Autumnal Frozen Toe

Many waking on sunday to torrential rain and strong winds may have considered closing the curtains and going back to bed. But a keen group of winter sailors made the trip to Chichester Yacht club and eventually enjoyed a sail in bright autumnal sunshine. By the start time the rain had passed and the forecast 20-25Knots had reduced to a 15-20Knots from the SW making for great sailing conditions.

The Race Officer, Pete Harrison, assisted by members of the CYC 2000 fleet, set a trapezium course with an outer loop. Positioning the CYC committee boat so that the sailors could enjoy a long beat almost to the birdham channel. In the first race, the fast fleet were pressing so close to the line that some boats were forced to double back around the ends. After 50 minutes of racing, Steve and Sarah Cockerill, this year sailing in an RS400, had built enough of a lead over the Merlin Rockets to take the first place after handicap.

In the Second race, with the wind lessening, Jack Holden and Tom Harrison in their Merlin kept Steve and Sarah within site and claimed the first place on handicap. Combining the two race scores, left three boats on equal points after day one, with Jack and Tom in the lead due to their win in race 2.

In the medium fleet, Ian and Sarah Yardley, sailing a 2000 were the only double handed boat in the fleet. They managed to hold off the single handers to win race one, followed by two Aero 7’s sailed by Toby Schofield and Liam Vass. In the second race Toby built a lead of almost two minutes, which was enough to secure him a win after handicap.

The Slow fleet saw a competition between youth sailors from Felpham and CYC. In race 1, Alfie Lester from Felpham got the win in his laser 4.7. In race 2 Charlie Gran won the race in his Topper, and led the fleet after day 1 due to his consistently good results.

The Next CYC Frozen toe is on Sunday the 25th November (11:00am first start).