Dartmouth Spring Regatta 2000

For the Dartmouth Spring Regatta, held over the May Bank Holiday weekend, I sailed with David Scanlan aboard his First 40.7 Fandango. The format for the racing was one race on Saturday afternoon, followed by two races on Sunday.

We left the dock at 11am to allow for a good practice session followed by a break for lunch prior to the 2.30pm start. With a breeze of around 9-11 knots we sailed upwind with Checkmate Kevlar Medium Heavy No.1 and then downwind with a new Series 2000 Runner. Just before the start however the breeze dropped slightly and we sailed the first beat of the three lap old style Olympic course with the incorrect headsail, not having changed to the Light No.1.

In the light wind, 6-7 knots, the Farr 40, Dignity, got well ahead of the fleet on the water and managed to just hold her time on corrected from the X-362 Sport Excellent. Aboard Fandango a bad final beat had Tigger (Mumm 30) pulling away enough to beat us on corrected, leaving us with a disappointing fourth for the race. An great buffet dinner prepared by Tina Scanlan raised crew spirits and we were determined to do better the next day!

With a forecast for more light winds we were pleasantly surprised to motor out of the Dart on Sunday morning in to a good breeze of around 10-14 knots. The committee set a triangular course and after initially getting well ahead of Excellent we lost out much of this distance when they used their local knowledge to good effect. By going hard left, towards the river entrance, they pulled back to be within a hundred yards of us at the second windward mark. Although we extended to finish well ahead on the water they deservedly won the race on corrected time. We came second aboard Fandango with Dignity third.

For the third and final race we had the most breeze of the event with gusts up to 16 knots. The committee kept the interest up by setting a quadrilateral course; comprising beat, spinnaker reach, run and headsail reach. After a general recall the fleet got away cleanly with Dignity, Excellent, Tigger and Fandango all closely lined up off the line. With Dignity to windward and ourselves to leeward both the X362 and the Mumm 30 were both forced to tack off early for clear air. By the windward mark Dignity had stretched away and we had pulled a good distance ahead of Excellent. A couple of crew work errors cost us time and although we continued to pull away from the X yacht, they managed to beat us again on corrected time.

The overall results for the regatta was therefore as follows:
1st: Excellent - X 362 Sport
2nd: Dignity - Farr 40
3rd: Fandango - First 40.7

Thank you to Dave and the crew of Fandango for an excellent weekend's racing. I'm looking forward to trying to improve our position next time, at the Dartmouth Royal Regatta in September!

Hugh Myers, Banks Sails

Back to Reports and results