With a brisk NNWesterley and not a lot of water the options for racing were limited so there was a club line East start with first mark being Channel against the last of the ebb then Mill Rythe Dunes Gardner SWP Mill Rythe club finish. Nine Solos signed on but some decided to sit out the first race hoping that the long beat to Channel would take its toll. Well channel did seem a very long way and Nick R and Greg Swift took full advantage to stretch out a lead followed by Robin Gadd. I was next followed at a respectful distance by Paul Noble who in his first solo race was finding out which strings to pull. On the leg to Dunes Robin got passed Greg but the two met up again at Gardener a Port hand mark, Robin on port and Greg on starboard. In this situation tacking underneath the Starboard tack boat is a manoeuvre I have attempted a few times with a success rate of zero so I was interested to see if Robin could pull it off. Unfortunately for him or more important fortunately for me he did not quite make it having to bear away and go round again allowing me through. So that is how I came to write this report or perhaps that was Robin's idea all along. In the second race there were 3 more Solos on the start line. The order at Channel was the same except that Paul having learnt what piece of string did what was just in front of me. I got by Paul and Robin who went off on his own and then on the leg to SW Pilsey managed to sail over the top of Greg. As the race was finished at SWP I was second behind Nick who was first AGAIN !.

This weekend usual Sunday racing was replaced by Bart’s Bash. The day began with a chilly northerly wind of 8 knots coupled with low cloud. The start was located over the Winner Bank, with a windward mark near to Pivot, a second mark near to North Pilsey, Sandy as a third mark and a leeward mark below the committee boat. The slow fleet started ten minutes before the other fleets, giving us a chance to get away from faster boats that could prove troublesome. We started in 10 knots, with the tide starting to trickle out. Having crossed the channel, the beat was mainly about playing the shifts. Graham Hughes did the best job of this and rounded first, followed by Nick Rawlings. Sadly, I cannot recall the exact order, as after having a good start I did not make a good job of the shifts, so was a little way back from the front. After the downwind legs, the order was roughly the same. At the beginning of the second beat, David Moseley and myself benefitted from a lift that got us back into the game. David then went on to challenge Nick for second, leaving the rest of us in a bit of a rat run to get through the gate against adverse tide, with several Flying 15s and Elites baring down on us. The wind became very patchy and shifty, bringing the phrase ‘anything could happen’ to mind. This was the case as positions changed substantially, but then changed back again. This lap and the final lap were triangles, formed by ignoring the inflatable at North Pilsey. On the final downwind legs, David got dragged into Sandy on a gybe, so had to complete a 360 whilst being blanketed by Fireballs. On the final beat to the line, the ebbing tide bunched the fleet up, with Graham and Nick holding their places, but David just lost third place to me on what looked like a photo finish. He successfully did just enough to avoid writing the report! When the results were published, after the help of a skilled mathematician to work out average laps for different lap lengths, the top four places were filled by Elites, followed by most of the Solos.

Pennant weekend 5 and the Autumn Trophy A weekend of Nicks and Pauls and Tims... Saturday was a 12 -18 knot affair on high water with a start in the vicinity of Runway. Tim Polglase was officiating and we had a port hand triangle / sausage to navigate. Nick’s Rawlings and Peters were out in front in Race 1 with Nick R getting the win, Paul Cutbill came in third and promptly went home. The rest of us thought we would persevere though and Race 2 started promptly. Nick Peters led most of the way, well all bar the last 10 meters actually , but neglected to cover Paul Lewis in 3rd. Paul took the win with Nick’s Peters and Rawlings in second and third. Forecast for Sunday looked pretty horrendous and it was all about getting races in early. No one was keen on going out of the harbour. Tim P put the Committee Boat by Gardener and we sailed starboard hand triangle / sausage using Sandy and South West Pilsey. Ah the joys of Sandy to starboard in a South Westerly... Tim Dickenson led all the way round with Nick’s Peters and Rawlings pressing hard. Nick R nearly got thru to second at the last leeward but managed to step on a bit of non slip he hasn’t got... ending up in a pile in the bottom of the boat. Dohh!! So that left Nick Peters leading with 6 points but Nick R and Paul Lewis could still each win if race 4 panned out well. However Tim D again led at Sandy so it was all about second. Paul did his best to even things out with a tea bag jobbie in the lee of the club house but managed to scramble back in without losing his second place. The horrendous forecast was now happening and Tim P wisely took his race while he still had it so the weekend finished on a shorten course with Tim D , Paul and Nick R in that order. That meant Nick Peters won the Autumn Trophy with Paul Lewis second and Nick Rawlings in third heading off to the caravan for some new sailing boots...

Another third place, so another report… I must get out of this third place habit. It was a breezy forecast, with the forecast wind set to increase to 20 knots, but this did not deter seven solos from making their way out to the start near to Channel. The first leg was a beat to Sandy, which was to be rounded to port. With the tide fairly slack, it was a case of taking the shifts and gusts. Nick Rawlings started well to gain an early lead, and led round Sandy, followed by Andrew Voysey, David Moseley, Alex Butler, Matt Coleman, Robin Gadd and JP Snelling. A gust blew David over on the fast reach to Gardner, causing him to lose several places. There were no spills on the gybe, so everyone proceeded onto the downwind to the inflatable below the start. Positions remained the same on the second lap which was a sausage from Sandy to the inflatable. The wind was gradually increasing, so by the start of the second race, it was now blowing 20 knots. With the tide now ebbing, this made the long beat to Sandy very bumpy with short, sharp chop. Matt got the perfect port flyer, and led for the first half of the beat. Nick worked his way into the lead and led round Sandy, followed by Matt, Alex, JP and Robin. On the reach to Gardner, however, the fleet was presented with an unbroken line of Aeros all on Starboard beating to their windward mark. Nick and Matt managed to slip round Gardner relatively unimpeded, but those behind struggled to find a way through. I faced a choice of having to head up, messing the Aero and myself up in the process, or T-boning it. Given how thin the hull of the Aero is, I chose the former. JP and Robin had similar trouble. I was managing to regain some of the ground lost to Matt down the run, so there were sighs of despair in my heart when the S flag was raised after one lap. However, these were replaced with cheers of joy as Matt took a swim round the leeward mark. Therefore the finishing order was Nick with another first, Alex, Matt, Robin and JP.

The forecast looked a bit ominous for Saturday afternoon’s race, with the wind set to increase as the afternoon went on to above 20 knots. However, this did not deter seven solos from racing. The start was from the club line going towards SW Pilsey. The wind was NW, so it was a close reach to SWP. Most boats started under the club box, but I decided to be radical and start near to NW Winner to get a lee bow in the Chichester Channel up to the mark. I watched an RS 200 do this successfully, so thought I would give it a bash myself, but the wind had shifted slightly…and to cut a long story short, it did not work. Nick Rawlings led around SWP, followed by Chris Powles and Neil Davison. I rounded fourth, closely followed by Sandy Briggs. Then off to Dunes, where the tactic was to stay on the north side of the channel, and gybe late into Dunes. I managed to gain some ground this way. Neil rounded Dunes first, followed by Nick and Chris (I think). The best thing to do was to tack straight away to get a lee bow on the ebbing tide. At SWP, Nick rounded first, Alex rounded second, with Chris and Neil rounding at the same time with a bit of shouting. It was then a long slog up to Channel on a close reach. We rounded Channel in the same order. On the broad reach back to Freddie Brooks, Neil managed to get past Alex and Chris to take second. We rounded Freddie Brooks and Dunes in the same order. Having rounded Dunes, the wind swung to the West and picked up in strength to gusting over twenty knots. The promised wind had arrived. Chris lost out as he tacked early and was on the wrong side of the shift. The race was shortened as we took SWP to starboard with Nick taking the win, followed by Neil in second, Alex in third and Chris in fourth.

Driving down the A3 in low visibility pouring rain I was tempted to go home. However as I approached Hayling Island the sky cleared and sun began shine. The racing was in the Harbour with a beat against the tide from an inflatable near Johns Folley up to SW Pilsey. The wind was from the West steadily blowing 15 knots with gusts of 19. The conditions were great with plenty of sunshine and warm weather. 8 Solos raced. Much of the racing was close with hard hiking upwind and fast reaching downwind. Places changed regularly, especially between Sarah, Chris, Neil and me. The defining moment came on the second run where Alec secured a lead. The rest of the fleet bunched at the leeward mark resulting in some confusion and many calls for water and room. I was lucky to have secured the inside overlap enabling me to make up a few places and finish third. Overall results were Alec in first with Nic in second. J-P

Sunday dawned with very different conditions from Saturday, with a decent breeze that was forecast to increase. David Moseley was race officer, and he clearly thought that after Saturday’s drifter we all needed a workout. The course was set starting on the club line, heading to SW Pilsey, then a lovely broad reach to East Head and Thorney, both of which provided some entertaining gybes. Then a long upwind slog to Dunes against the flooding tide. At this point, when the finish line seemed so close, it was instead a long run to Astra and another long beat to Dunes, round Gardner and a beat to Sandy and the Finish. The first race started cleanly, with no dramas on the gybe at SWP. On the run to East Head all boats were level, but it was J-P Snelling who managed to break the deadlock to start to pull out a considerable lead. Unfortunately he then mistook East Head Spit for East Head, causing him to lose most of his lead. At East Head, J-P rounded first, with David Steel second and Alex Butler third. It was then a fast reach to Thorney. Upon reaching Thorney, it was then a white knuckle gybe round the mark onto a beat. This caused a few casualties. On the beat, Nick Rawlings eased through into first, with Greg Swift making it to second and Alex Butler remaining in third. This was the finishing order, with David close behind in fourth. By the end of the first race the wind was now gusting close to 25 knots, yet, given the brutality of the opening race, a surprisingly large number of sailors were hungry for more. The second race started with two boats over. Robin Gadd immediately returned to start correctly and was soon hot on the heels of the pack. Greg took a bit longer to decide to return meaning that the fleet was at SW Pilsey by the time he had started properly. At the front Graham Hughes had gained the lead, with Alex Butler in second and a fight for third. However, at East Head Graham capsized on the gybe, allowing Alex to take the lead and Robin to gain second. On the beat Nick yet again came through to the lead, with Alex in second and Greg making an excellent come back to get to third. On the next beat from Astra to Dunes, Nick held his lead, with Alex maintaining second, but Greg continued his comeback to round Dunes not far behind Alex. This was the finishing order, with Robin fourth, Neil Davison fifth and Graham sixth. Thanks to David Moseley for an excellent weekend’s racing. Next weekend I am race officer both days. Like David, I am an ARO short on Sunday, so if anyone would like to help that would be greatly appreciated.

The racing was in the Harbour. The wind was from South gently reducing from 7 knots (as we reached the start line) to a patchy 2 knots when we finished the second race. The weather was hot and sunny. Nineteen Solos raced. Chris Powles and Matt Coleman each won a race. The racing became slow as the wind dropped. The first start was a general recall after which the committee boat struggled to get its anchor to hold resulting in a further delay. Once the committee had successfully “bedded in” the racing started. Overall results were Chris Powles in first with Neil Davidson in second.

The racing was in Hayling Bay East. The wind was from the South South West building from 9 knots in the first race to a solid 15 gusting 19 knots in the second race. The weather was warm and sunny. As the wind built up the chop at the windward mark became challenging as the wind was against the tide. Fifteen Solos raced. Nick Fuller and Neil Davidson were first and second in both races with Chris Powles, Greg Swift, David Steel and I alternated in third fourth and fifth. The second race had the added “thrill” of a final reach over the shallows off East Head through white water where the falling tide had left little depth (several centre boards and rudders “left their mark”).

The hottest day of the year and just enough of a sea breeze meant that racing started on time. With the start just before low water space was limited and the start was over Pilsey with a beat to Calvert back to SW Pilsey a reach to Gardner back to an inflatable just North of the gate a beat to Sandy and then back to inflatable and finish. There were only ten Solos at the start which was problay just as well considering the length of the start line and everyone got clean away in a light Southerly. Bill Ingram found the best way through the shifts and rounded Calvert first followed by Matt Coleman and myself. Bill went out of the tide on the run to SW Pilsey but by this time the tide had already changed mid channel and Matt was first round SW Pilsey followed by myself with Bill close behind. So it continued until the last run when Bill managed to get an overlap at the last inflatable and so finished second. For the second race the leg to Calvert was against the tide. Everyone went over to the winner. Everyone that is except Phil Mileham who went right and picked up the eddy around the club beach and got to Calvert well ahead. Unfortunately the fairy tale did end when he was caught by Matt and Tim but he still finished a very creditable third. Well done to Matt for two bullets and tp Phil for showing us all the right way to go.

The conditions were gentle and the weather fantastic. The wind was from the South West at 6 to 8 knots. Low tide was at about 2:00pm. The course was laid in the limited space available with a beat into the tide. I was late getting to the Club. After parking as physically far away from the clubhouse as possible I was further delayed and had to rush to rig my boat. I reached and rounded the committee boat on the start gun. Nine Solos raced. As Andrew and Neil battled for first and second, I approached the first mark on port, just managing to complete my tack ahead of Barry and rounded in third place. I later slipped to back into fourth place however managed to get back into third place on the run which position I was able to hold up to the finish. The race was won by Andrew with Neil taking second. A longer race would have been more fun however it was a great afternoon to be on the water.

We had 13 boats out in the bay on Saturday. Launching in a fresh Force 4 which was forecast to drop and an ebb tide. Ian Swann was our race officer and he set up just beyond the Bar Beacon. After a short delay race one was on. And off again immediately as our enthusiasm got the better of us and off went the third hoot. So the second attempt was more successful. A big lefty just before the gun so we all tacked. Nick Peters led Nick Bonner and they sailed off to finish in that order. Nick R got thru to third before an altercation with the other leeward mark and a Wayfarer sent him back down leaving Tim Dickinson to take third. Race 2 featured another General Recall and again we got away on second attempt. This time it was a big righty; It did not look good down at the pin end for a while, but then it swung all the way back again. I’d made my out to right and rounded last ; just behind Nick Bonner... Matt Coleman got it right to lead and sailed off to win the race. Nick Bonner nailed the second beat to pull up to third. I had made a bit of progress but the final shift put me back to last again. Tim Dickinson took second with Nick Bonner third. I narrowly avoided last place ... On Sunday the wind was lighter and colder and we raced in the harbour. We were over in the east; it was quite busy there. Race 3 was led by Nick Bonner who held off Alec Butler to take second . I was having a better day getting past Tim into third. Last race and the ebb was growing. Only option seemed to be starboard end start and tack for the shallows.... however it was not going to be that simple. Alec Butler came in from the right to lead comfortably from Nick Bonner, I was in third and held off Robin Gadd and David Steele to the gybe mark. Then the three leaders got a private puff and sailed away. All over , not a bit of it. On the next beat Alec sailed out of the tide , and the wind and dropped to third before tacking out to the other side. He looked dead in the water ... until the thermals started playing games and he steamed back into the lead. Nick Bonner was comfortable in second but I had to struggle to hold on to my third when the Chichester Harbour Observation Boat pinned me out to the left.. JP rounded just behind me as we floated down to the lee mark in no wind. However it was Tim Dickinson who came through the fleet and rounded on my transom. As it was now a fetch to the line there where no chances for place changing .... Except that Alec again sailed out of the wind and had to tack to the finish line to take the win by a short head from Nick Bonner. So Nick Bonner won the weekend from Tim, both getting all their results in the top 4. I was third and JP was fourth. Which looked fairly improbable when we were dicing for last place in race 2.

A very similar day on Sunday saw 15 boats doing the first race. This time it was Alec Powell who led all the way round with Alex second and Nick R again in 3rd sealing the report writing position. 12 boats stayed out for the second race. This time it was Andrew Voysey in pole position for laps 1 and 2. The race team moved the windward mark for lap 3, correctly signalling with Flag ‘C’ , a green flag and lots of hooting. Sadly Andrew mistook the hoots for a shorten course and sailed home leaving Alex to take another win. Alec was second and Greg Swift picked up the 3rd.

We had 14 boats out on Saturday , pleasant Force 2 , not a cloud in the sky. Leo Dixon led all the way round the relatively short race, until the final 100 metres. A bit of confusion about whether the black inflatable was port or starboard... That left Alex Butler to take the win followed by Alec Powell, Nick R and the unfortunate Leo in 4th. First 4 boats finishing in 4 seconds...

While Saturday was too extreme even for Nick Sunday was much better though not the balmy 12-14 Knts I had promised and the Easterly wind had a distinct edge to it. Still the sun was shining so the force 5 looked manageable for a first sail of the year. There was a bit of controversy as to whether it was one or two races but it was decided as two. Chris P set a triangle over Pilsey with 3 rounds and with only six boats there was plenty of room at the start. The winning line was to tack onto Port as soon as possible and get into the last of the flood tide which made the first leg quite one sided. Robin and Nick sussed this out but muggins kept going on Starboard trying to remember how to tack the boat without stuffing it head to wind or falling in. Consequently I comfortably over stood the first mark as did Greg. By this time Nick was well away followed by Robin and Alex. At the wing mark I went for a rather lengthy swim being reminded of just how slippery a centreboard can be so did not see much of the rest of the race. Nick won followed by Robin Alex and Greg in that order. JP had a breakage at the gooseneck so retired so I was a comfortably 5th just beating the last Fireball. In the second race Nick won followed by Alex. Robin and Greg both went for a swim I went for a shower. Many thanks to Chris Trevor and team for a bracing sail

No racing today - too much wind

Many were surprised that the event was held with the wind blowing hard and more to come forecasted. 5 Solos went out to brave the conditions with a few from other fleets. The 30 knots gusts sorted things out and the only Solos left sanding were Jerome Bakker and Nick Rawlings. Jerome was best solo throughout. This was a rude awakening to the season. Our two stalwarts were shaken but not stirred although they could barely walk back down the causeway to their cars for the journey home.

Despite the awfully weather a great team turned up to tackle the jobs that needed to be done before we could launch down the beach. The west track had the chains straightened and secured before the black gridding was relayed and fixed to the chains. Substantial civil engineering skills were applied to the matting where it was subsiding and restored to near motorway standards. The east track is beginning to come overwhelmed by the new dunes that have rapidly increased on the beach this winter. Marine Mitch responded to our request for help and shunted the edge of the dune and then brought up seven sleepers. Our team then went into action to lay these as the start of a sleeper wall which will hopefully slow down the build up. Meanwhile another team was working at the east track entrance clearing the tracks so that the staff can move in with plant to remove all the accumulated sand. Despite being soaked in the rain and frozen to death in the howling wind, the team all managed to survive and scatter home to recover.