The rescheduled Dart 15 Winter TT at Rutland was held on Sunday 26th January. The original event in December was postponed due to Storm Darragh and as winds again battered various parts of the country, it looked like the new date might also fall to a similar fate.
Undeterred by the 35 knot gusts in the forecast, nine hardy sailors arrived at Rutland to see if racing would go ahead. A few of our other regulars were away on winter holidays which they had booked not to clash with our original Winter TT schedule...
With the wind and gusts building in line with the forecast, the sailors rigged their boats and got ready for three back to back races on a steely grey winter day. Our event was run from the committee boat alongside club racing, with a separate start. Race Officer Nick Neve and his team set us a square course. Any visitor to Rutland will know they have a myriad of club race marks which can be difficult to identify to the outsider. So we were particularly delighted when the safety boats attached yellow marker buoys to the four race marks we needed to find our way round.
The fleet, happy to have got a full event in despite the conditions. Having packed their boats away in the wind and rain, they retired to the clubhouse for hot drinks and food and for Dave Russell, (Marconi pit crew), to present the prizes. Our thanks to Rutland for hosting us and to Nick Neve and his team for running a great event. Special shout out to the two club racers in Trident trimarans who made the conditions look very easy indeed - especially the helm in his mid-eighties who invited us to join his class when we are too worn out to sail a Dart 15 any more.
Overall Results :-
Pos Sail No Helm R1 R2 R3 Pts
1st 2025 Jenny Ball 1 ‑2 1 2
2nd 2037 Jason Clarke ‑2 1 2 3
3rd 2035 Jon Pearse ‑4 4 3 7
4th 1942 Charles Watson ‑5 3 4 7
5th 1347 Paul Tanner 3 ‑5 5 8
6th 1521 David Clarke 6 ‑9 6 12
7th 1934 Stephen Petts 7 7 (DNC) 14
8th 1759 Lee Richard Garton ‑8 8 7 15
9th 1988 Christopher Clarke (RET) 6 DNF 19
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