Dart 15 Winter TT at Rutland Sailing Club

Dart 15 Winter TT at Rutland © Lee Garton

The wind gods were favourable and the 2025 Rutland Winter TT was held on the first attempt on Sunday the 7th December. Twelve sailors from across the country made the journey to Rutland Water to compete in the second instalment of the Dart 15 Winter TT series.

It was going to be a busy day on the water at Rutland with a fleet of RS Fevas, Waszps and the home handicap fleet all setting up to sail. Luckily, Rutland has plenty of room; albeit a little less room than the last time we sailed there due to a substantial drop in water level.

Anybody that has sailed at Rutland knows their Racemarks map looks like a knitting pattern. So many options for the RO to choose from and for sailors to find. Fortunately, visitors are able to purchase maps of varying degrees of sophistication from colour laminated to black and white paper. Naturally, the Dart 15s took the least sophisticated (ie. cheapest) option.

As is often the case at this time of year, the weather forecast was difficult to pin-down and Sunday morning started wind-free. The prediction was for some decent wind but the question was: when would it show up?

The Race Briefing was held at 10am and the usual square course was chosen. Unusually it was decided that the Dart fleet would start after the home handicap fleet. A decision that made for some interesting racing later on.

Race 1

On the way out to the start area, Paul Tanner's (Shanklin) mainsheet block came detached from the mainsail - a result of a pin falling out. Paul managed to retrieve the pin but not the split ring to hold it in place. Fortunately, Jenny Ball (Marconi) had a set of spares in her buoyancy aid and was able to lend him a replacement. As Paul is from the Isle of Wight, it would have been a long way to travel to lose one or more races before they even started!

The race started three minutes after the home handicap fleet had departed. This made navigating through their slower boats quite tricky and proved to be a hinderance for some and an opportunity for others. At the start, local sailor Steve Sawford (Rutland) had an attempt at a port hand flyer but was obliged to tack back when he met the rest of his fleet. Charles Watson (Halifax) had a great start but tacked onto port and ending up fouling starboard tack Paul Tanner (who was probably feeling like it was not his day). Charles duly did his turns.

The wind coming off the south shore varied constantly, generating frequent short gusts and lulls and by the end of lap 1, three boats had started to pull out a substantial lead on the chasing pack. Jason Clarke (Marconi), George Love (Carsington) and Jenny were scrapping for the lead with only a few metres between them. By lap 2 Jenny had passed George and was on the Jason's transom whilst George had dropped back slightly but, by this time, all three had established a huge lead over the rest of the fleet. Further down Steve and Charles had overtaken Jan Elfring (Draycote) who had overtaken Paul "the chairman" Tanner in a mid-fleet battle for position.

Jason took the gun with Jenny only a few metres behind with George finishing a few seconds later whilst the rest of the fleet were still heading to Mark 3.

Race 1 finished: Jason 1st, Jenny 2nd and George 3rd.

Race 2

By race 2 the wind had built but remained very shifty which made a huge difference as to which tack to choose on the beat. Jason and Jenny again led round the first mark with Charles Watson making up the trio on this occasion. Jason and Jenny tried various different approaches on the windward leg but always seemed to end up about the same distance apart at the mark. Elsewhere in the fleet though, places were lost and gained on this choice. Lee "tail end charlie" Garton (Marconi) continued to struggle by overstanding the windward mark on starboard to leave himself bringing up the rear whilst George recovered from a sub-optimal start to pick up several places by the second windward leg. On the final run, Jenny just managed to sneak inside Jason at the leeward mark but he managed to regain his lead on the final leg to take the race win and ultimately the event.

Behind them, Charles, Steve and Jan continued their battle for 3rd, 4th and 5th.

Race 2 finished: Jason 1st, Jenny 2nd and Charles 3rd.

Race 3

Port was still favoured but shifty and picking when to tack was key. Jan got a clean start and was first to the windward mark first with the back of the fleet contending with boats from other fleets and fishing boats. One fishing boat was parked right on the line between marks 1 and 2 which was convenient. [ not] Jan could see Jason coming after him and he overtook him at mark 3. On the second lap the fleet sailed through the start/finish line from mark 4 on port. Jason and Jan stood on and continued over towards the club. The rest of the fleet, who were still very bunched together chose to tack onto starboard about half way up the course. Jenny and Dave Clarke (Marconi) stood on further than the main fleet to get a clear lane before tacking. They then got a lucky lift which carried them to the mark. Jason had tacked to cover them and managed to hold his lead at the mark. But Jenny managed to sneak in front of Jan and several other boats to resume her usual place just behind Jason's rudders. With the fickle conditions (and probably because the rain had soaked them through), the race management team shortened the race at the end of the second lap. Jason had a close lead over Jenny at the finish. Jan hung on to 3rd with Dave Clarke in 4th place just behind.

Race 3 finished: Jason 1st, Jenny 2nd and Jan 3rd.

All three races were completed in good time and the fleet were back ashore by 13:30 ready to pack down their boats (after getting them up the very-long-due-to-low-water-slipway!).

Dart 15 Winter TT at Rutland - photo © Lee Garton

Standout events/comments:

• George noted that Jason's superb starting skills were evident due to the fact he won all three races! "Like a whippet out of the traps every time!"
• Jan's first Podium "I don't come third ever!"
• Dave Clarkes 4th in the 3rd
• 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th places all level on points after 3 races

Overall Results:

Race Report by Lee Garton with contributions from Jan Elfring, George Love, Charles Watson, Christophe Clarke and Jenny Ball.

Links:

• Dart 15 Association Website
• Rutland TT Picture gallery