Chichester Yacht Club Magazine February 2020 | Page 7

Dinghy Section
by Rear Commodore Dinghies Alastair Jenkin
The first racing of 2020 has been held with the first two races of the
Snowflake Open Meeting kicking off in 20-30 knot winds. After
careful consideration by the Race Officer, Phil Allen, a ‘P’ shaped
course was set, with a long beat towards Birdham, followed by a fast
reach across to Monkey at which a tricky gybe led to capsizes for
many of the crews in the gusty wind. The course then took them back
to the centre of the lake, gybing again with a run down to the final
turning mark near the marina.
There was some very close, fast racing for the leading groups in the
fast and medium handicaps with only seconds separating then in both
races. In the fast fleet, seven RS400s helped to make up a fleet of 14,
with 17 strong medium fleet and four in the slow fleet. The clouds
cleared part way through the two races to provide a bright, exciting
and eventful first event.
The Mid Week Working Party activity has been active preparing boats
and trolleys for the coming season, cleaning pontoons and laying and
spreading four industrial sacks of coarse shingle onto the launching
grids of East beach, having first completed some reconnections and
levelling.
More Snowflake events, comprising 6 races over 3 Sundays, 26 th Jan,
9 th and 23 rd Feb.
On Saturday 8 th Feb there is a Dinghy Section social evening, at which there will be a brief presentation of plans
for the Waterfront and the pontoons; as well as a brief overview of the Club’s facilities and activities, primarily
geared towards our newer members. A number of games are planned including, if there is interest, a short Dinghy
Section only eSailing demo / regatta.
Not specifically dinghy but worth a mention:
The inaugural eSailing Cup was held with representatives from the Yacht and Dinghy sections, along with some
keen family support. Numbers allowed everyone to have a perfect view, in spite of some teething IT issues.
7