Southern Championship 2002 Bosham SC, 29/30 June

42 Mirrors from 10 different clubs braved the elements in Chichester harbour over the weekend of 29-30th June 2002. The largest contingent came from Poole, with 10 boats, closely followed by Itchenor with 7. Many of the top dogs in the Mirror Fleet were present, making for hotly contested and very exciting racing. The Race Officer (Andrew Francis) favoured a trapezoid course with a long beat from Transit to just south of the Thorney channel entrance, which was much enjoyed by the competitors.

The first race started in light airs, with several of the boats having to do 360s for hitting the end of the start line. Guy and Joe Wilkins in Norbert won this race. The wind got up for the second race, resulting in some capsizes and a win for Steve and Juliet Long in Déjà Vu. The wind rose to a force 5 for race 3, which made for an interesting start and a hard beat against wind and tide. Craig and Mitchell Bond in Passing Wind won this race.

That was the end of Saturday's racing, and most of the sailors retired to the clubhouse for a barbecue, followed by a game of football on quay meadow.

On Sunday morning, the start was postponed for about half an hour, as the committee boat (All Hands) was aground on her mooring. However, this did not matter too much as the delay gave the wind a chance to fill in, making for another exciting day's racing. Guy and Joe Wilkins won race 4, and Steve and Juliet Long were the winners of race 5.

In his acceptance speech, Steve Long thanked all the team for organising such a successful weekend, and made a particular point of thanking all the crews, whose invaluable contribution is often overlooked.

Results:

• 1st 70171 Steve and Juliet Long (Plym YC)
• 2nd 39508 Guy and Joe Wilkins
• 3rd 70154 Craig and Mitchell Bond
• 1st U19 70072 Matt Burge and Josh Rumbol (Poole YC)
• 1st U16 69725 Darren and Natalie Roach (Plymouth Corinthian)
• 1st Female (and 1st Bosham Boat) 70103 Anna Perkins and Jane Turner (Bosham SC).

 Class Association Prizes