Solo Open at Chichester Yacht Club
by David Brecknell 24 Jul 2006 07:10 BST
23 July 2006
Close race at the Chichester Solo open © Clare Turnbull
“Like beads on a string” was one description of the fleet at the Open Meeting for the Solo class at Chichester Yacht Club on Sunday, July 23rd., as they reached towards the second mark - all thirty-three of the boats, from sixteen different clubs, appeared to be linked together with about a foot between them!
In fact, there was keen competition right through the fleet, and a single error of judgment or missed shift brought its punishment, as the positions recorded in the three races reveal. For example, Tony Catchpole won the first race, but then scored an eleventh and a tenth, to end up sixth; even the overall winner, Chris Brown, had an opening third and won the second race, but had an eleventh in the third; Simon Corper, the winner of the last race, had a previous seventh and fifth, and similar inconsistencies were the fate of most of the sailors right through the fleet, and many good sailors never got through to the front at all. Most were glad of the “discard” rule to shed their worst result.
The conditions were on the light side, with a good deal of cloud and a very humid and heavy atmosphere, but the south-westerly blew fairly truly throughout the day, although never getting to planing strength, to take the fleet round the P-shaped course.
Overall Results:
1st. 4672 Chris Brown, RYA 4 pts
2nd. 4705 Simon Corper, Reading S.C. 5 pts
3rd. 4120 Godfrey Clark, Fishers Green S.C. 6 pts
4th. 4603 David Sayce, Hayling Island S.C. 8 pts
5th. 4517 Kevin Gibb, Largo Bat S.C, 9 pts
6th. 4381 Tony Catchpole, Hayling Island S.C. 11 pts