Streaker Open at Waveney & Oulton Broad Yacht Club

15 boats, including 7 from the host club, contested the Streaker open meeting at Waveney & Oulton Broad Yacht Club in Suffolk on Saturday June 17th. The breeze was a force 2-3 easterly and conditions were pleasantly warm and sunny.

The start of Race 1 saw a few boats over the line too early but all concerned restarted correctly and then had the job of chasing the fleet.

Streakers at Waveney & Oulton Broad - photo © Karen Langston

At the first mark the leading group consisted of Simon Cory, Mark Langston, Jon Blankley and Kyle Beamish but Veronica Falat had recovered well from her re-start and rounded a few boat lengths behind, with Ian Bradley in close attendance. On the run it paid to go low and Veronica and Ian made some gains here and by the end of the first lap they were fighting Simon for the lead. There then followed, on every windward leg, a real tacking battle between these three, with each of them taking turns to be in front, until finally it was Ian who crossed the finish line in first place.

The breeze was quite shifty and at the start of Race 2 it backed enough to allow Veronica to tack at the pin end and cross the fleet on port and from then on, she held a lead which, while never completely safe, was enough to give her the win, with Adam Yorkston 2nd and Ian beating Simon for 3rd place.

Streakers at Waveney & Oulton Broad - photo © Karen Langston

Race 3 followed the lunch break and it was Veronica and Simon who managed to pull ahead on the first beat. Adam was over the line at the start (again!) and Ian was out of synch with the wind-shifts early on, so the leading two could relax a little. Veronica again finished first with Simon 2nd, Ian 3rd and Adam 4th. This meant that Veronica was the overall winner with Ian runner-up and Simon in third place. It was also impressive to see how well Adam was doing, considering he had been over the line in races 1 and 3, but he recovered quickly each time and, with a 2nd place in race 2, he took 4th place overall.

There was good competitive racing throughout the fleet and it was pleasing to see that everyone completed all three races, enjoying the conditions.

Streakers at Waveney & Oulton Broad - photo © Karen Langston

This event counts towards both the North Sails Southern Paddle series and the East Anglian series. The next Southern Paddle event will be at Staunton Harold on July 15th.

Overall Results: