The Final Weekend of 2025 Dragon TT Series
For those that don’t know, the Joysways Dragon boats, the DF65 and DF95 were introduced in the middle to end of the last decade and have transformed radio sailing. There are many classes of radio yachts but the availability of new boats limited the potential for expansion of the radio yachting game. These two classes transformed all of that and have been adopted all over the world. The low cost entry, the ease of build and delivery of a boat in a box proved attractive to the many tens of thousands who happily race them. If you think this is just for hobbyist’s, ask yourself the question, why would Ken and his brother Brad Read race these boats on a regular basis at Newport Rhode Island?
There is a strong DF community in the UK and those that want to, travel across the UK to the various TT venues. 114 competitors toured some or all the following venues, West Lancs, Blithfield, Lincoln, Keighley, Dartmoor, Fleetwood, Barton’s Point and finally Gosport last weekend. Racing was fiercely competitive in a class that is totally one design.
Gosport is a historic lake recently celebrating its hundredth anniversary. When the lake was first laid down, it was open to the east and west so when the wind blew up or down the lake, sailing was in a relatively steady wind. Over the years, houses, Navy Dockyards, industrial plants were installed, trees planted and now when the wind blows down the lake, one is challenged by tricky wind shifts which was the theme for the whole weekend. The club boasts some 200 members and racing takes place every day in a variety of classes.
TT Saturday DF65
The DF65 is the smaller of the two DF’s and the trickiest to sail. The light weight and short waterline length means you have to focus on boat speed all the time. The slightest lack of concentration could see your boat head to wind and track rapidly backwards through the fleet. Whilst challenging it is very rewarding when you get it right
33 skippers arrived for the first race of the DF65 TT 13 at Gosport on 25 October.
The forecast was for 12 -15 knots out of the North West which, while not perfect, allows a long course to be set diagonally on the lake.
After a short briefing everyone decamped to the far bank while final adjustments were made to the course allowing the first of 2 seeding heats to get under way just after 10am.
Jim La Roche stormed out of the blocks to take the first seeding setting the tone for a good day for him. Jim was followed by Nigel Barrow and Paul Robson hot on his heels. In the A seeding the win was taken by John Tushingham with David Lindsay and Simon Clark taking the next 2 places.
After a quick start line adjustment to try to cater for the variable wind direction caused by the clubhouse on the opposite bank the heats got under way with the fleet jostling to get into that magic top 6 to get them up into A heat. Trying to keep racing rolling the RO, Wayne Stobbs, kept delays to a minimum calling heat onto the water as soon as the heat board was ready and setting the clock running no more than 1 minute later. Peter Baldwin and David Lindsay relegated John Tushingham to a distant 3rd.
Racing continued at pace until a short break for lunch was called at 1pm with the wind veering more northerly. At the lunch break after 4 completed races John Tushingham was discarding that 3rd place and scoring just 3 points with Nigel Barrow 4 points back and Simon Clark a further 2 points adrift, followed a further 5 points back by Paul Robson who had Jim La Roche, Nigel Brown and David Lindsay on his tail.
As this would happen the northerly shift in the wind had blown itself out and race 5 commenced with only a small line adjustment, but with the fleet being sent further up the western end of the lake to try to give the fleet some cleaner wind at the top mark. The extension at the top of the course proved to be a good move with much cleaner sailing by the course was a bit long. A quick move of the start and gate up the lake brought the course length back to where it should be for 12 minute races.
John continued with bullets in races 5 and 6 with the top 5 all turning in good scores to keep them in contention for the podium places.
The RO tried to keep races ticking over fast to reach the 2nd discard but in the end we just ran out of time with the A heat still on the water as we passed the cutoff time for any race to start, so we called it a day after 7A.
The final scores were John on 8 points, Nigel Barrow on 17, followed by Buzz Coleman on 29 and Simon Clark on 29 after a boat failure in the final race of the day. Peter Baldwin took 5th and Dave Adams 6th. In 9th place overall Nigel Brown was the best placed Gosport skipper and took home some glassware to add to his collection.
A big thanks to all the Gosport volunteers as well as Judith Baldwin and Sharon Plested for managing the Fleet Board as well as they always do.
Our thanks go to Wayne and the team. Without your help these events would never happen
Richard Filer – boat man
Chris Durant – Scorer
Philip Hampson – Assistant RO
Judith Baldwin and Sharon Plested – Heat Board
Joshua Motts – runner
TT Sunday DF95
The DF 95 is the larger of the DF stable and is notably fast downwind because of the clean lines of the hull. Racing is fast and furious.
Sunday saw 33 skippers register for the DF95 TT at Gosport where the wind had, as forecast, more west in it enabling the race team to set a course from the clubhouse bank which, although the course was still from the south-eastern corner of the lake up to the north western corner, would allow for faster turnaround between heats and less disruption when the forecasted wind moved left later in the morning.
Racing got under way at 10:05 with the first of the two seeding heats and it was immediately apparent that the fleet favoured the left hand side of the course, keeping out of the dirty wind in the shadow of the clubhouse. The wins were taken by Peter Baldwin and John Tushingham, with some other top skippers struggling to master the conditions.
Racing kept up a good pace with minimal interruptions and by the time that a short lunch was called at 1pm with 4 races complete John Tushingham was leading the field having turned in 3 wins and a 4th place. The rest of the top 6 were highly packed and the order changed regularly.
As the wind had backed towards the west the course had been adjusted, bringing the gate more central on the lake and the top mark moved out, the course should have been an easy beat up and full run down but as is often the case at Gosport, the wind up near the top marks had a mind of it’s own and the fleet struggled to make clean rounding, made more difficult by an unavoidable restriction of the control area making it not possible for the skippers to get closer than around 50m from the top of the course.
With 5A being the first heat after lunch we saw Peter Baldwin and Dave Adams start to turn in some strong results putting pressure on Paul Robson who held 2nd place at the lunch break. The RO kept racing turning over quickly as there was some uncertainty of how much daylight would be left under the clouded skies because of the clock change which had happened overnight, helped by very few general recalls.
At the start of Race 8 it was looking like John Tushingham was going to clean sweep the day having 7 firsts and a fourth to his name but luck was against him, picking up leaves on his fin in race 4 allowing Peter Baldwin to take the win and John coming home in a distant 8th.
They say lightning never strikes twice but in the last heat of the the day, 9A, John once again picked up leaves allowing Nigel Barrow to take the win, a good end to what had been a challenging day for Nigel.
With the final race ending 10 minutes before the final cut-off the fleet headed to the warmth of the clubhouse for prize giving where prizes were handed out to the top 6. Buzz Coleman on 46, Paul Robson on 35, Nigel Barrow on 34, Dave Adams on 27, Peter Baldwin on 20 and John Tushingham on 10. An additional prize was awarded to Nigel Brown at the top local skipper having finished in 10 place.
As this event was the last event of the 2025 DF TT prizes were also handed out to the winners of the series. With 8 of 14 events to count the TT prizes went to:
John Tushingham on 800
Nigel Barrow on 785
Peter Baldwin on 759
Buzz Coleman on 680
Paul Plested on 655
Paul Robson on 644
Additionally Simon Clark on 577 was the highest “newcomer” in 11th place overall.
Full results for all the races and overall series can be found on the DF UK Association web site.
