It was '85
We were just about to launch on our Dart 18 and the boat next to us went first, flipped and came back on its side. My wife went to help the crew but he had broken his leg! She didn't tell me till after we got back safely to the shore at the end of the race.
In fact, it was the Katwijk waves that haunt me most. Sailing the Dart 18 Europeans there was a nightmare.
Yes, I remember some pretty nasty stuff! Especially with a due west wind it can be a bear. What year was the Dart Championship?
The Katwijk euros were 1986; the waves scared the crap out of me at the time!
Totally mega waves; launching was exciting; at times you could not see the boat next to you if the wave set was such both boats were in troughs. And the Dart 18 IS exciting downwind in the big stuff!!!
