Dell Quay Sailing Club

A busy weekend at Dell Quay saw the completion of the Early Trophy series and the start of the Short Race series. On Saturday Anne and Jim Norfolk won both races from Graham and Lucy Dalton thus winning the Laser 2000 Early Trophy. Although the Daltons led the first race and were the first to spot that the second mark of the course had been dragged out of position and was almost ashore, making for an interesting rounding, they later sailed into an area with little wind which the Norfolks managed to avoid and sailed clear. Third place in both races went to Jean and Liz Sagues. The Solo fleet saw some close racing between father and son, Richard and Chris Ede, who vied for the lead throughout the race. In the run to the finish, Richard just held onto his lead as Chris closed the gap to finish just a few feet behind. Third place went to Andy Gray. In the second race, Gray won comfortably with Bill Munnery second and Chris Ede in third place. Overall Chris Ede emerged as the winner of the Solo Early Trophy. The fine weather meant the handicap fleet had one of its largest turnouts. First over the line were Rob Corfield and Mike Fisher (RS 400) with Simon and Linda Bell (RS 200) not far behind. On corrected time, the Bells finished well ahead of the second placed boat, Chris Wood's Streaker, with Corfield and Fisher third. In the second race, Martin and Sarah Greenhalgh took first place, with Wood close behind and Bruce Dupee (Laser Radial) third, the Greenhalghs also winning the handicap Early Trophy.

The aim of Sunday's five short races was to move the emphasis onto making a good start followed by a short race, then getting ready to do it all again and again.... Race Officer Chris Ede oversaw the event which attracted an entry of seventeen boats, including nine Laser 2000s, and produced some close racing. The individual race results were as follows:

Race 1 1^st Gordon Barclay (Solo), 2^nd Richard Ede (Solo), 3^rd Andy Gray (Solo)

Race 2 1^st Richard Ede, 2^nd Andy Gray, 3^rd Mike Fitzgerald & Tim Dormer (Laser 2000)

Race 3 1^st Andy Gray, 2^nd Gordon Barclay, 3^rd Mike Fitzgerald &Tim Dormer

Race 4 1^st Gordon Barclay, 2^nd Andrew Spiers & Ron Sanders (Laser 2000), 3^rd Andy Gray

Race 5 1^st Andy Gray, 2^nd Andrew Spiers & Ron Sanders, 3^rd Mike Fitzgerald & Tim Dormer

Gray and Barclay are both well placed for the conclusion of the series on August 8^th. Next week sees Dell Quay join Chichester Yacht Club for the second days sailing in the Interclub series.