Chichester Yacht Club Frozen Toe Series Races 3 & 4

Second day of the Chichester Yacht Club Frozen Toe Series © Louise Varley

The forecast was for a cold, overcast day with light breezes – quite different from the first, very windy, day of the series. Race Officer Nick Colbourne could see little breeze an hour before the scheduled start, but decided to set a trapezoid course in Chichester Lake in a north–south orientation, staying clear of the dead patches under the trees and allowing for some tactical tidal sailing. The breeze took time to fill in, but the first race of the day got away after a postponement of about 20 minutes.

The seven starters in the fast fleet for Race 3 enjoyed some close if not fast racing, with first over the line, in about 40 minutes, Nick and Roger Elliman (CYC) in their RS400, followed by the Merlin Rocket of Jeremy Deacon and Adam Rose from Cookham Reach, and the Fireball of Andy Palmer-Felgate and R Anderson (CYC). On handicap the Merlin was first, second was Richard Bentley (Felpham) in his Laser Vago XD, third equal the Ellimans and Palmer-Felgate.

The medium fleet of 15 was mostly Lasers and Radials, with a couple of Solos and a Europe. No 2000s sailed this week: the group were freezing their toes off in safety boats, committee boat and other duties. Racing was again very tight, with only seconds separating the first 3 boats over the line in Race 3, led by CYC sailor Mark Harper in his Solo, then the Lasers of James Carter (CYC) and Richard Bailey (Emsworth). Harper won on handicap, second was Guy Mayger (Felpham) also in a Solo, and third Lucy Boreham in her Europe.

The slow fleet saw the biggest turnout with 17 boats, mostly Toppers. The cold air and light winds meant testing conditions for the youngsters, some taking over an hour to complete 2 laps in Race 3. The Optimists of Raulf Berry and his sister Blythe were 1st and 2nd, with Charlie Elliott and Harry Cowell in the RS Feva XL 3rd (all CYC sailors).

With the wind veering towards the northeast, the course was reoriented and shortened for Race 4. Six boats started in the fast fleet, and again there was very close racing in the light breezes, with the Ellimans (RS400) first over the line followed only seconds later by Deacon and Rose in the Merlin Rocket, and then Palmer-Felgate & Anderson in the Fireball. The Merlin won on handicap, followed by the Kestrel of Brian Deacon and Karen Hill from Broadwater, with the Ellimans third.

In the medium fleet, Race 4 saw Bailey step up a gear to finish 2 minutes ahead, but the Solos of Mayger and Boreham took 1st and 2nd on handicap, with Bailey 3rd and Harper dropping back to 4th.

The slow fleet was slightly smaller for Race 4, some having stayed ashore to warm up. The race was won by Howard Lane (Lancing) in a Topper, followed by Izzy Porter (CYC) also in a Topper. Raulf Berry was 3rd and Charlie Elliott 4th.

The next race in this series is on Sunday 24 November.

For full results see these pages:

• Fast fleet
• Medium fleet
• Slow fleet