Chichester Yacht Club Dinghy Week
by Louise Varley 12 Aug 2014 09:52 BST
25-29 July 2014
Chichester Yacht Club Dinghy Week © Louise Varley
July's glorious summer weather continued throughout CYC's Dinghy Week, and though there were a few anxious hours after Worthing station was flooded, the thunderstorms never quite made it to Chichester Harbour.
Not really a week, more of a super-long weekend, the event attracted a total of 71 boats, plus 12 Graduates attending their National Championship hosted by CYC. Around 120 people got afloat to join in the fun, including 30 under-16 year olds who seemed to be having even more fun than anybody else. As well as dinghies, there were kayaks and paddle boards out, a few swimmers and a lot of spectators.
The club also ran an RYA children's course for beginners and improvers, with 18 participants aged 7 to 12, and a coached Regatta Fleet for 9 more who already had basic sailing skills but were not ready to join the main race fleet. Over the 5 days, all improved their skills, gained confidence and made new friends.
The racing was divided into Fast (38 boats) and Slow (5) Handicap fleets, Toppers (20) and Optimists (7), all of which did 8 races over the first 4 days. Coming back into their Lark after a long absence, Martin and Cindy Orton won the Fast Handicap from Sarah Cockerill in her Laser and Ian Lissamore (Solo). The Slow Fleet was won by Andrew and Toby Martin in their Miracle, with Susannah Olliff and Beth Albone 2nd in a Feva, and Andrew & Jack Purvis 3rd (Mirror). The Topper fleet was dominated by Charlie South, with Sophie Kirk second and Oliver Randall-May 3rd, and in the Optimists Raulf Berry was 1st, followed by Luca Hutchings and Blythe Berry.
The Graduates raced only for 3 days, and the fleet enjoyed some competitive racing in Chichester Lake. Tony Cooper won the series, with John Clementson 2nd and Bob Murrell 3rd.
Racing on Day 5 was run as a Pursuit Race for adults, and a Turbo Regatta for the younger one. The slowest boats are first to start in the Pursuit Race, with the faster boats starting later, at intervals according to their handicap ratings, so that by the end of the race all should be approaching the finish at about the same time. The winner of this race was Ian Lissamore, with Adrian Rowe 2nd, both in Solos. 8 short races were sailed in the Turbo Regatta, including some silly challenges along the way, such as a capsize both ways, or swim round the boat. Winner of this event was Charlie South.
As well as all the activity on the water, there was fun and games later in the afternoon every day, with model boat building, table tennis, a trip to the beach, ice cream van... and the social highlight of the week, the Barn Dance, with all ages taking part, most with more enthusiasm than skill, but all having a great time.
Full results can be found here.
Book the dates in your diary for next year: Monday 3rd – Friday 7th August 2015.