D-Zeros at the Magic Marine Daffodil Regatta at Ullswater Yacht Club
by Ian Baillie 2 May 06:34 UTC
25-26 April 2026
The first round of the D-Zero Scottish and Northern series got under way at the Ullswater Yacht Club's Magic Marine Daffodil Regatta over the weekend of the 25th and 26th of April.
This was also the D-Zero Northern Championship and although the sun shone most of the time and the scenery was amazing, the wind was very light and fickle, patchy and shifty, which made it a challenging weekend for both race committee and competitors.
There were 12 D-Zeros entered and at first it looked like we were in for a long wait onshore as the wind struggled to raise a ripple but then gradually, an easterly began to make its way down from Pooley Bridge and we were off racing.
By the time we started race one, the promising breeze had decided to almost disappear but what little there was still came from the east and the start was clean as we slowly drifted upwind. Nigel Austin took a gamble going left, which paid off when a light zephyr found him and escorted him to the weather mark. Nigel kept this lead to the finish of the one lap race, with Richard Bryant second, Wil Hitchman third and David Kitchen fourth.
Race two started in the merest trickle of wind but was abandoned when most of the fleet became tangled up in the mooring rope of mark one, that had somehow lost it's sinker.
After a delay, the restart began as the wind was trying to fill in and it was Wil Hitchman first to the mark neck and neck with Ian Baillie. These two swapped places a few times until Liz Potter, who had to restart after being caught over the line, caught them both and passed them on the outer run. At the last mark, Ian and Wil split tacks and Liz decided to cover Wil, who just squeezed past on the line and Ian, sailing the slightly shorter course to the line, managed to split them for second, with Liz finishing an unlucky third. Pete Taylor was fourth.
By race three, we were almost having to hike and again it was Hitchman and Baillie first to the windward mark. Again, the lead was swapped quite a few times before Wil edged away on the last run to win from Ian, with Nigel Austin continuing his good day with third and John Ellis fourth.
Sunday came with grey clouds and even a bit of drizzle but sadly no wind. The rain and clouds cleared away but still no wind. The race officer sent us out but the wind remained fickle and unstable, so we went back in again. Then, just as it seemed all was lost, the forecasted wind from the south came in and we went racing.
Race four started in the best wind of the weekend, so we were just about hiking and Ian Baillie showed nice speed to lead at the top mark. However, the wind started to die away and he was caught on the run by Liz and Will. There was a bit of tactical covering on the next upwind leg, which Liz took advantage of to build a lead and Pete Taylor was able to get through into second ahead of Wil, who finished third, with Ian fourth.
The last race had the wind back to light and fickle again with the fleet drifting off the start line. Richard Bryant picked up the new wind first and led for the first lap but then mistook the signals from the committee boat and thought it was a shortened course when it wasn't and stopped, allowing Liz and Wil to catch up and then pass. The fleet closed up as the wind decided to make a brief comeback, however Liz held on for another race win, Wil was second to take the overall regatta win, Nigel third to complete his excellent weekend, Richard was a slightly unfortunate fourth.
The overall result saw Wil Hitchman as a very worthy winner as the only consistent performer in every race. Liz Potter was second, one point ahead of Nigel Austin, who finished third on a tiebreak from Ian Baillie.
The D-Zero fleet again showed how close the racing is throughout the fleet and what a friendly fleet it is to sail in. Ullswater is up there with the most scenic venues to sail at and gave us all a very warm welcome.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 307 | HITCHMAN Wil | Shropshire Sailing Club | ‑3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| 2nd | 333 | POTTER Liz | West Kirby Sailing Club | ‑7 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| 3rd | 191 | AUSTIN N B | Cransley Sailing Club | 1 | 6 | 3 | ‑7 | 3 | 13 |
| 4th | 336 | BAILLIE Ian | Dalgety Bay Sailing Club | ‑10 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 13 |
| 5th | 189 | BRYANT Richard | Annandale Sailing Club | 2 | ‑11 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 17 |
| 6th | 206 | TAYLOR Peter | Dalgety Bay Sailing Club | 6 | 4 | ‑11 | 2 | 8 | 20 |
| 7th | 366 | KITCHEN David | Dalgety Bay Sailing Club | 4 | ‑9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 27 |
| 8th | 358 | STEWART Gordon | NHEBSC | 5 | 7 | 10 | 5 | (DNC) | 27 |
| 9th | 229 | ELLIS John | Scaling Dam Sailing Club | 8 | 10 | 4 | (DNC) | 6 | 28 |
| 10th | 160 | LIMB Simon | Largs Sailing Club | 9 | 5 | 6 | (DNC) | DNC | 32 |
| 11th | 57 | LATIMER Martin | Largs Sailing Club | 11 | 8 | 9 | (DNC) | DNC | 40 |