Dell Quay Sailing Club

Published in the Chichester Observer on 2nd May 2019)

On a very warm and sunny Good Friday morning Dell Quay SC introduced a new racing event to the club – Team Racing.

The 15 club members that turned up to take part in the event were formed into 5 teams of 3 by Principal Race Officer Mark Harper, each sailing one of the club’s Picos. The participants were drawn from various groups in the club, including experienced racers, novice racers, social sailors and junior racers. Unlike regular club racing the emphasis was on competing as a team rather than as individuals.

Race Officer Rob Nunn set up a quadrilateral course close to the quay using inflatable marks and the Quay Buoy. The start line was defined by the first racing mark and one of the club’s Dories, which acted as a committee boat from which the race was started. Racing took place between 2 teams at a time so that 10 races were sailed in all. The course was kept deliberately simple to allow time for all the races to be completed.

Points were awarded to each racer according to their position as they crossed the finish line. So first across the line scored 1 and last across scored 6. The points collected for each member of a team were added together to produce a team score and the total points for each team added together at the end to arrive at an overall team score.

The first races started off slowly due to the lack of wind which eventually picked up, only to drop off again for the later races. In order to finish the races with sufficient tide remaining the Race Officer shortened the course by taking out first Quay buoy and then one of the inflatable marks.

Racing in Picos proved quite challenging for many of the participants used to having a lot more space to move around in their own boats but less so for the junior sailors accustomed to sailing small single handed dinghies. Despite this the more experienced adult sailors won the day overall.

The final results were:

1st – Team B: Mark Harper, Simon Verrall, John Purdy with 31 points

2nd - Team A: Steve Holcroft, Richard Bridgmont, Hilary Sparkes with 35 points

3rd – Team C: Peter King, Ethan Sparkes, Niamh Sparkes with 40 points

4th – Team D: Rob Corfield, Sue Manning, Lottie Sparkes with 50 points

5th – Team E: Bruce Dupee, Andrew Horne, Andrew Pendry with 54 points

The event was very successful with everyone having a lot of fun, regardless of the final result.

Andrew Horne

Photos By Carol Andrews