For the second year running the wind was substantially lighter than what the racing fleet would have liked. But for those of you reading this later and thinking the event always has light winds – just look back at the summary for 2014, when the wind was ideal and led to the course record being set.
In 2018, only 5 of the 19 racing boats completed the course under sail, with the rest motoring in. A common failing on the Dieppe Dash seems to be going too far east and failing to make way back against the tide. The line hours were taken by for the second year running by Tanga Langa from Eastbourne, who arrived about 1am BST, about 18 and a half hours after the start. The IRC race was won by the French boat Exelan and the SCCH race was won by Summation from Brighton.
11 of the cruising boats arrived safely in Dieppe, probably using motor for a substantial proportion of the journey. The last boat arrived at about 4:30 am BST, at which point the long-suffering crew on the finish line could go to bed.
Hopefully in 2019 we will have more wind!
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