THE reigning national champions and current European champions, Matt Pullen and Debs Rickard (Restronguet SC), were the pre-race favourites for the the Dart 18 National Championships that took place over the August Bank Holiday weekend at Worthing Yacht Club.

With 76 boats this made it by far the largest catamaran National Championships in the UK this year and competition, therefore, was going to be very tough. However, the Falmouth duo showed their character and pedigree to win the title for a second successive year.

The forecast for the three-day event was for very light winds and with nine races schedules and only one discard, consistency was going to be the key to being successful. On the first day the wind was very light but racing got underway on time. The three scheduled races were completed and Pullen and Rickard ended the first day with two seconds and a fifth which put them as joint leaders alongside Fluid Boat Services (Paul Wakelin and Emma Curtis - Mumbles SC).

The second day dawned and racing was delayed until the wind filled in enough to sail. The light breeze proved to be testing conditions for the fleet. Pullen and Rickard completed the four races with consistent results and ended the day with a race win to put them in the overall lead overnight by a narrow margin of two points.

With such close racing the final day was to be crucial if the Restronguet duo were to retain their title.

Full report in this week's issue.