The D-Zero class headed to Torquay for their third national championships expertly hosted by the Royal Torbay Yacht Club.  SailRacer was on hand with live coverage and GPS tracking.

With the English Riviera living up to its name, the 35 competitors were greeted by an early summer heatwave and light winds.

Race 1 saw defending champion Ian Morgan wearing the yellow jersey get off to the perfect start, working his way through the fleet and giving a master class in downwind sailing to take the lead on the penultimate leg.

 GPS Tracking The South West D-Zero sailors made the most of the dying breeze in second race and final one of Day 1. Greg Bartlett from Starcross sailed the perfect race, leading from start to finish and winning by over a minute from Kian Andrews from Mounts Bay and uncle David Bartlett in third.

At the end of Day 1, Greg Bartlett led over night by two points and took the yellow jersey into Day 2. The next three places were tied on eight points with the top four all from the South West and defender Ian Morgan from Netley completing the top five.

Tom Southwell topped the SailRacer Speed Wall hitting a sustained 7.71 kts in Race 1.

Day 2 saw a delay in racing waiting for the wind and the Brixham Trawler race to clear the race course. With racing eventually starting early in the afternoon, the Royal Torbay Yacht Club expertly managed to turn around 4 races in shifty conditions to keep the championship on schedule.

The third race saw some new names at top with Jon Cowper taking an early lead, closely followed by a handful of others including race winner Darren Williams who managed to snatch the lead at end of the first lap.

Race 4 was another South West affair with Paul Scullion taking the winning gun after a close battle with George Cousins and Kian Andrews. Mandy Sweet pushed the lads hard to finish in fourth.

For the penultimate race of the day, the D-Zeros were starting to get rather zealous as temperatures heated up on English Riviera. With two attempts to get the start away and the obligatory black flag, three of the front runners were caught out at the pin end and disqualified for jumping the line. George Cousins took the winning gun after a close battle with defending champion Ian Morgan.

Race 6 was a more subdued affair and a clear start. George Cousins finished the day with his second bullet in a row and topped the leaderboard going into the final day. With the first discard applied, any of the top five boats still had a chance to win the championships going into the final day.

Simon Hindley topped the SailRacer Speed Wall on day 2 with a top speed of 8.15 knots, closely followed by Mandy Sweet at 8.14 knots who completed a fantastic day of top 10 results.

The penultimate race, saw Mount's Bay Kian Andrews dominate to take the winning gun, hotly pursued by George Cousins wearing the yellow jersey.

George had now consolidated his lead going into the final race, but was leaving nothing to chance, after over hauling RS300 National Champion Steve Bolland at the end of first lap of the P course.

 Results This third race win, combined with two second places ensured George Cousins representing Restronguet Sailing Club was crowned 2017 D-Zero National Champion.

 Thanks to Harken and Suntouched for all their support.

Photos D-Zero Class