Start area for the Series B competitors, Race Week 2016. Photo: Liz Sagues

Early online entries for Chichester Harbour Race Week 2017 (August 21-25) already demonstrate the appeal of the event to a wide range of dinghy sailors.

Almost half of those singed up are under-18s, helming in the RS Feva and Laser Radial class fleets and crewing in RS 200s and Fevas, and in several cases their parents are racing, too. Other dinghies on the entry list include the ever-popular Finn and a much more recently designed single-hander, the Devoti Zero, whose sailors for the second year running have a start of their own with similar-rated RS Aero 9s.

Entrants so far come both from clubs within the harbour and others further afield – Rock in Cornwall and Gurnard on the Isle of Wight.
Each day some 20 separate starts are planned, with class events including RS400, Solo, Laser and XOD, plus for youngsters RS Tera Sport and Optimist. Handicap fleets cover additional conventional and asymmetric dinghies. Four separate courses will be set in the broad expanse of water close to the harbour entrance.
In 2016 402 boats and 625 individuals competed. For 2017 an entry limit has been set at 425 boats.
Hayling Island SC, with its great facilities for sailors and their families and friends, hosts the event, which is run by volunteers from all the clubs forming the Chichester Harbour Federation.
Early-bird on-ine entry, with substantial discounts over later fees, continues until June 30, and classes currently in the handicap groupings that muster at least ten full-week entries by the end of July can ask for the own start.
See http://chichesterharbourraceweek.sailevent.net for the NOR, programme and lots more information.

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