Dell Quay Sailing Club

 (Published in the Chichester Observer on Thursday 25th February 2016) 

Six determined Dell Quay racers came to the penultimate racing weekend of their winter Frostbite series hoping a good result would take them higher up in the final rankings. The grey skies and the bitter north easterly winds produced challenging conditions.  

This was a day for the brave and experienced!  One quickly retired with equipment failure leaving five boats to fight it out. In the tricky, windy, conditions the RS400 of Rob Corfield and Chris Campbell failed to realise they were over the start line, losing much valuable time before returning to the start.  

They managed some spectacular reaches in the high winds in their attempt to catch the other RS400 sailed by Peter King and Tom Dobbs. Despite their exhilarating sailing, Peter King only managed second place on handicap with first place going to Andy Morley, sailing much more sedately in his Pico, and third place going to Fred Hilgers (Solo). 

Four boats started the second race and this time Rob Corfield's RS400 led from the start coming first on the water and on handicap, with Peter King coming in second just behind them.  Andy Morley took third place leaving him in a strong position to take second place in the series.  

Bill Dawber (Solo) has already secured first place in the series and the interesting question now is who will take third place? Ken Baker (Day Boat), Fred Hilgers (Solo), together with Peter King and Rob Corfield sailing RS400s are all possible contenders, so it all depends on races 11 and 12, the last two of the series.  

Roy Dyton

Photos by Roy Dyton