Chichester Yacht Club Regatta 2013
by Meryl Deane 14 Jun 2013 18:23 BST
9 June 2013
Chichester Yacht Club were delighted to welcome sailors from around Chichester Harbour to their Regatta on the 9th of June. There was a fantastic turn out from Chichester members and the Itchenor keelboats brought a touch of class to this popular event.
Sailors had got into the swing of things the night before with a social event at CYC, the adults eating and socialising while the youngsters enjoyed a fabulous disco, which was a great success with the younger members.
The main race was 'down the harbour;' with boats starting from yacht Gazelle kindly lent for the event by Ras Turner. Race offices Tony Mobbs, and John & Pam Miles, old hands at running the Regatta, were on board to manage the racing.
The conditions were warm, but the northerly Force 4 gusting F5 wind meant it was quite rough, the wind seemed even more gusty than usual!.
The 2000 fleet had some great competitive racing, with Chris Hodge & Louise Varley close to the front of the fleet until kit failure forced retirement. Jason Kirk having stepped out of his RS400 into a Laser 2000 for a day gave the visitors some close completion. 1st was John Townsend & Barbara Langford, 2nd Mark & Clare Sargent, and 3rd Jason Kirk & Jonathan Watkins.
The Fast Fleet was dominated by the Merlin Rockets from Hayling Island. 1st was Simon & Jacky Lytton, 2nd Judith Massey & Graham Williamson, and 3rd Chris Turner & Jamie Prescott in a Fireball.
The only entrants in the Medium Fleet were John & Pauline Cox in their National 12, who had a great days sailing to take their well deserved first place.
The Laser Fleet was dominated by Luke South in his full rig Laser, chased by a clutch of young sailors in Laser Radials. Luke's experience won out to take 1st place well ahead of the pack. 2nd was Ross Watkins, 3rd Ben Thompson.
In the Solo Fleet Mark Harper was chased hard in both races by Guy Mayger from FSC. Mark's local knowledge won out so he took 1st place. 2nd went to Guy Mayger, and 3rd to Derek Jackman.
The Slow Fleet had two races in Chichester Lake. In the tricky consditons there were plenty of capsize to keep the safety boat busy. Charlotte Reading and Hannah Thompson in Toppers, had some fun with some close racing with Meryl Deane in her Streaker Wave until she retired in Race 2. The Toppers were however all along ahead on handicap. 1st was Charlotte Reading, 2nd Charlie Elliott, and 3rd Hannah Thompson.
The Itchenor XoDs, K6s, Sunbeams and Swallows, also enjoyed some excellent racing.
The tired competitors retired to CYC for a superb Regatta tea, with some fantastic homemade cakes! Always popular.