A beautiful day with blue skies and a fair breeze greeted competitors who braved the icy roads to take part in the the ninth race in the Snowflake series on the 30 December.

The hazardous road conditions, or an excess of Christmas pudding, resulted in a reduction in numbers but, even so, the hardy souls in 57 boats donned their woollies and were rewarded by a very enjoyable sail. Race Officer Colin Smith set an ‘M’ shaped course taking the fleets across the tide and back several times. This and the somewhat variable wind gave everyone plenty to think about and to blame when things did not work out!

As usual, there was very close racing between the Merlins in the Fast fleet with Alan Warren and Liam Dempsey just staying in front of Paul Davies and Liese Ward. Judith Massey and Phil Dalby had a good race to come in fourth, while the Javelin of Brian and David Earl were the first non-Merlin, finishing in seventh place.

In the medium fleet, the two RS200s of Paul and Caroline Fisk and Andy and Edward Fitzgerald disappeared into the distance and had a close fought race on their own, the Fisks just getting the better of the duel by a mere eleven seconds. Behind them, David and Josie Greening in a National 12, Nick and Biddy Colbourne in a GP14 and Steve Lee in a Laser battled it out for the minor places, eventually finishing in that order. Although Tessa Cooper in her Topper crossed the line with a considerable lead, when the handicaps were worked out, it was the Mirror of Anna Perkins and Jane Cooper which was the victor in the Slow fleet. There was also close racing between the Toppers of Alex Marshall, Dizzy Davies and Richard Clare but, again, they were beaten on handicap by Graham and Jeremy Williamson in their Mirror.

Overall Results after 9 races

Fast Handicap

1. William Warren and Rachel Cooper Merlin Shoreham SC 12 pts

2. Alan Warren and Liam Dempsey Merlin Shoreham SC 16pts

3. Philip and Christina Kaye Merlin Bowmoor SC 17 pts

4. G.Truswell and T. Blake Merlin Beaver SC 17pts

Medium Handicap

1. Geoff Camm and Amelia Hall N12 Pevensey Bay 6pts

2. David and Josie Greening N12 Salcombe YC 13 pts

3. Steve Lee Laser RYA 13 pts

4. Ron and Julie James Albacore Royal Forth YC 22 pts

Slow handicap

1. Will Kerr Topper ChichesterYC 11 pts

2. Tessa Cooper Topper Lancing SC 12 pts

3. Anna Perkins and Jane Turner Mirror Bosham SC 14 pts

4. Natasha Meik Topper Lancing SC 23 pts