Isle of Wight Championships, Shanklin SC, IOW, 14-15 June 2003

The inaugural sailing of the Isle of Wight Dart 15 Championship was hosted by Shanklin Sailing Club and was sailed over the weekend of the 14th & 15th June 2003. The event also featured as one of the races in the Dart 15 Association summer traveller series.

With 35 entries including 11 sailors form the mainland the event was very well attended. The NE breeze on Saturday morning had created an on shore swell which proved difficult for boat launching for the first race .With the breeze dying progress to the start line was slow but after some delays the first race started in a very light Easterly breeze. With the fleet allowed to sail either Standard or Sprint mode it was the Sprint sailors that made the best progress in the sloppy conditions. The early leaders were Carl Blenkinsop, Derek Kingsland and Steve Cole but Steve Littlejohns sailing two up was in close contention. Fighting the ebb tide and the dying breeze the course was shortened on the first lap. On corrected time Steve Littlejohns was first, Carl Blenkinsop was second and Derek Kingsland third. With the breeze increasing before the start of the second race the P type course was sailed for the second time. Again the Sprint sailors took the early advantage but the breeze was to die quickly resulting in only 5 sprint sailors finishing within the allotted time limit. The winner was Carl Blenkinsop, followed by Laurie Gustar and Robin Leather third. At the end of day one Carl Blenkinsop was the leader with a first and second to his credit.

The Saturday evening spit roast which is starting to be become a tradition for Shanklin sailing club Dart 15 events was enjoyed by all who attended.

Sunday morning dawned with no breeze and sailing was postponed and the fleet waited for the breeze to come in. Eventually the sea breeze started to build and the first race started at midday. Again the Sprint sailors took the early lead with Littlejohns in close company. Robin Leather rounded the windward mark first closely followed by Steve Cole and Laurie Gustar. Progress was slow against the tide and the course was shortened to one lap which Laurie Gustar first, Robin Leather second and Steve Cole third.

The fourth race was not sailed so with 3 races sailed and 2 to count both first and second where tied and third and fourth where also tied. By virtue of his win in the last race Laurie Gustar was the official winner but sportingly nominated himself and the unlucky Carl Blenkinsop joint winners.

The Champions

The event was sponsored by Wightlink who kindly arranged free ferry crossing to the Island and East Cowes Marina who donated the fuel for the event. The event is to be sailed next year at Gurnard and it is hoped it will continue to be a major draw card in the Dart 15 calendar. Shanklin Sailing Club would like to thank the sponsors for their support and all the sailors that attended the event.

Isle Of Wight CHAMPIONSHIP
Equal 1st Laurie Gustar and Carl Blenkinsop
2nd Robin Leather
3rd Steve Cole

First IOW Standard Rig Sailor: Geoff Howlett

DART 15 TRAVELLER
1st Laurie Gustar
2nd Carl Blenkinsop
3rd Steve Littlejohns
4th Robin Leather
5th Steve Cole
6th Bob Carter

Click here to view the full results table.

And checkout the results so far for the traveller series.