Sailing Chandlery D-Zero National Championship 2023 at Llandudno Sailing Club

Sailing Chandlery D-Zero Nationals 2023 at Llandudno © Georgie Altham / www.photoboat.co.uk

What a weekend was had by all at the 2023 D-Zero National Championships, kindly sponsored by Sailing Chandlery. We were welcomed at the Llandudno Sailing Club with fine food and plenty of local ale, which was enjoyed but not over indulged (it is the National Championships after all). Thanks for the club's support throughout the weekend where everything was always a positive.

Day 1 - Racing started on Friday afternoon and by this point the wind had filled in from the south and was blowing up to 30 knots I believe. There was one boat displaying the number 66 missing from the start line though, as David having been "bullied" the week before during a rugby match and a cut on his leg became infected so while we sailed to the start David sat in a hospital looking depressed at the trees blowing well in the breeze - read on as he didn't do too badly overall and there's always next year!

Race 1, Seeing everyone get a clean start, Jon Bassett led the way to the windward mark where he proceeded to do a 3 point turn to get around it after getting stuck in irons after his tack, this opened the door for Ian Baillie who didn't look back and led the way to his first win of the weekend with Jon and Will Hitchman coming in for the remaining top spots. To give an indication of the conditions, out of the 26 boats that started there were 8 who retired due to the wind and sea state.

Sailing Chandlery D-Zero Nationals 2023 at Llandudno - photo © Georgie Altham / www.photoboat.co.uk

Race 2, The wind died a little for this one but not by much and the waves were picking up nicely (if you like that sort of thing), lots of drama on the first beat with Billy McCarlie taking a kiss from Zippy in a port / starboard altercation (think it was more like a Glaswegian handshake though! Look it up if you have no idea what I am on about!) Luckily Billy was not sailing flat like he should so the impact did not make a clear hole in the hull so could continue, this was all going on whilst Ian gave a masterclass for anyone who could see him during this race which unfortunately was only likely for the rescue crews as he was so far in front that none of us could get remotely close to him to see where he had hidden the secret motor! So, Ian for the win with Jon and myself (Scott Munro) following on (a leg behind!).

Race 3, With a freshening wind there were a few that decided two races for the day was enough for them and headed in, two brave souls headed back out from hiding onshore for one wild race and for the rest of us we set off again and whilst Ian wasn't as far ahead this time he still pulled away to a considerable lead and the results were a duplicate from race 2 for the top three spots.

A well-earned evening Spag Bol, at LSC gave everyone a chance to recover and talk through the thrills and spills of the day, and the odd refreshment and more than a few IPA's.

Day 2 - The wind had swung round a little to a SW and was blowing up to 38+ knots on the committee boat so the racing was postponed for an hour then a further 2 to try and let it settle. LSC provided some ham and cheese rolls to keep us all going, which was a great idea and very welcomed. The race organisers wasted no time getting back on the water to start racing again though and had pulled the race course right into the bay to try and get more sheltered wind by using some unique and long narrow courses. Some who had been enjoying a short re-fuelling stop at the local eateries ended up with a more Le Mans style start with running down the Promenade and slip to get onto the water and out to the race area (you know who you are!) .

Race 4, With the race course beating into the bay the winds were incredibly shifty with large holes that needed avoiding! These conditions seemed to favour the pond sailors with Wil taking the win followed by Jon and myself.

Sailing Chandlery D-Zero Nationals 2023 at Llandudno - photo © Georgie Altham / www.photoboat.co.uk

Race 5, Another shifty race with another port / starboard altercation on the first beat with Simon Limb getting a Glaswegian handshake this time from James Jenkins! Unlucky for Simon that he obviously was sailing with a bit of windward heal at the time and this made a nice flat target for the D-Zero bow to punch though! All this was taking place behind the leader of the fleet for the race as the Stork (Alistair McLaughlin) took to the front to fly round for the win closely followed by John and Will.

Race 6, If you went right at the start that was wrong! If you went left this was right. Stork and David, I believe almost went up the pebble beach, though shot into the lead at the first mark. The wind was dying and this confused the already shifty conditions to make for interesting racing, with large holes appearing from nowhere to trap most of the fleet other than the leading 3 then a huge wind shift to the South seen us all with our heads on swivels looking for where the marks were being moved to by the Race Committee, it was confusing but they did a great job and gave us a fantastic last beat to the finish with plenty of shifts to get those further back up into the running again. The Stork took line honours again followed by Ian and myself.

Sailing Chandlery D-Zero Nationals 2023 at Llandudno - photo © Georgie Altham / www.photoboat.co.uk

Day 3 - Another fresh wind was there to help those involved in the Saturday night karaoke freshen up! The race course was pushed out to sea a little from Day 2 but still had us beating back into the bay with an SSW wind coming though. Two races to go and all to play for, it was tight in the top 5.

Race 7, Everyone was gunning for the perfect start but unfortunately for Ian and Gordon Stewart they were a fraction too eager and ended up with some OCS's. It turned out to be a tightly fought race but ultimately Colin Glover took the win with Jon and the Stork following on.

Race 8, It all came down to this race for who would take home the coveted D-Zero Nation champion trophy! The swell was building and with a nice stable wind and screaming reaches there were silly D-Zero grins all over the racecourse, some might have been grimaces though as muscles were starting to fade fast, and some only do grimaces and not grins anyway! Ian didn't get it all his own way with, Tin Man/ Dealer David leading from the start (he almost made it stick) and Colin making him work for the win but ultimately Ian took the win with David and myself following on. To explain how tight it all was, Colin went from 3rd to 10th on the last beat after one tack left him stuck in irons! The new National Champion was even polite enough to apologise to David for beating him at the line having led for so long - that's the sign of a true champ.

Sailing Chandlery D-Zero Nationals 2023 at Llandudno - photo © Georgie Altham / www.photoboat.co.uk

So that was it, the racing was done and dusted with Ian taking the glory for the year, which was very well deserved, Congratulations Ian Baillie - our Sailing Chandlery D-Zero National Champion 2023.

Huge thanks to the following: Sailing Chandlery for their support and prize sponsorship; Noble Marine Insurance for support to the Class; dzero.co.uk for providing spares support, fixing boats to keep sailors on the water and driving D-Zero's throughout the UK; Georgie Altham @ Photoboat photoboat.co.uk for the fantastic photos; and lastly the D-Zero Class Association for organising the event.

See you all next year for the 2024 Europeans/Nationals and 10th Anniversary Celebrations at Weymouth.

Overall Results:

Special Prizes supported by Sailing Chandlery & Noble Marine:

• Lanterne Rouge - Endeavour Trophy - Gary Tompkins (Hunts SC)
• 1st Lady - Liz Potter (West Kirby SC)
• (Re) Dress Award - Paul Jefferies (Hunts SC)
• Hard Graft Award - Mick Green & Joe Constable (Rossendale SC / GWSC)
• Impairment Awards - Simon Limb & Billy McCarlie (Largs SC)
• Best Bollard Rounding - Martin Latimer (Largs SC)