Bringing in the top gun

Bill Hardesty secures victory for Quentin Strauss at the Dragon South Western Championship

The 24 crews competing in the Dragon South Western Championship sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management and hosted by the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club from 5-7 July 2009, enjoyed three days of challenging and closely fought sailing with eight of the ten scheduled races being completed. The regatta was also the warm up event for the Edinburgh Cup (the Dragon Open British Championship) which will be hosted by the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club from 8-11 July.

America's Cup veteran and Etchells and Melges 24 World Champion Bill Hardesty from San Diego, USA, helming for Quentin Strauss, claimed the South Western Championship by a ten point margin from Ireland's Andrew Craig, with IDA Chairman Rob Campbell, from Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, third overall.

As winds ranged from the high teens to over 30 knots it was very much a heavy airs regatta. The opening four-race day was sailed in 20-25 knots from the southwest with regular rainsqualls leaving the crews exhausted and several boats mending broken gear. Day two brought even stronger south westerly winds with a steady 25-28 knots, squalls of over 30 knots, more rain and more gear failures including a broken rig for the crew of GBR740 Pageboy X - Clive, Graeme and Rory Page. Having completed two races the Race Committee wisely elected to send the crews in for the day as conditions worsened - a decision supported by everyone. Fortunately the wind abated a little and the sun came out for the third day enabling the fleet to enjoy two final races in 16-20 knots from the north, which brought the added advantage of flat water.

This was Bill Hardesty's first experience of racing a Dragon, but that didn't stop him putting in a bravura performance. Sailing GBR723 Gorgeous Worgeous crewed by owner Quentin Strauss and Nigel Young of North Sails, both extremely successful keelboat sailors in their own right; Hardesty opened the regatta somewhat contentiously. He finished race one in first place, but was subsequently disqualified by the protest committee over a port/starboard infringement. This proved to be a minor blip however, and in race two he took third, before going on to win the remaining six races of the series. As a result he found himself being the only boat to fly the special blue 'Aberdeen Asset Management' spinnaker, which is awarded daily to the event leader.

Speaking after racing Bill Hardesty commented: "For me it's been nice to meet a new group - classes like this can be very tight but the Dragon group is really open and welcoming. Quentin and I have sailed Melges 24s in the past and after I won the Etchells Worlds last year one thing led to another and we got together. We're looking to do the Dragon Worlds in Medemblik. Nigel looks after sails and the North Sails programme makes it really easy, Quentin does rig tune and all I have to do is start the boat and keep in tune. We'll just have to see if we can get through another four days at the Edinburgh Cup!"

Second placed Andrew Craig, sailing IRL192 Chimaera with Pedro Andrade and Peter Bowring/Brian Matthews, whose worst result was an eighth place, was very impressed with Hardesty's blistering boat speed and rates him as the hot favourite for the coming Edinburgh Cup. "I was here for the Edinburgh Cup in 2001 and Falmouth is a fabulous place to sail, nice open water, not too much tide and a very nice yacht club. We've had eight short races in strong winds, the Race Officer has done a very good job turning the races around quickly and making very good, fair racecourses. Bill had impressive speed and has to be a strong favourite for the Edinburgh Cup, especially if the wind stays strong. But if it goes lighter it will open up the regatta a little bit more and we could see some more faces at the front of the fleet, especially as we will be sailing much longer courses. And Bill of course carries the burden of having won the practise event which we have reminded him of!" joked Craig after racing.

Although Hardesty dominated the podium there were two other race winners in the series. Race one ultimately went to American Ted Sawyer, crewed by Martin 'Stavros' Payne and Will Willett aboard USA310 Clairvoyant. For Sawyer this victory was particularly sweet, as he had celebrated his 78th birthday just the previous day, making him the oldest competitor taking part. The other boat to win a race was Rob Campbell's GBR743 Quicksilver, crewed by John Torrance and Matt Walker, who won the second race of the series.

Rob Campbell, who has been sailing Dragons for almost half a century, proved that experience counts for a lot and put together a consistent series with his worst result being a ninth in race four. Going into the final race the battle for second and third place was between Campbell and Craig and Campbell went all out crossing the line in second place with an anxious glance over his shoulder to see if he had enough separation to claim the runner up position. Sadly Craig was just too close in fourth and beat Campbell by a single point overall.

The battle for fourth and fifth was also a close one between Len Jones from the Medway, sailing GBR708 Rumours with Jamie Lea and Jeremy Jordan; and Julia Bailey, sailing GBR720 Aimee with husband Graham Bailey and David Heritage. Jones is currently ranks 13th on the International Dragon Ranking and is always a strong contender at major events whilst Bailey is one of the top female helms in the class. Sadly gear failure forced Bailey to retire from race six which ultimately proved to be the decisive moment in the regatta for her and when Jones beat her in both races on the final day he gained a two point advantage and fourth place overall.

Sadly for Ted Sawyer the demands of the opening day, when his other results were 4, 7, 4, left him quite tired and although he sailed out to the start on day two he elected not to take in the very strong winds for races five and six and sailed back to harbour to conserve the boat and his strength for the coming Edinburgh Cup. With the wind down he was out again on the final day and added a 3 and 6 to his score putting him in an impressive sixth place overall, bearing in mind that the series only allows for one discard.

The Dragon Class normally uses long windward leeward courses with beats of approximately 2 miles for it's championship racing, but as British Dragon Association Vice Chairman Patrick Gifford explained, the class used this event as an opportunity to try out a new racing format: "This was the first time that the BDA has experimented in open water with a format of short races and a quick turn around, producing a regatta that, despite heavy winds at times, meant competitors sailed eight races in three days. It produced close and exciting racing for all concerned, thanks to a major contribution from some very slick race management by PRO Jonathan Money and his team. Falmouth Bay proved to be a venue capable of staging racing even in the considerable amount of wind experienced on Monday and we are looking forward to an excellent Edinburgh Cup event starting tomorrow."

Racing for the Edinburgh Cup, sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management, starts tomorrow, Wednesday 8 July and concludes on Saturday 11 July with six races scheduled. For the Edinburgh Cup the race format will return to the traditional long windward leeward courses with beats of approximately two miles. This evening competitors are enjoying a combined South Western Championship Prize Giving and Edinburgh Cup Welcome Dinner at the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club's delightful waterfront clubhouse.

Dragon South Western Championship - Top Ten Results

1st GBR 723 - Bill Hardesty, Quentin Stauss, Nigel Young - 9.0
2nd IRL 192 - Andrew Craig, Peter Bowring/Brian Matthews, Pedro Andrade - 19.0
3rd GBR 743 - Rob Campbell, John Torrance, Matt Walker - 20.0
4th GBR 708 - Len Jones, Jamie Lea, Jeremy Jordan - 46.0
5th GBR 720 - Julia Bailey, Graham Bailey, David Heritage - 48.0
6th USA 310 - Edward Sawyer, Martin Payne, Will Willett - 50.0
7th GBR 730 - Julian Sowry, Claire Sowry, Hilary Gallow - 61.0
8th GBR 716 - Gavia Wilkinson-Cox, Mark Hart, Mark Daly - 66.0
9th GBR 741 - Chris Hunt, John Wilson, Tim Cunliffe - 66.0
10th GBR 704 - Martin Makey, Tom Makey, Rowena Jones - 85.0

Full results here

The British Dragon Association would like to thank title sponsor Aberdeen Asset Management and supporting sponsor Petticrows Ltd for their most generous support of this event. Aberdeen Asset Management PLC is an international investment management group, managing assets for both institutions and private individuals from offices around the world. Founded in 1896 Petticrows Ltd is one of the World's leading builders of one design racing yachts including the International Dragon.

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