Dell Quay Sailing Club

(Published in the Chichester Observer on Thursday 3rd September 2015)

The first two races in the DQSC Late Helm series almost didn’t happen. After considerable delays, due to heavier than usual holiday traffic, competitors arrived at Dell Quay to find they were without a race officer. Fortunately Jean Buchanan and Charlotte Dawber, both with husbands taking part in the racing, stepped in to act as joint race officers for the day.

With the wind blowing force 3 to 4 from the south west, the race officers set a course taking in the Quay, Crouchers, Heron, Marina, Copperas East and Copperas West racing marks. In the first race Malcolm Buchanan (Solo), fresh from several days of competition in the Harbour Regatta, was first off the start line and rapidly established a strong lead.

Bill Dawber, also in a Solo, struggled to catch up but there was no holding Buchanan back and he stormed around the course, never relinquishing his lead, to come in first both on the water and on handicap.

The fleet quickly split into two, with the 5 leading boats soon leaving the remaining 8 boats well behind to fight it out for positions at the back. A battle for second place developed between Dawber and the 2000 team of Mike Fitzgerald and Tim Dormer but it was Dawber who eventually took second place, leaving Fitzgerald and Dormer third. The Solos dominated the racing overall with John Purdy and Mike Shaw respectively taking 4^th and 5^th place.

For the second race, with the wind beginning to drop, the competition at the front was every bit as lively as in the first race but Buchanan once again established a clear lead which was never really in contention, despite considerable efforts by Dawber to catch up. With the first two positions unchanged from race 1, Fitzgerald and Dormer were pushed into 4^th place by Purdy with Shaw once again coming 5^th.

Report by Andrew Horne

Photos by David Owens