Seafly Open at Blakeney Sailing Club
by George Harcourt 16 Sep 19:15 HKT
13-14 September 2025
At this time of year I am reminded of Stanley Holloway's famous monologue, "Albert and the Lion" which tells of a family visit to Blackpool seaside in which Albert is swallowed whole by a lion in the zoo... I'm sure some of you will recall it. Goes something like:
"There's a seaside place called Blakeney, famous for tides and the sea,
Where Messrs Clarridge and Sanders came with their Seafly SD.... "
That's what happened this weekend at our Seafly open meeting. Only it wasn't an ordinary open meeting where the visitors come and show the locals how it is done; this weekend's plot has more twists and turns than a Galbraith thriller.
"They didn't think much to the ocean, the waves they was piddling and small
No shipwrecks and nobody drownded, so nothing to gawp at at all"
I think the tide must have been out; the waves at Blakeney (when the tide came in on Saturday morning) were quite good and the breeze the stronger side of fresh. A couple of "shipwrecks" were achieved during the weekend and a drowning narrowly averted. However these were all carried out in the name of our favoured sport and as one of the victims of the "holing" put it, "stuff happens when you race".
Race 1 commenced at 10:30 Saturday morning after a short delay to see if the conditions were sailable. Race Officer Myers deemed that it might be possible, so seven Seaflys (5 local and 2 visitors) launched along with 3 Allcomers to test the conditions. The local weather station showed a South Westerly with a wind speed of 20mph with gusts up to 28mph.
While competitors acclimatised to the conditions, tested gear or simply surfed around, Officer Myers set a long course around the harbour testing all points of sailing and including some (optional?) spinnaker legs.
The start, in a messy confused sea state was successful first time. In the pandemonium of reaching the first mark, allcomers and Seaflys together, your correspondent's "plan B" rigged Solo, late over the start line as usual and following a Laser 4.7 both on port tack to keep out of the way, encountered errant Seafly 652 on starboard, resulting in a hole in 652 and a bloody nose for the Solo.
It is worth pointing out that 652, a CM Marine Seafly, renovated last year was sailed by Simon and Steve, Blakeney's up and coming (young) talent in the class with some good form this year. Had the Solo helm been bribed by the visitors? Family members? No, it was an unfortunate accident!
My view of the rest of the race was confined to shore watch through binoculars. Suffice it to say it was a case of "who dares wins" as John and Pete in 704 took bullets in both races by a decent margin. Racing went on for a good while, well, until the water ran out or slightly after. Officer Myers claimed all competitors were still smiling as they completed the penultimate lap, so he did not shorten.
Andrew and Amy in 705 had sailed together a few times before and had "seemed" to get along. Punishing conditions like these test any partnership though! Andrew has had a habit of falling or jumping (or was he pushed by the crew?) out of the dinghy while sailing and this happened again on Saturday. Post race interviews discovered nothing sinister and no motive. Andrew managed to get back into the boat (with assistance?) and did not capsize so no foul play. It did however result in a retirement and a broken tiller extension. Sailing up Blakeney creek with little water and no tiller extension in Southerly was an achievement in itself and might have justified his third place in the series. At least the wind had moderated by then!
At the end of the first day's racing it was still all to play for. John and Pete in 704 were seemingly in control, but close behind were Hugh and Angela in 653, with a second and third, visitors Robert and Norman in 198 with a fourth and a second, Marcus and Jacob in 703 with a fifth and a fourth, not forgetting Andrew and Amy with a third.
With aching limbs and well tested boats an afternoon's recovery was much needed. An evening meal in a local hostelry was a welcome distraction, though some helms were seen to be giving their crews glances of distain at the consumption of copious pies and pints as the wind forecast for Sunday was now showing a more moderate breeze. Unlike Saturday's racing, less weight might just be an advantage.
Simon and Alan in Zipidee, 620 had a fun morning's racing. However while the rest of Seafly fleet were enjoying a social gathering, Alan was unusually absent. It transpired that Simon was helming his motorcar to the A&E with Alan on-board due to a medical emergency. Such is the depth of connection between helm and crew in this class!
Sunday dawned sunny with a light breeze. With a later start time, there was an opportunity for fine tuning the trusty Seaflys for the ensuing racing. Excess weight and clothing was removed; unwanted soggy chinagraph pencils disposed of, shackles taped, holes in spinnakers taped up and even a repair to a centreboard gasket attempted in an effort to gain seconds on the course.
Six Seaflys and four allcomers launched late morning for am 11:15 start at Lapwing. Patsy, seconded into the Seafly fleet from her Laser 4.7 crewed for Simon in Zipidee. Could it have been on condition that they didn't use that third sail? Maybe the jib of a Seafly is a similar size to the 4.7 rig? What did he have to pay?
Much flatter water greeted the competitors along with a breeze from the South West, 12mph gusting to 15mph at times. Officer Myers set some interesting courses around the harbour, (disguising the final two marks on the second line of the number boards). With the wind tending to veer to the South spinnaker legs were more of a challenge to fit in as the harbour runs roughly East-West.
Your correspondent, sailing in the Solo with a nice P2 and taped up prow (determined to make the most of the summers last) observed the Seafly fleet from a safe but increasing distance as battle commenced. After a clean start in race 3 the usual chaos reigned at the first mark resulting in some shouting, turns and another collision, this time between Andrew (705 Marsh Mellow) and Robert (198 Firebird) This no doubt increased the heart rate and adrenaline levels of the competitors, not always a good thing given the age profile. Good business for boat builders though.
Hugh and Angela in 653 appeared at the front of the fleet more frequently than others. With the shifty breeze a new command phrase entered the helm/crew sailing vocabulary: On a marginal spinnaker reach, Hugh was heard to say "Its got to be done" while simultaneously pulling up the kite. Angela had no option but to trim it in. Hugh puts this down to a summer of sailing an RS200 with an asymmetric which will work well on the marginal reaches. This tactic probably won them the race! John and Pete in 704 were second, Andrew and Amy third in 705.
With the tide ebbing now, the vintage Seaflys were still in with a chance of a series win. Race 4 with a mostly Southerly breeze now had a clean start. Perhaps the red mist had descended, perhaps it was the weight that had been removed from 653, Kittiwake, or that the bottom had been cleaned and polished in the spring, or was it the tactical assistance of Andrew and Amy in 705, now gelled as a team and working together like never before? Nothing was going to stop Hugh and Angela in Kitiwake from taking that win (or Andrew from breaking another tiller extension!)
What a weekend! Officer Myers and statistician Big Dave had a hurried meeting in the club hut to resolve the result as two teams were tied on 4 points after discard, Hugh and Angela (653) and John and Pete (704). The usual solution is apparently called "countback" and means that the boat wining the final race wins the series.
Huge thanks to race officers for organising, PB helms and crews for standing by whatever. What a relief that the conditions were sailable, and great that both vintage and modern Seaflys can compete in these quite testing conditions. It is a tribute to John Claridge and Pete Sanders that they have kept this class alive and (usually!) take the honours in any class sailing contest.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Boat Name | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 653 | Kittiwake | Hugh Jones | Angela Harcourt | Blakeney S.C. | 2 | ‑3 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2nd | 704 | | John Claridge | Pete Sanders | Lymington Y. C. | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑3 | 4 |
| 3rd | 705 | Smokey | Andrew Bassett | Amy Howes | Blakeney S.C. | 3 | (RET) | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| 4th | 198 | Firebird | Robert Odling | Norman Odling | H.S.C | 4 | 2 | ‑6 | 5 | 11 |
| 5th | 703 | Marshmellow | Marcus Burley | Jacob Burley | Blakeney S.C. | ‑5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 |
| 6th | 620 | Zipidee | Simon Hibberd | Alan Collett/ Patsy | Blakeney S.C. | (RET) | 5 | 5 | 6 | 16 |
| 7th | 652 | Summer Breeze | Simon Stewart | Steve Pailing | Blakeney S.C. | (RET) | DNS | DNC | DNC | 24 |