Broadland Squib Regatta at Waveney & Oulton Broad Yacht Club

Broadland Squib Regatta at Waveney & Oulton Broad © Tim Horne

A record entry of 24 boats from as far afield as Weymouth and Abersoch arrived at Oulton Broad for the Broadland Squib Regatta which was also the first qualifying event for the class Travellers' Trophy.

Those who arrived early were able to join in a "friendly" river race on the Friday, starting at Oulton Broad and finishing at the Waveney Inn at Burgh St Peter for lunch. For most of the visitors this was their first experience of sailing on the Broadland rivers and the winners were Simon Marfleet and Stef Oosthuysen in Firebird (50), closely followed by early leaders Jane Mackay and Dave Best in Crossfire (797).

As is customary with this event, the fleet was divided into flights on Saturday, each flight sailing against each other once during the course of the three races.

Broadland Squib Regatta at Waveney & Oulton Broad - photo © Tim Horne

The first race started on time at 1130 in a force 2 westerly breeze only for a gentle south-easterly sea breeze to arrive on the first beat. Race Officer Owen Delany wisely abandoned to allow the sea breeze to settle and this then held out for the rest of the day.

After three hard fought series of races, the first day leaders were Jono Brown and Chris Dunn in Squiggle (142), followed closely by Dave Best and Steve Allso in Crossfire and Micky Wright and Alex Porteous in Spoof (811). The winners for the previous three years, Nigel and Jack Grogan, were lying in an uncharacteristic ninth place.

On Sunday the fleet was divided into Gold and Silver Fleets, each sailing a further two races which would be combined with their overall position from the first day to decide the overall points.

Pretty close racing in the Broadland Squib Regatta at Waveney & Oulton Broad - photo © Tim Horne

There was now a force 4 to 5 north-easterly breeze, with many shifts and an imaginative course that utilised all of the extremities of the Broad!

In the first race for the Gold Fleet, Brown and Dunn established an early lead but their event came to an early end when, on the second beat, they collided with Crossfire, resulting in a broken mast for Best and Allso and both boats retiring from the event.

Robert Coyle and Mark Rawlinsky in Humphrey (823) won the race from the Grogans and locals Richard Smith and Andrea Prime in Flame (802). The final Gold Fleet race was won convincingly by Malcolm Hutchings and Roly Wilson sailing Lady Penelope (819) but Coyle and Rawinsky finished in second place to win the Regatta, having sailed extremely consistently all weekend. Wright and Porteous finished second overall and the Grogans, having recovered well from their first day, finished third.

Robert Coyle and Mark Rawinsky win the Broadland Squib Regatta at Waveney & Oulton Broad - photo © Tim Horne

The Silver Fleet was won convincingly by Marfleet and Oosthuysen, followed by Iain Jones and Celia Rushton in Aldebaran (153), who had travelled all the way from Weymouth for the event. Third were Jason Phelps and Nick Peel from Burnham, sailing Magic Roundabout (736).

By all accounts this was the best Broadland Squib Regatta yet and bodes well for another successful season for the Squib Class, which last year celebrated its 50th Anniversary in fine style with 100 boats at the Nationals during Cowes Week.

The class now moves on to the Gold Cup at Burnham over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend and the East Coast Championships at Levington over the weekend 11th/12th May.

Gold Fleet Results:

Silver Fleet Results:

Broadland Squib Regatta at Waveney & Oulton Broad - photo © Tim Horne