
Competitors were greeted with good winds and fantastic weather for the time of year. Forecast for Saturday was F3 to F4 gusting F5 and proved to be exactly right, giving the D-Ones a fantastic blast up and down the reservoir with some spectacular close racing.
Saturday 29th Race 1
Andy Couch, the current National Champion in the Phantom class, took an early lead, with Nick Craig, the current National Champion in several classes and World Champion in the OK class 2nd, closely followed by Tim Garvin 3rd. The gusts and shifts were huge and a lot could be lost going the wrong way downwind. It was Craig who took line honours in the end, followed by Couch 2nd and Garvin 3rd.
Andrew Streeter and David Hitchcock, both from Hayling Island SC, in 4th and 5th.
Race 2
Was an exact copy of Race 1 with the exception that Couch and Craig appeared to be learning very quickly how to make the D-One perform on all points of the course.
Lots of places were changing but again the end results were -
1st Craig, 2nd Couch, 3rd Garvin, 4th Streeter, 5th Hitchcock.
Race 3
Andrew Streeter was 1st out of the blocks at the pin end and steamed upwind as the breeze increased. At the windward mark, it was Craig 1st, finding form, and Couch 2nd only to capsize and let Streeter through to 2nd with Peter Mitchell 3rd and Hitchcock 4th, Garvin 5th. A capsize for Streeter in a vicious gust while going upwind was particularly unfortunate and put him back to 7th. The final placings in Race three were 1st Nick Craig, 2nd Charlie Chandler, 3rd Peter Mitchell. Following a capsize; Andy Couch finished this one in 6th place.
So, overnight placings were -
1st Nick Craig
2nd Andy Couch
3rd Tim Garvin
4th David Hitchcock
5th Andrew Streeter
Sunday 30th
Sunday dawned with grey skies and lighter winds, which may have been a relief for those who had practiced their swimming skills and Saturday.
Race 4
Nick Craig showed great pace again followed by Pete Mitchell who had adjusted his mast rake to cater better for the wind conditions and stormed off to a safe 2nd.
Couch was 3rd, Hitchcock, National Champion in the K6 keelboat, now finding his form in the D-One in 4th and Garvin 5th, closely followed by Charlie Chandler 6th.
Race 5
Nick Craig, by this time, was really getting in the groove and showing us all how to do it. At the windward mark it was really close racing, Craig 1st, Couch 2nd , Hitchcock 3rd and the rest of the fleet closely behind. Going for clear air, Garvin gybed off early only to lose the gust completely and sit and watch the rest of the fleet burn off to the right hand side of the course. Final positions, Craig 1st, Couch 2nd, Hitchcock 3rd, Streeter 4th, Mitchell 5th, Chandler 6th, Garvin trailing along in 7th.
Race 6
Was the double points race with no discard allowed. Andy Couch managed a bullet from Craig 2nd, and a fantastic all round performance from Charlie Chandler to secure a 3rd from Hitchcock 4th, showing exceptional downwind speed and perfect angles. Robin Foster Taylor from Thorpe Bay finally got some serious pace on and was a respectable 5th.
After a perfect hand of 5 bullets, it was Nick Craig who took the trophy from Couch, three points behind in 2nd, Hitchcock 3rd, Chandler 4th and Garvin 5th.
A fantastic weekend was had by all competitors and thanks go to Queen Mary SC for hosting, what was a very well-run event, kindly sponsored by Harken UK, who supplied prizes for every competitor.
