Dell Quay Sailing Club

(Published in the Chichester Observer on Thursday 20th August 2015)

For the third race in the Dell Quay SC Late Trophy series the wind was light and very variable. Race Officer Chris West set a course around Crouchers, Bowling, Marina and Quay marks to make the best of the conditions.

In the Solo class race Richard Ede made a good start but was soon overtaken by Malcolm Buchanan to leeward and John Purdy to Windward. Purdy was first to Crouchers, followed by Buchanan.

The fleet spread over a wide area on the way to Bowling, trying to find where the wind pockets were hiding. During that period, which seemed to take forever, Richard Bridgmont moved up to third place, whilst Ede drifted back to last place. A sea breeze was trying to come in, but failed to do so, resulting in a very variable wind direction. By this time Purdy had established a very long lead over the rest of the fleet.

When Marina was eventually reached, Buchanan was still in second place, with Ede now third, having found some wind, and Bridgmont fourth. There was much place changing throughout the fleet, as one boat could pick up a little breeze that others did not.

At the finish Purdy came in first with a huge lead of many minutes, Buchanan second and Ede close behind in third, leaving Bridgmont fourth. The rest of the boats straggled in over a long period, with one boat failing to finish at all. For all classes the second race was abandoned due to the lack of wind.

The 2000 class race was the first and so far only race of the series. First place was taken by Mike Fitzgerald and Tim Dormer with Anne and Jim Norfolk coming in second.

In the Handicap class race the fleet struggled to make any headway in the light wind, forcing three boats to abandon the race. Andrew Buchanan (Finn) came in first on handicap, with Peter King and Jamie Prescott (RS400) second and Mike Dicker/Dom White (Fireball) third.

Races 5 and 6 in the series start at 10:15 am on Sunday 27^th September.

Solo Report by Richard Ede

Report compiled by Andrew Horne