Weekend should be a real classic for sailors at Bosham

BOSHAM

Bosham Sailing Club are hosting their first Classic Boat Revival on June 25 and 26.

They hope to attract the largest number of classic day boats and classic dinghies ever seen in the UK.

Already many entries have been received from a variety of classes from as far afield as Cumbria, Kent, Gloucestershire and Devon as well as along the south coast.

Entries should include 505, Albacore, Devon Yawl, Firefly, Fairy Falcon, Flying Dutchman, Graduate, GP14, Hornet, International Canoe, International 14, Jollyboat, Merlin Rocket, Moth, National 12, National 18, Osprey, Redwing, Scow, Snipe, Sharpie, Solos, Tideway, Torbay Minnow, YW Dayboat, or other similar classes and many other classic dinghies with a maximum length of 20ft.

There will be six races over the two days with committee boat starts in Chichester Harbour. There will also be a Concours D’Elegance with Classic Boat Magazine among the judges.

Supper accompanied by live jazz will be available on Friday, June 24, and a regatta party will be held on the Saturday, with supper and live music from the Mustangs at the clubhouse. Some free accommodation and berthing is available for visiting crews.

Race entry - by June 20 - is £20 per boat. Entries after this date will be £25 per boat at the discretion of the organisers.

For more, visit www.boshamsailingclub.com, telephone 01243 572341 or email [email protected].

The Bosham Classic Boat Revival is being sponsored by Jackson-Stops & Staff, Top Yacht, Wiley Nautical and Pusser’s Rum.

CHICHESTER

THE FINAL races of the Lady Todd series were held in high winds. This has been a challenging series because of the windy conditions and only a small number of competitors have completed it.

In the modern/fast fleet, Chris Hodge and Louise Varley put in a good time in their Laser 2000, finishing first in race eight, well ahead of Mike and Jane Linney, also in a Laser 2000.

Hodge and Varley retired after that race leaving the Linneys as the only competitors in race nine, which they completed.

In the classic fleet in race eight, only two boats survived the conditions, with Mark Harper first in his Finn and Ian Payne second in a Laser.

In race nine Payne had a very close race with Jimmy Carter, both in Lasers, with Payne finishing just ahead.

And in the slow fleet, Ross Watkins was the only finisher in both races, with Ben Thompson giving race eight a good shot.

Series results: Modern/fast fleet: 1 Chris Hodge & Louise Varley (Laser 2000), 2 Andy Conway (Blaze), 3 Al & Manu Jenkins (Xenon). Classic fleet: 1 Ian Payne (Laser), 2 Jimmy Carter (Laser), 3 Ian Lissamore (Solo). Slow fleet: 1 Ross Watkins (Topper), 2 Jessica Carter (Topper), 3 Ben Thompson (Topper).

The bank holiday brought lighter winds, although still a good force four at times. A pursuit race was efficiently organised by Steve Wilson, with a good course.

The aim was to catch up with as many boats as possible – the faster boats starting later.

Early on, it looked like Nick and Biddy Colbourne in the GP14 were going to keep their place at the front despite a challenge from Mark Harper in the Finn.

However, the 29er of Martin and Stephie Orton, being the fastest boat with a late start, put on an amazing display of skill and made their way up the fleet at an astonishing pace, overtaking all in their way to take first place.

DELL QUAY

Challenging conditions in the Solo Open meeting at Dell Quay stretched the 32-boat fleet, with a northerly wind swinging by ten to 30 degrees at times and gusts of 20 to 25 knots.

Race officer Graham Dalton got the three races away well with no recalls. The start of the first race was tight.

The wind against tide created a short chop and the fleet split as they sailed up the beat, with those on the east side favoured by a wind shift. Downwind there was some glorious planing to be had although several capsized in the gusty conditions.

Will Loy, sailing as a member of the RYA, led all the way winning by a good margin from David Sayce (Hayling Island) and Barry Wicks (Maidenhead).

The second race was sailed in the slack water at the top of the tide and the waves were smaller.

Local sailor Gordon Barclay got away well and was leading the fleet when his boom just touched the mark and he lost seven places as he completed his penalty turn, such was the level of competition.

Another Dell Quay entrant, Roger Puttock, took up the lead, but Loy, who rounded the first mark well down the fleet, was steadily improving his position and came through to overtake Puttock, who only just managed to hold on to his second place, capsizing just after crossing the line, with Mike Dray from Littleton in third place.

In the final race, sailed against the tide, boats again split left and right to hug the shore and avoid the tide. This time the west side paid off with Vanda Jowett (Littleton) and Bill Dawber (Dell Quay) leading at the first mark.

Jowett held the lead throughout until the final stretch when, in sight of the line, she was passed by fellow Littleton sailor Joe Rycroft, with Dawber third.

With two races out of three to count, Loy was the obvious winner with two points, while Wicks was second on eight, but four boats shared a score of nine and the tie-break rules were applied to decide third, which went to Sayce.

The Solo fleet awards special category prizes: Barry Wicks won the veterans’ (over-50) prize while David Sayce won the grand master (over-60) prize.

Sunday at Dell Quay proved quieter as the short race series was held in moderate winds. Overall winner Bill Munnery (Solo) claimed the five-race series with three wins, from Stu Denyer (Laser) who gained two wins and three second places.

Third place went to Bob Marshall and Neil Bryant (RS 400) with two second places and three thirds.