17 sailors competed at Rollesby Broad Sailing Club in their New Year’s Day Open Regatta, a traditional fixture in the Norfolk winter sailing calendar. A gusty westerly wind confronted the dinghies, creating some challenging conditions.
In Race 1, Phil and Henrietta Highfield got out of the blocks best in their RS200, and together with Chris Bunn (Solo) and Chris Foster (Wayfarer), these three boats broke clear of the fleet. Bunn took a comfortable win on handicap and Ellie Edwards (Splash) stayed close enough to take second, Foster finished third just 16 seconds behind Edwards on corrected-time.
Bunn (solo) and Foster (wayfarer) planing away from the mark. – Kevin John Davidson
For Race 2, the marks were adjusted as the wind shifted. Bunn led the way at the windward mark, closely followed by Roger Wilson (Streaker) and Howard Astley-Jones (Vareo). Astley-Jones took line honours but was knocked into second on handicap by Bunn, with Wilson taking third but again all very close on corrected-time.
After some warming up in the club house and a change of course, Race 3 saw Daniel Bull (Laser/ILCA 7) powering ahead up the first beat. By Lap 2 he had been pulled back, and most of the fleet were very close together. Chris Barker (Laser Radial/ILCA 6) took the win in, just seconds ahead of Wilson (Streaker) and closely followed by Edwards (Splash) in third.
Start of the second race – Kevin John Davidson
Thanks were extended to the Race Officers, Safety Team and Catering who enabled a good day of close, competitive racing for all. Chris Bunn was the overall winner, counting two firsts from the morning races. Bunn was also the only visitor and represented Snowflake Sailing Club. Full Regatta Results are available on this link here, plus more photos of the event online on our Flickr Page.
On the 30th of August 2025, Rollesby Broad Sailing Club hosted the 31st Broadland Youth regatta. The event brought together eight sailing clubs across Norfolk and Suffolk, providing the youth sailors with the opportunity to showcase their skills in a day of racing and competing with each other.
For the first time ever, Rollesby Broad hosted the regatta, providing a safe, enclosed, and welcoming environment for the event. The Rollesby Broad Sailing Club has been a hub for sailing for the past 53 years, taking pride in the racing opportunities and competitiveness it offers its members, from grassroots to the present day. By hosting the Broadland Youth Regatta, the club showcased the valuable experience and racing cultivated at Rollesby.
Despite the earlier threat of Hurricane Erin, the day turned out to be filled with uninterrupted sunshine and steady south-westerly winds, creating perfect racing conditions on Rollesby Broad.
Ninety competitors turned out on the day, with a fleet of 80 boats taking to the water in a series of 16 races. As with previous Broadland Youth Regattas, there was a wide range of experience and skill levels of the competitors, varying in age from 7 to 19, with some younger competitors very new to racing and making their “open regatta” debut.
The boats were split into four fleets. Toppers took to the water first, tackling the strong breeze with Oppies and RS Tera chasing them after 5 mins. Once the first two races were complete, it was the lasers’ turn, with the fast fleet at their heels. Taking advantage of their spinnakers the RS Fevas were flying, the brightly coloured sails soaring forward as they ran down the broad towards the clubhouse. Cheers of over 200 spectators greeted the sailors as the bell rang out as each boat crossed the finish line.
As the afternoon progressed, gusts of wind caused chaos on the water, leading to synchronised capsizes involving RS Fevas and Lasers, all met with cheers from the crowd at the clubhouse. Even with death-rolls and capsizes littering the broad, the young sailors’ spirits were high as the day drew to an end.
The Number 6 buoy off of a downwind run posed challenging with the competitors, with the Rollesby Woods shielding the mark, the strong winds dropped as the sailors hardened up towards following buoys and the finish line. Capsizes across the site kept the rescue teams busy, with entanglements with the buoy flags happening more than once.
Another incident occurred at number 6, when the unfortunate crew of a RS Feva fell overboard. Swimming after their boat, a fellow RS Feva team, seeing the accidental swim, rescued the stranded crew, returning them safely to the jetty. This act of sportsmanship led to Rollesby awarding the Feva an award for embodying the spirit of Rollesby Broad Sailing Club, which emphasises supporting one another and fostering a friendly racing atmosphere.
5:30 brought the day to an end with free hotdogs for competitors and the ice cream van providing dessert, the clubs gathered in front of Rollesby clubhouse for thanks to the competitors, volunteers and sponsors prior to the prize-giving.
The inter-club competition for the Centenary Salver was won by Snowflakes Sailing Club, Waveney and Oulton Broad Yacht Club were second, and Horning Sailing Club were third. Hickling Broad Sailing Club came fourth, Norfolk Broads Yacht Club came fifth, Beccles Amateur Sailing Club came sixth, Norfolk Punt Club came seventh, and Rollesby Broad Sailing Club came Eighth.
The Whelpton Cup, for the most successful double-handed boat, was awarded to Beccles’s Sam and Freya in their expertly sailed traditional Norfolk One Design dinghy.
The Lady Mayhew Trophy for endeavour, “applying the greatest effort in a spirit of sport determination and fun without necessarily achieving a winning position,” was awarded to Joly Brewster & Henry Long from Beccles in their RS Feva.
An absolutely brilliant day for all competitors and volunteers who’s time and energy went into making it a memorable and excellent experience for all sailing at rollesby broad sailing club.
Rollesby Broad SC was supported in the running of the event by sponsorship from Cox’s boatyard, Marine Tech and many other local businesses.
Ben Falat, at the presentation and on behalf of the Norfolk and Suffolk Boating Association, thanked volunteers from Rollesby Broad sailing Club, which included Commodore Rhiannon Alger, lead Race Officer Tamsin Highfield, race officers Roger Wilson & Phil Highfield and their dedicated team of timekeepers, beachmasters, caterers and safety boat crews.
Following the death, last year, of our friend Dennis Manning the club has revived the Wayfarer Trophy as a memorial . This is to be awarded to the best scoring Wayfarer team over several series combined.
First presented in 1995, we have decided to reinstate the RBSC Wayfarer Trophy in memory of our good friend Dennis Manning. The trophy is to be presented each year to the most successful Wayfarer competing over the Autumn, Winter and Frostbite series. Dennis had won the trophy on many occasions in the past and wishing to promote more class racing within the club it seemed appropriate that we reinstate the trophy.
We have extracted the Wayfarer results from Race 1 and 2 morning Multi-sail starts so far and published them separately here:- Wayfarer Trophy
The winners of the 2024-2025 series over the winter period were David Houghton and John Symonds. A presentation was made at the Spring Regatta on 6 th April 2025.
Wayfarer Trophy is to be reinstated in Memory of Dennis Manning
First presented in 1995, we have decided to reinstate the RBSC Wayfarer Trophy in memory of our good friend Dennis Manning. The trophy is to be presented each year to the most successful Wayfarer competing over the Autumn, Winter and Frostbite series. Dennis had won the trophy on many occasions in the past and wishing to promote more class racing within the club it seemed appropriate that we reinstate the trophy.
We have extracted the Wayfarer results from Race 1 and 2 morning Multi-sail starts so far and published them separately here:- Wayfarer Trophy
The weather hasn’t been so kind this winter so the number of boats currently qualifying in the series is low, but with the potential of a further 12 races still to go until the end of the Frostbite Series there is still plenty of opportunity for more Wayfarers to try and qualify. We have always had a very strong Wayfarer fleet at Rollesby so it would be great to see as many boats take to the water for the remainder of the Frostbite series to try a qualify. Good luck!
24 Boats turned out for the first races of the Frostbite series on Sunday 9th Feb 2025. The day was cool and overcast. The forecast easterly wind however turned out to be more northerly with a moderate breeze blowing down the Broad.
The first race was four laps of a figure of eight course. Only four boats actually started in the multi sail fleet. Dave Houghton and John Symonds in their Wayfarer took an early lead and held on to win in front of Tony Fulford’s Comet with the other two boats not far behind. In the single sail fleet seventeen boats took part. There was close racing throughout the fleet. Mike Gower took the win in his Solution a few seconds in front of Roger Wilson’s Streaker. Dan Bull crossed the line with Wilson but was third on handicap . These first three boats followed by Chris Barker in a Laser were well ahead of the fleet.
At the break between races trophies were presented for previous series. A presentation was also made to Clive Wells on his retirement from the committee after serving fourteen years as Secretary and the past two years as Commodore
In the next race mark number 3 was included in the course to give a long run down the broad. In the multi sail fleet Dave and John flew their spinnaker with great affect to take a substantial lead and win in front of the Vareo of Howard Astley Jones.
The long four lap race was a bit of a work out for the single sail boats with the fleet spacing out and a few capsizes in the gusts. Ellie Edwards in the Splash won the race with Dan Bull 2nd, Roger Wilson 3rd and Kevin Edwards in his Solo 4th.
The evening races were enjoyed by members again this year. Thirty-Six different helms took part at various time during the series. A couple of evenings were not sailed because of a lack of wind but for most of the summer the wind stayed up giving some good sailing.
The main contenders for the trophy this year came down to David Taylor and Stuart Highfield. David had some good results toward the end of the series to win and will get his name on the cup for the second time. The regular Wednesday sailors were all quite close on points with Stuart second and Daniel Harvey third. The full results can be seen on the club website.
There were quite a few novice sailors coming for the evenings this year which was nice to see. The pursuit race with the personal handicap is an ideal way to try sailing a race.
Now that the sun has set on the 2024 series we look forward next summer. There will be a slight change to the rules in that each helm will have their personal handicap scored irrespective of which boat they sail. ( previously it varied with boats) New participants will start on scratch time for the class but new experienced racers will start on an agreed handicap.
Well done everyone for yesterday. At one point we counted 7 toppers capsized up on the broad at once. All our sailors gave it a go and we are super proud of them. 3 of our team managed to do enough races to get some good results-
Alcomers b – Emily came 6th overall out of 12 in her streaker.
Toppers – Hattie came 20th out of 35.
Alcomers c – Henrietta came 7th out of 19. (4th opi)
Star of the day was Hattie who kept on going to finish despite a lot of capsizes (must have been over 20) at her first sailing venue other than rollesby.
The social was held on a cloudy summer day. The rain held off for the afternoon races with a variable WSW wind.
THE ANNUAL PURSUIT RACE was keenly contested with 16 entries. A range of boats from three Toppers, four Splash and other classes up to the faster Phantom gave a wide range of start times.
The Toppers held for the first lap with Charlie Purkiss leading, but by lap 2 Ellie Edwards gained a substantial lead in her splash. Places changed throughout the race. As the wind increased towards the finishing time the faster boats pulled through. Dan Bull just took the lead from Ellie in the last minutes to win the “Pike Goblet”
Clive Girling in his laser generously capsized 30 seconds from the race end to allow Dan Harvey’s laser into third place and Auriel Gibson with Lindsey in the Wayfarer fourth.
RESULTS: 1 Laser Dan Bull, 2 Splash Ellie Edwards, 3 Laser Dan Harvey, 4 Wayfarer Auriel Gibson & Lindsey, 5 Laser Clive Girling, 6 D zero Tom Quayle, 7 Albacore Keith & Jane Minster, 8 Wayfarer Geof & Liz Phillips, 9 Topper Suzanne Tompson, 10 Topper Matt Pittam, 11 Wayfarer Ken & Julie Johnston, 12 Topper Charlie Purkiss 13, Phantom Clive Wells, 14 Splash Andy Adcock, 15 Joe Sagger, 16 Splash Rhiannon Alger (rtd)
At the break, prizes were given for the junior races, the Club Spring series and the Pursuit Race. Everyone enjoyed the wonderful cake baked by Angie.
THE WATSON CUP where a double handed boat is crewed by the helm only, was contested by three good sports. Phil Harlow had a good start in his Wayfarer and held the lead to win the Cup. Keith Minster followed in the Albacore and Commodore Wells took out an old Enterprise to finish third.
IN THE SINGLED HANDED BOATS RACE seven boats took part. Tom Quale in the D Zero lead all the way to the finish but on handicap was beaten into third place by Dan Bull second and Ellie Edwards who won and took the “Gray Cup”
RESULTS S.H. 1 Splash Ellie Edwards, 2 Laser Dan Bull, 3 D Zero Tom Quayle, 4 Laser Dan Harvey, 5 Harrier Phil Alison, 6 Splash Liz Phillips, 7 Topper Matt Pittam.
A special mention for Matt Pittam a junior, sailing a topper who took part in the morning junior races, the Pursuit race and stayed for the single hander race.
Race Report – Personal Handicap Pursuit – Wed 1st May 2024 The first of May came with some warmer weather at last. Thirteen boats went out to enjoy the race in a moderate North Breeze which held up all evening for the second week running.
Henrietta Highfield set of first, this week sailing a Topper. She held her lead for two laps before being overtaken by Mike McNamara and Ian Curtis in their Wayfarer who went on to win the race. Three generations of the Highfields were out with the senior, Stuart showing the way with a second place in his Laser. Chris Foster helming the wayfarer with Auriel claimed a third.
At the end of the race there was a close competition between the Streaker’s of Roger Wilson and Phil Highfield. With the number of boats racing the first and last three will all have changed handicaps for next week.
Wednesday Evening Personal Handicap Pursuit Race – Report 24/04/2024
The cold fresh wind during the day put members off coming for an evening sail. By the time of the race, however, the evening turned out to be bright, with a pleasant steady N.W. sailing breeze. Six boats took part.
Henrietta Highfield had an early start in the Oppie and had a couple of fast laps while the wind was still fresh but then decided to retire. David Taylor, returning after the winter, was next away in his solo. David was soon overtaken by the next starter, Auriel Gibson in her Wayfarer crewed by Chis Foster. Auriel then held the lead for five laps to win the race.
As the race timed out Mike McNamara with Ian Curtis was 2nd, Dave Taylor 3rd, John Saddington 4th, Jason Elmer with Steve Gibbons in a Wayfarer 5th followed by Phil Alison who can now start a minute earlier next week!
