Chichester Yacht Club Snowflake Series - Day 5
by Meryl Deane 28 Feb 2013 06:43 GMT
24 February 2013
The final races of the Chichester Yacht Club Open Snowflake Series were dominated by the unrelenting cold weather. The temperature barely rose during the day, the wind was a shifty northerly Force 3-4 - icy cold with a sea temperature under 4ºC. Despite the icy conditions, and it being the end of half-term there was still a good turn out of keen sailors, with places to be contested including at the top of the fleets.
In the Fast Fleet in Race 9 the Merlin Rocket of Jon Gorringe & Nicola Bass (Parkstone SC) got well away from the chasing RS 400s & Fireball. Meanwhile a little further behind the RS200 contingent were fighting for some of the top places. Andy Shaw & Tim Goodhew had a keen race with George Yeoman & Sophie Ormsby, with Andy & Tim finishing a few seconds ahead, to take 2ndplace on handicap with George & Sophie 3rd.
In Race 10 Jon Gorringe & Nicola Bass in their Merlin again got away from the fleet with the RS400 of Nick & Roger Elliman (CYC) close behind. The RS200s were again competing for top places. This time George & Sophie managed to get away from Andy & Tim but had stiff competition from David & Fiona Sayce. 1st John & Nicola, 2nd George & Sophie 3rd, David & Fiona.
Fast Fleet Series Results:
1st George Yeoman & Sophie Ormsby, RS200 (Itchenor)
2nd Steve & Sarah Cockerill, Merlin Rocket (Hill Head SC)
3rd David & Fiona Sayce, RS200 (HISC)
4th Charlie Tavener, Finn (Bosham SC)
5th Nick Creak, Blaze (Rock SC)
Meanwhile in the Medium Fleet, the Solos were out in force. Mark Harper reports an increase in wind though the race and in Race 9 he got onto port in a clean air as soon as possible - which seemed to be effective, even at the expense of not hitting the full flood tide. The two National 12s led off the start line with William Warren & Sophie Mackley, followed by John & Katy Meadowcroft (Upper Thames SC). Ian Payne (CYC) had a good race at the front of the Laser contingent but fell back on handicap. 1st Mark Harper - Solo, 2nd William & Sophie – National 12, 3rd Ray Collins -Solo
In Race 10 William & Sophie had a harder time keeping ahead of John & Katy but kept on the pressure to take first with Mark Harper 2nd and John & Katy 3rd.
Medium Fleet Series Results:
1st William Warren & Sophie Mackley, National 12 (Shoreham SC)
2nd Mark Harper, Solo (CYC)
3rd Luke South, Laser (CYC)
4th Ray Collins, Solo (Locks SC)
5th Jimmy Carter, Laser (CYC)
The Slow fleet was composed entirely of youngsters under the age of 16 who did well in the profoundly cold conditions. In Race 9 Ben & Tom Weston (Itchenor) in their Mirror and Alex Butler in an RS Tera had some interesting racing, with the Mirror finishing just ahead on the finish line taking first, with Alex 2nd. Billy Venius-Ozanne & Andre Ozanne were 3rd in an RS Feva, with Jessica Carter sneaking into 4th on handicap. The Mirror retired home to Itchenor before Race 10, leaving the hardy to race for the final places. In Race 10 Alex Butler was 1st, Jessica Carter 2nd, Harry Kennedy 3rd and Charlie South was 4th.Charlie South put in a remarkable performance in his Topper 4.2, being aged just 9.
Slow Fleet Series Results:
1st Alex Butler, RS Tera (HISC)
2nd Jessica Carter, Topper (CYC)
3rd Harry Kennedy, Laser (Hill Head)
4th Charlie South, Topper (CYC)
5th Charlotte Reading, Topper (CYC)
A prize giving was held in the Upper Deck after racing. Over the series over 100 boats took part despite the cold weather. Chichester Yacht Club is now looking forward to the start of its club racing season on 10th March.