Neil Robinson took his third gun to secure the week in his RS700. The Medium Asymmetrics had their closest racing so far, with ISOs, the K6, Laser 4000, and 29er all rounding the marks close together, with his 29er, Jes Smith (HISC) sailing a very impressive race to win on corrected time. Martin Reeve, 1261 led the RS400s for much of the race, but with Tim Weedon 548 taking the gun after a continuous tussle.

However over the course as the wind strength weakened, it pulled back towards the northwest. The foiler Moth 4062 appeared for its first outing, to lap all boats in the Fast Handicap. Mark Woods secured another win in the Fifteens once again ahead of Gill Browning, and Andy Jameson. Mike Dawe secured the Elite Class, with two races to spare, and in the Finn’s Mark Macdonald’s poor start allowed father Graeme’s win to keep the series open.

On Series 2 the racing remains open for many fleets; In the RS 200s, Walker and Miller (Bristol Corinthian) recovered their form to take a second win in a 37 strong fleet. The Lasers have no clear leader with all three race winners to date yet to feature in the top 10. In a similarly sized Radial fleet, Clare Whithill 178347, (Papercourt) leads by 3points. In the Solos the fight appears to be between Hack 4577 and Cooper 4279, after a number were OCS on Monday.

On Series 3, the good sea breeze of the first race died to give way to a flukey nor’wester at the beginning of the second race. Chris O’Neill 17816 (Wembley ) in the Toppers continued his winning form, taking races 4 and 5. In the slow handicap, the Mirrors are dominating, with Mirror 22296 (David Jones, MRSC) winning race 4 and Mirror 49524, Simon and Elise Kings, winning race 5. Nineteen Optimists took to the water, and Harry Bowerman 4946 (HISC) and James Cunnison 4041 (ESC) shared the honours. - Rob MacDonald, Weds 10 Aug

DAY 2 - Breeze for second day of Fed Week 2005
A steady south westerly sea breeze enabled all fleets to start on time with the first classes away at 1330. Series 1 had their start line set across the entrance to The Thorney Channel forcing competitors to decide whether to cross the tide to East Head, or stay on the Thorney shore, to cheat the flooding tide. In reality there was no favoured option, with the leading Finns having a fierce duel between father and son, Graeme and Mark Macdonald, with Mark edging out his father by a second at the finish.

The Flying Fifteens, competitive as ever, enjoyed plenty of place changing. Mark Woods took the gun, just ahead of Mike McIntyre and Roger and Barbara Palmer. The heavier breeze seemed to favour the well sailed ISO, Andrew Gould and Vicki Lewis (Emsworth Slipper) in the Medium Asymmetrics, crossing the line first and finishing 7 minutes ahead on corrected time, with another ISO, Colin Snook and Russell Unsworth (Langstone) in second place. In the Fast Handicap the RS 600s and Canoes were at the front, with RS600, Christian Reynolds (Locks) taking the gun and holding his place on corrected time.

Neil Robinson in the RS700s and Mike Dawe in the Elites continued to dominate their respective fleets, with another strong duel taking place between the leading RS400s, ending with Tim Weeden (Thorney) taking a well deserved win from the Notley brothers, (Mengeham).

However the sea breeze still had a few tricks to play and and remorselessly backed to south as the start sequence for Series 2 progressed. A couple of judicious Answering Pennants and a bit of pin-shifting, enabled all fleets to sent off with a minimum of delay. No doubt the turn of tide in mid-race added tactical opportunities with all but the Laser Radials, Solos and RS Fevas completing a full course.

On Series 3, the Toppers provided a tight race for top spot between Chris O’Neill (Wembley) winning race 2, Chris West (Dell Quay) taking race 3, ahead of Alex Thorsby 42759 (Emsworth Slipper) winner of Monday’s race. The slow handicappers are similarly close, with Pico 6340, sailed by veteran Nigel Pusinelli winning the first race and the Mirror, Simon and Elise Kings, winning both races 2 and 3.

Eighteen Optimists are enjoying competitive racing, with Kieran Wood (Emsworth Slipper) unable to maintain his winning form from race 1, allowing Harry Bowerman (HISC) to take both races 2 and 3. - Rob MacDonald, Tuesday 9 Aug

Chichester Harbour Federation Week 2005

Johnny ‘C’ostard and James Yearsley (HISC) took line honours in their 49er only to finish 6 on corrected time, after a freshening wind favoured other classes behind them. Neil Robinson fought back well to win the RS700s, while David Hitchcock (HISC) sailed an excellent race in his RS K6 to finish first on corrected time in the Medium Asymmetric fleet. Andy Jamieson and James Grant held off a strong challenge from the 15s of Gill Browning and Mark Woods in the Flying Fifteens to enable full birthday celebrations for James. Times are changing in the Olympic Finn Class, where veteran Graeme ‘Grimy’ Macdonald (Mengeham) had to accept second place in favour of his son, Mark. Mike Dawe, Vice Commodore of the host HISC, won a thrilling race in the RS Elite fleet after many place changes around the course.

On Series 2 frustration boiled over with competitors not keeping clear of the start line for early classes, and with two solos being recorded OCS and later one RS Feva, as the ebbing tide strengthened. Many suffered the vagaries of losing the wind rounding Sandy in the lee of the clubhouse, and bringing many classes to the finish together. - Robert Macdonald. Monday 8 Aug