Dell Quay Sailing Club

(Published in the Chichester Observer on Thursday 30th August 2018)

The final race in the Dell Quay Sailing Club Evening series took place in a breezy South Westerly wind, blowing Force 4 to 5. Race Officer Simon Bell set an interesting course, incorporating 3 beating legs which demanded a lot of concentration in order to avoid capsizing in the frequent gusts. The course also incorporated some fast reaching stretches to add to the excitement.

The fleet got off to a good start, heading towards the first windward mark at Copperas West and then turned towards Kiln, followed by Bowling, then back to Crouchers and Copperas West again before heading back to Quay and the second lap.

In the second lap the wind died away for a while and then came up again, though exhibiting some fluky behaviour. Despite the many gusts the majority of the fleet managed to complete the race without capsizing. First to cross the line was Andrew Buchanan in his Finn but after application of handicap corrections to the results he had to settle for 5^th place. Line honours went to Stephen Holcroft (Laser Pico), with Sue Manning (Laser 4.7) in second place and Mike Shaw (Solo) third. 4^th place went to Chris Wood in his Streaker.

Sue Manning wins the series and the Victor Cook trophy, with Mike Shaw second and Nikki Buchanan (Solo) third.