Horning Sailing Club End of Season Regatta
by Holly Hancock 14 Oct 2018 22:20 PDT
13-14 October 2018
Horning Sailing Club's End of Season Regatta saw a brief summary of the year's sailing conditions, with warm temperatures and breezy conditions on Saturday, followed by a damp overcast day with light winds on Sunday.
Saturday's racing took place for the final time this season on Hoveton Little Broad, and although the 35 knot forecasted winds (thankfully) did not materialise, it did have somewhat of an impact on sailing, with several sailors opting to switch fleets or reef their sails. Despite the blustery conditions, racing was relatively uneventful, save for two Rebels omitting to realise their start had begun during the second race and some close racing, particularly in the mixed fleet of dinghies, which included a Norfolk dinghy, Splash, several Lasers and an Enterprise, where a fiercely battled fight to the start line resulted in several competitors being given no room to cross the line.
Sunday started drier than forecast, making a promising start, but by the second race the rain had set in, and the traditional Horning 'drift' made an appearance. Despite this, the river buzzed with competitors, the day seeing a good turnout of racers, with some even treated to the sight of the elusive bittern giving a fly past close to the Broad entrance. After six races, best performing helm over the weekend on handicap was Andrew Gallant's Yeoman Tiger Moth, followed by Roger Hannant's Yeoman Firefly. Third was Edward Wildman in his Laser.
Amongst the fleets, results were more split. In the 6 strong YBODs, Dominic Copping took two wins, whilst Ron Jackson won three races, recovering spectacularly after becoming caught up on a mooring post whilst passing by! Amongst the 7 Yeomans, Andrew Gallant won three races, whilst Roger Hannant, Geoff Stubbs and Kathryn Pettit took another race each. Robert Harris and Peter Goshawk won a race each in the Cruisers, and the Rebel fleet saw four different race winners, these being: Phil Storey (Rebel Rascal), Kim West (Rebel), Alex Humphries (Lucky Rebel) and Chris Tuckett (Rebel Sailer). In the Reedlings both Robert Hancock and Stuart Bailey won a race each. Allcomers C saw three races won by Edward Wildman, one by Peter Brown sailing a Norfolk Dinghy, and one by James Galloway in his Laser. Similarly, in the Allcomers C fleet three races were won by James Street, with one each also won by Gus White and Hamish Harmer, all sailing Toppers.
The Ladies Trophy was won by Kathryn Pettit also sailing Tiger Moth, whilst the Novice Cup was won by her brother James, sailing a Yeoman.