Dell Quay Sailing Club

(Published in the Chichester Observer on Thursday 21st December 2017)

A cold and light NW wind greeted the 19 competitors who took part in Races 5 and 6 of the Dell Quay Sailing Club open Frostbite winter series.

Race Officer Jean Sagues amended the start and finish line off the quay to make a more interesting race and wisely laid a temporary windward mark, to try and avoid the wind shadow created by the West bank. Competitors also had to be careful not to foul the Quay buoy outer distance mark at the start.

In the first race the RS400s set the pace, with Bill Dawber and Chris Campbell leading the fleet, followed by Peter King and Rob Corfield in hot pursuit. A good turnout of single handers, comprising Solos, Streakers, Lasers and Picos, set off in hot pursuit of the RS400’s.The Solos once again enjoyed good close racing, with Mark Harper, Graham Dalton, Simon Verrall, John Purdy, and Mike Shaw all having their moment of glory.

Dalton read the wind shifts to the windward mark to perfection and led the Solo class to the finish, with Verral, Harper and Purdy in that order. On corrected time Dawber and Campbell took first place, with Dalton second and a highly delighted Verrall third in his 20 year old wooden Solo.

With a change of course the second race quickly got under way, as the wind had eased a little and the light was starting to fade. Once again Dawber and Campbell led the fleet, with Harper leading the chasing pack. With the wind almost completely gone and the tide just on the ebb, Dawber and Campbell took line honours again, whilst the rest of the fleet drifted towards the finish. However, this time Harper took first place on handicap, leaving Dawber and Campbell fourth, and leading the Solos of Dalton and Verrall to second and third place.