Dittisham Sailing Club

Four days of last week were given over to family sailing at Dittisham Sailing Club, with 32 participants and a whole bunch of helpers.

Organised jointly by Dittisham Sailing Club and Dartmouth Yacht Club, with Anna Chrystie as the main mover, there was dinghy ­sailing, kayaking, raft building, knots and spicing, daft games on and in the water and a splendid barbecue.

A far – and most enjoyable – cry from the slightly more serious stuff that took place on Sunday, which also turned out to be another great occasion, this time for dinghy racing.

Slightly overcast, a good breeze, freshening from the northwest, an interesting P-shaped course with two gybes: perfection itself.

Race officer Paul Honey, doing his duty for the day, confessed himself jealous of his own charges.

The PY fleet, somewhat reduced in numbers by the conflicting joys

of holidaying with children and ­relations, nevertheless had a ­delightful symmetry about its ­composition: two fast Phantoms, two expertly sailed Lasers and a pair of nippy Streakers.

No fewer than eight Solos took to the water to compete in their ­separate fleet, enhanced by the ­presence of the sail-maker and very successful Solo luminary John Clark. (Having John turn up to race among the Dittisham Solo fleet is a bit

like having Usain Bolt appear at ­children’s sports day for the dads’ egg-and-spoon race: it would not be a question of who won, but by how much.)

The start line had a healthy port-hand bias so, predictably, the PY fleet all started at the starboard end.

With the windward mark just to the east of Gurrow Point, the beat had all the tricky wind shifts ­imaginable and it was this first beat that sorted out the race order and subsequent winners and also-rans in both fleets.

In the PY fleet, in spite of coming home a cool three minutes ahead of Marin Ely in his Laser Radial, James Dodd in his Phantom was not on the podium. Jennie Richardson in her Streaker followed Martin home, with Paul Green, steady as a rock in another Laser, third.

In the Solos two boats attempted to outfox John Clark at the start line, one by nipping underneath him down at the (correct) port end and another by a slightly mistimed port start. Both were doomed to failure, as John got all the shifts right up the first beat and eventually won by a good three minutes.

Bob Thomas was second after a big battle with Patrick Bromley, who for a long time appeared to have ­second spot buttoned up.

Race two and in the PY fleet was almost a repeat of race one, except that this time Janie Harford pulled off the amazing coup of second place in her Streaker, leaving James Dodd way behind on corrected time and Jennie Richardson in the second, usually victorious, Streaker in her wake. On corrected time Martin Ely was again first and Paul Green third.

High drama in the Solo fleet, for while John was off to another fine start and eventual victory, the wind had piped up a couple of points and was causing stability problems.

Over went Patrick Bromley and Frank Seear, both of whom had to retire, while Bob Thomas, who had looked set to gain his second second place of the day, did a spectacular death-roll on the run, recovered ­brilliantly, but then fell over in the boat as he tried to gybe, and that was that.

Jonathan Weeks was the grateful recipient of the outcome of this mishap, sailing into an unruffled ­second place, while Martin Fodder, showing much better form in both races than hitherto this season, came in a very creditable third.

Back to the clubhouse for hot showers, much banter and a lot of hosing down of boats and several competitors. (Seawater-impregnated wetsuits never seem to dry out ­properly, and there was more sailing to come on the Tuesday evening, so sorting out the kit before then is essential to avoid chafing.)