|
Event 4 - Grafham Water S.C.
[See
the Yachts & Yachting Article]
The
finale of the Dart 16 Travelers Trophy (T.T.) Series took place at the Grafham
Water Cat Open weekend on 18/19th October. Racing took place as part of
the Medium Handicap Fleet, which with nearly 30 boats made starts more testing
than previous T.T. events. Given the recent strong weather warnings from
the Met Office it was expected to be windy and we were not disappointed with
gusty conditions keeping everyone on their toes on the upwind legs and reaches -
perfect weather for the Dart 16 to excel!
Saturday
saw the Father/Son pairing of Nick & Tom Hart take an early lead with three
consecutive wins having lead from start to finish, however their usual dominance
faltered on Sunday when, after an uncharacteristic mistake in race two, they
lost the lead at the first windward mark allowing Rob Atkinson & Mandy
Batchelor to take the lead and a rare win.
On
Sunday it was clear the Sun that warmed us on the day before was not going to
come out to play and everyone wrapped up expecting chilly conditions. The
wind blew even harder and the gusts even bigger making the reach at the bottom
of the course more one of survival than racing. Despite this only one Dart
16 capsized all day, a fairly spectacular cartwheel by Rob Atkinson and Mandy
Batchelor, who managed to right the boat from inverted only losing one place, to
finish 3rd in race three.
First
prize for Blondness went to the crew who when asked why they were holding onto
the trapeze handle for dear life responded “I’m pulling on it to help keep
the boat flat” - you know who you are!
After
a challenging event results were as follows:
|