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A bad start didn't mean a bad finishing position at Dell Quay SC on Saturday. Competitors in the first of the Autumn mini-series races were faced with a frustratingly fickle breeze and those who got away well at the start found that it had little effect on their finishing position.
On a course stretching down to Birdham mark, with beats, reaches and a run back to the club, there was plenty of opportunity to catch up. That is exactly what Simon and Linda Bell (RS 200) and Bill Dawber (Solo), who had been slow off the starting line, did.
The Bells finished second on the water, five minutes behind the RS 400 of Bob Marshall and Mike Savage and just seconds ahead of the Iso of Roger Francis and Ranjit Verghese after 90 minutes racing. Dawber was fourth to cross the line, a further four minutes behind - but with the Solo's higher handicap he emerged a very comfortable winner when the results were calculated.
The Bells were second, and two more Solos, sailed by Chris Turner and Bill Munnery, were third and fourth, while the low-handicap RS400 and Iso dropped back, the former to fifth place and the Iso to eighth.
Sunday would have seen the continuation of the mini series but with Thorney Island recording gusts of over 45 mph, racing was cancelled. The series will be completed with two more races next Saturday, while next Sunday will see the completion of the main sailing season racing programme with the final two races in the calendar, the Noyce Memorial Trophy for helms who have won a race this year for which there are twenty three potential entries and the Herbert Ward Trophy for those who have not won a race this year. The Frostbite series will start on 21st November and the club welcomes visitors to this event, for which there is no entry fee. |