Sunday was a clear warm day with a light breeze from the south east, encouraging 21 visiting boats to turn up from clubs across the south for the Chichester Merlin Rocket Open meeting. This was part of the Craftinsure Silver Tiller series.
The breeze had come up to about 8 – 10 knots by the start time of 10.30, with the spring tide flooding strongly. It was a very tactical first race to take advantage of wind shifts and varying tidal currents. Richard Whitworth & Alice Kingsworth from Parkstone won, from Tom Lonsdale & Alice Markham (UTSC) in 2nd, and David Hayes & Jonny Ratcliffe (HISC) in 3rd.
The second race saw a little more breeze, Hayes & Ratcliffe improving to take 1st place, Neal Jones & Dave Bosnia (HISC) 2nd, and Dan Allsop & William Carroll (Lyme Regis) 3rd.
Allsop & Carroll won the 3rd race, taking 2nd overall. Whitworth & Kingsworth came in 2nd, but gained 1st place overall to claim the trophy. Mike Calvert & Ian Garwood (Axe SC) finished 3rd, but dropped to 4th overall behind Hayes & Ratcliffe.
CYC's spring season gets under way next weekend with the First Breath series. The club is also holding an Open Day on Saturday 5th April, when visitors will be shown around the club, and can apply for membership to take advantage of special spring offers.
