Dell Quay Sailing Club

(Published in the Chichester Observer on Thursday 15th December 2017)

Following the cancellation of Dell Quay’s Frostbite races 1 and 2, due to a complete lack of wind, a 4 to 7 knots of breeze greeted the 22 competitors for races 3 and 4. Unlike the unusual balmy temperatures of the previous week, the North Westerly breeze provided a very cool 3 deg C air temperature. This still did not deter Solo sailor Simon Verrall from arriving in his shorts !

The fleet consisted of a mixture of Dell Quay club members and visitors in a variety of double and single handed boats. With the wind direction from the North West, setting a course was always going to be a challenge for the race officer. However a figure of eight course was set, allowing a variety of challenging legs in the shifting breeze.

In the first race, the RS400’s led the fleet to the Crouchers mark, followed by a tricky cross tide windward leg to the Copperas West mark, nestling in the wind shadow of the Fishbourne west bank trees. Two laps of the 50 minute race were completed, with line honours going to the RS400 of Bill Dawber and Noel Coussens. However on corrected time, Mark Harper (Solo) had just over a one minute lead on the second placed Laser sailed by Mark Gardner. Third place went to Simon Verrall.

In the second race, with the light starting to fade, race officer Chris West changed the course to a simple triangle and quickly got the second race away. With a broad reach to Crouchers again, it was vital to get enough clear water to round the first mark. The RS400s led the charge, followed by a group of Solos & Streakers in hot pursuit. After two quick laps before the sun set Harper took first place on corrected time, by just 4 seconds, followed by the RS400 of Dawber and Coussens, leaving the Solo of Graham Dalton in third place.