It was a good weekend at Horning Sailing Club, with several events taking place. Saturday saw both the success of the Club’s junior team coming second in the Broadland Youth Regatta at Waveney & Oulton Broad Yacht Club, and the start of the Yare & Bure Open Weekend, which continued into Sunday and made a welcome return to Hoveton Little Broad, seeing thirteen Yare & Bures taking part, including six visitors. Thankfully the weed problem which had prevented the Club using the Broad for racing this Summer had abated, however, a new challenge was the light South Easterly wind, which caused problems for both the Race Officer and competitors alike, with the race team having no choice but to set the windward legs across the narrow width of the Broad on both days – the first windward mark proving particularly challenging.
Chris Bunn sailing Fox won both races on the Saturday afternoon and a further win on the Sunday meant that his dominance of this event, since its inception 20 years ago, continues. However, a second and third place for Toby Pearce (who only sailed the Saturday) and a second and then a win on the Sunday for Will Pank (both under 20 years of age) indicates the next generation of talented sailors exists within the fleet which can only be good for the Class as Chris duly acknowledged in his acceptance speech.
The other race winner was Ben Knights. Second overall was the remarkably consistent Marty Thompson who recorded three seconds and a third. Ron Jackson was the highest placed local boat with four top five finishes.
Meanwhile club racing continued on the river Sunday, with the changeable winds also proving challenging and, in the first race, across most fleets the lead positions completely changed from the first buoy to the completion of the first lap. In the Rebels, Kevin Edwards (Rebel Maid) made it two wins in the morning, with Kim West (Rebel Queen) second and Andy Barnham (Rebel H) third. The afternoon race saw the closest finishers of the day, with two boats taking penalties, meaning that Rebel Queen was first, Rebel H second, and Rebel Maid third. Amongst the Yeomans, Toby Fields (Tanskey) was first, with Bernie Westgate (Misty Morning) second, and Caroline Johnson (Cornelian) third. The second race saw Geoff Stubbs (Tara) win, with Tanskey second, a pattern which was repeated for the third race. The dinghies caused some confusion for the race team, with the young sailors all swapping boats (and classes of boats) to try something different, with Tallulah Burr winning in her newly acquired Laser, and Chris Bolton (Enterprise) second, just one second behind on handicap. Third was Anya Gittins sailing a Splash. The second race saw Chris and Tallulah swap positions, with Harrison Ryder third. The afternoon series saw Chris take another two wins, with the remainder of the young sailors continuing to sail well – with a special well done to Julian Mander sailing a Splash for the first time and loving every second.
Next Saturday sees the Club’s annual Junior Regatta take place, followed by their Bart’s Bash race, with Club racing returning to Hoveton Little Broad on Sunday.
