Category: Reports

It certainly felt seasonal as 25 boats were rigging for Rollesby Broad’s Winter regatta in a cold northerly breeze on Sunday 1^st December. However the sun appeared from behind the cloud, the rain eased off and an excellent days racing ensued.

With a short first beat set into the more sheltered corner of the broad it was a question of who would gamble on a port or at least port end start and who would play the safer but less windy starboard end!

Despite launching their new boat the multisails were not in generous mood, cutting out Bob Sparrow & Steve Gibbons attempt at the port start. Dave Houghton & John Symonds starting near that end lead round the first mark. Roger Wilson & Dennis Manning recovered well from a mid fleet start to eventually take the win by one second, with Mike McNamara & Andy Smith third in their Albacore. 

In the single handers Ian Ayres (Solo) nailed the port start with Daniel Bull (Laser) in close attendance, these two rapidly cleared off into a huge lead as the rest of the fleet blanketed each other on the run down the broad. Chris Foster (Laser) and John Saddington (Solo) led the chasing pack with only Richard Brown in his Solution ever getting clear. The rising wind on the last lap favoured Bull who won by 10 seconds on handicap from Ayres with Brown third.

A slightly more even start in race two saw McNamara gain just enough ground on the Wayfarers to take the win from Wilson by 8 seconds with Houghton third. Bull was not messing around, leading the single-handers from start to finish with only Foster in close pursuit. Keith Sykes and Stuart Highfield made it a top four of Lasers on the water, though Ayres recovered from dead last at the second mark to take third on handicap.

Race office Chris Mann had kept the results hidden and with a good turnout decided to keep the fleets in split starts for the afternoon sail. McNamara showed how a port start should be done leading well round the first mark; the Wayfarers set their spinnakers for the run and were off in good pursuit. Wilson pipped Houghton on the line but was forced to retire following an earlier incident, leaving the first three boats all on three points! Houghton & Symonds took the event on countback.

The single handers were more spread out on the line; Ayres, Foster and Saddington were ahead in that order at the first mark. After a close three way battle, Foster had to retire with gear failure on lap two leaving the two Solos to swap places several times with Ayres getting well ahead on lap 3 and Keving Postlethwaite completing the class podium clean sweep.

Multisails (10 Entries)

1. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer) – 3 pts
2. Mike McNamara & Andy Smith (Albacore) – 3
3. Roger Wilson & Dennis Manning (Wayfarer) – 3
4. Bob Sparrow & Steve Gibbons (Wayfarer) – 7
5. Jim Anderson & Steve Vaughan (Wayfarer) – 9
6. Phil Highfield (RS700) – 16

Single Handers (15 Entries)

1. Daniel Bull (Laser) – 2 pts
2. Ian Ayres (Solo) – 3
3. Chris Foster (Laser) – 6
4. John Saddington (Solo) – 7
5. Kevin Postlethwaite (Solo) – 8
6. Daniel Harvey (Radial) – 10
7. Richard Brown (Solution) – 11
8. Keith Sykes (Laser) – 11
9. Clive Girling (Laser) – 13
10. Stuart Highfield (Laser) – 14
11. Chris Codling (Laser) – 17
12. Steve Leigh (Solo) – 20
13. Phil Alison (Solo) – 21

For the final episode of the Autumn series the wind took a little while to arrive but a light breeze blowing up the broad arrived mid way through the first race. Before the sailing there was much discussion in the Multisail fleet relating to ‘Bobs new boat’, a lovely new Wayfarer. Many were disappointed to learn that Bob was going to delay it’s initial launch as he needs to learn what to do with all the extra ropes he now has to play with and so ‘Non Teaky Two’ was launched instead ! In the Multisail fleet the light winds caught everyone out as all were a little late over the start.

The Wayfarer of Dave Houghton & John Symonds were the first to cross taking an  early but short lived lead  as Mike McNamara & Andy Smith sailing an Albacore quickly passed to lead to the finish. However the long downwind leg allowed the pursuing Wayfarers to fly spinnakers with Dave & John just keeping close enough to win on handicap with Mike & Andy second and Bob Sparrow & Tony Gibbs sailing their ‘old’ Wayfarer third. 

There was a good turnout for the Singlehander start with fifteen entries. Daniel Bull (Laser) hit the line with speed to gain a small lead at the first mark which he extended over the next three laps to cross the line a minute and a half ahead of the next boat to take the race. Behind Dan Harvey (Laser)  worked is way up the fleet crossing the line next and just one second ahead of the Streaker of Phil Highfield. Not far behind were the Solos of John Saddington and Kevin Postlewaite crossing the line one second apart and taking second and third on corrected time.

For the second race the wind had increased a tad. The Multisail fleet were all lined up at the start in good time!  Mike & Andy led from the start to the finish but not clear enough as Dave & John just took the win on corrected time with Mike & Any second. Daniel continued his good form leading race two from start to finish, although this time joined by  Andy Bassett, also sailing a Laser just a few seconds behind. These two opened up a good lead on the rest of the fleet to claim the top two places. Clive Girling worked his way up the fleet to cross the line third in his Laser but was piped by the Solos of John & Kevin who again crossed the line just one second apart with John again just ahead to take third. 

Whilst there was still a reasonable wind at the start of race three it slowly decreased throughout the race. Mike & Andy led from the start to the finish crossing the line over four and a half minutes ahead of the next boat to take the race win. The Solos of Kevin and Mike Horowitz led the rest of the fleet to finish second and third.

Rollesby Broad SC Autumn series
Race 1 Multisail (4) : 1 Wayfarer 10000 (D Houghton & J Symonds),
2 Albacore 8225 (M McNamara & A Smith), 3 Wayfarer 10213 (R Sparrow & A Gibbs). 
Race 1 Singlehanders (15) : 1 Laser 207011 ( D Bull), 2 Solo 5443 (J Saddington),
3 Solo 4896 (K Postlethwaite). 
Race 2 Multisail : 1 Wayfarer 10000, 2 Albacore 8225, 3 Wayfarer 10213.
Race 2 Singlehanders (14) : 1 Laser 207011, 2 Laser 216564 (A Bassett), 3 Solo 5443. 
Race 3 Combined (10) : 1 Albacore 8225, 2 Solo 4896, 3 Solo 4405  (M Horowitz). 

Autumn Series Overall
Race 1 Multisail (14) : 1 Wayfarer 10213, 2 Wayfarer 11111 (R Wilson & D Manning),
3 Wayfarer 10000.
Race 1 Singlehanders (28) : 1 Solo 5443, 2 Laser 170578 (R Brown), 3 Solo (David Bull).
Race 2 Multisail (12) : 1 W11111, 2 W10213, 3 W10000.
Race 2 Singlehanders (25) : 1 Laser 207011 (Daniel Bull), 2 Solo 5443,
3 Laser 169158 (S Highfield).
Race 3 Combined (15) : 1 Albacore 8225, 2 Wayfarer 11111, 3 Solo 5443.

Many thanks to Dave Houghton for this report.

23 boats came to the line for the final Eel’s Foot Race of 2019 at Rollesby on Sunday 3^rd November. With the breeze blowing straight down the broad race officer Auriel Gibson was able to set a true line and an absolute maximum first beat!

Several normally single-hander helms switched to double handed boats and it was Mike McNamara and Andy Smith in an Albacore who had a narrow lead from the Wayfarers of Dave Houghton & John Symonds and Roger Wilson & Dennis Manning by half way up the beat, with Chris Toothill’s Phantom also in the mix to reach the cut first. 

With greater experience of sailing together; or perhaps of deciding if / when to switch to paddle mode; it was the Wayfarers who emerged ahead. Meanwhile John Saddington and Matt Boreham in their Solos were leading the mid-speed boats with Ian & Sharon Ayres in their Leader and Dan Bull in his Laser also in the mix. 

After two triangular laps of the Eel’s Foot (Ormesby Little) Broad it was time for a long running return leg. The Wayfarers were able to hoist their kites and despite the Albacore and Phantom finishing with them, Wilson took the win from Houghton. The Solos and Leader however had kept close enough and took the next three places on handicap. So by winning the last race, Wilson secured the series from Saddington with McNamara third.

Last Race (23 entries)

1. Roger Wilson & Dennis Manning (Wayfarer)
2. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)
3. John Saddington (Solo)
4. Matt Boreham (Solo)
5. Ian & Sharon Ayres (Leader) 

Series Results (38 participants)

1. Roger Wilson (Solo) – 5 pts
2. John Saddington (Solo) – 10
3. Mike McNamara (Harrier+) – 12
4. Daniel Bull (Laser) – 14
5. Matt Boreham (Laser) – 14

A beautiful sunny morning greeted the competitors for Rollesby Broad’s Solo and Single-hander open meeting on Easter Sunday, only the wind direction was not ideal creating shifty conditions but it was at least strong enough to give a reasonable first beat all day.

The Solos completed four races; Mark Maskell (Blackwater) set off as he meant to continue by leading from the start with John Saddington (Rollesby) his closest pursuer at the first turn. The rest of the pack was very tight and there were regular changes for any boat jumping from 10th to fourth and just as quickly back again! Steve Bishop (Girton) was a little unlucky to be in the pack but once clear set off in pursuit of the leading twosome; eventually nailing the short beat at the farther end of the course to take a narrow win. Ian Ayres (Rollesby) recovered from being OCS to take third by overtaking Pete Matthews (WOBYC) a few meters from the finish..

Maskell won race two by a large margin after sailing away from the first mark on his own private puff! Bishop and Ayres slowed each other by arriving at the mark together but slowly cleared the rest with Saddington leading the pack home in fourth.

After lunch a slight change of course clearly suited Maskell as he won both races, in the third his long term closest challenger was Roger Wilson (Rollesby) before Bishop and Saddington came through on one of the long reaches.

The final race proved the closest. Maskell again looked clear with Ayres and Matthews in pursuit before Bishop spotted an in filling shift at the bottom of the beat on lap two and took several places, bringing through Terry Palmer (Upper Thames) with him. The leading pair pulled clear as the pack played snakes and ladders until the last lap when Maskell had just enough to hang on for the win. Matthews came from behind to gain an overlap on Ayres at the last mark and this time held on for third.

Six Streakers joined a mixed single-handed fleet and proved how keen they were by needing a general recall in race 1! Tamsin Highfield (Rollesby) had a good first beat but couldn’t live with the ultimate speed of visitors Veronica Falat (WOBYC) and Ian Bradley (Ouse Amateur). These two swapped places twice within the last 30 seconds of the race with Falat coming out on top.

Bradley had much less problem winning race 2 after picking the right side of the first beat with Falat and Mark Langston (Beccles Amateur) taking the minor places. Having decided their meeting would be only three races Falat set off with determination in race 3 but the shifty beats meant Bradley and Langston could never be written off until the last beat which Falat sailed almost straight up whilst they had to tack several times to reach the finish line.

Mike McNamara in his Harrier perhaps unsurprisingly won the mixed fleet, though he did have to come from behind after race 1. Steve Whitby in his MiniSail took second on count-back from Daniel Bull’s Laser.

Overall Results:

Solos:

1. 5779 – Mark Maskall (Blackwater); 3pts
2. 5649 – Steve Bishop (Girton); 5
3. 5232 – Ian Ayres (Rollesby Broad); 10
4. 5443 – John Saddington (Rollesby Broad); 12
5. 5001 – Peter Matthews (WOBYC); 13
6. 5259 – Roger Wilson (Rollesby Broad); 16
7. 4258 – Ian Hanson (Rollesby Broad); 17
8. 5724 – Terry Palmer (Upper Thames); 22
9. 5648 – Simon Strode (Rollesby Broad); 24
10. 3941 – Steve Leigh (Rollesby Broad); 27
11. 5496 – Ron Laurie (Harlow Blackwater) 30
12. 4405 – Mike Horwitz (Rollesby Broad); 35
13. 4864 – Chris Mann (Rollesby Broad); 37
14. 4180 – Phil Alison (Rollesby Broad); 42

Streakers:

1. 1972, Veronica Falat (WOBYC); 4 pts
2. 2121, Ian Bradley (Ouse ASC); 5
3. 1920, Mark Langston (Beccles ASC); 10
4. 1568, J Blankley (Beccles ASC); 13
5. 1490, Tamsin Highfield (RBSC); 14
6. 1723, Ian Mansfield (Alton Water SC); 17

Mixed Fleet:

1. Harrier 70, Mike McNamara; 3 pts
2. MiniSail 4220, Steve Whitby; 7
3. Laser 207011, Daniel Bull; 7
4. Phantom 1212, Chris Toothill; 11
5. Laser —-, Steve Vaughan; 13

The Spring series at Rollesby started with the first “Eels Foot Race” of the year. Fourteen boat set out but, as the wind died after the start, the short beat across the Broad turned into a torturous affair. Mike McNamara in his Harrier with Ian and Sharon Ayres in their Leader came round the windward mark ahead of the rest. After a slow broad reach down the Broad the wind picked up and once through the cut, the fleet had a good sail in the bigger Broad. McNamara lead the fleet home. The Leader and the Hansons in their Wayfarer were not far behind having made good use of spinnakers. Handicap results gave the Ayres a win with McNamara second and Val and Chris Hanson third.
The second race with a figure of eight course saw a clear win for McNamara with Ian Hanson in a solo second and the Leader third.

Three Lasers and a Wayfarer stayed for the afternoon race. Keith Sykes
Laser took the win two second infront of Bob Sparrow and Steve in the Wayfarer.

Don’t forget its Mike Macs – Rules talk this Wednesday

To kick off the season, and at the request of several Wednesday Sailors, Mike McNamara has agreed to give a talk on the racing rules on the previous Wednesday evening i.e. 17^thApril.

We would intend this kick off at 7 and Mike has promised to aim it at those who have done a little racing but would benefit from knowing more than just the port / starboard rule!

Rollesby held their Spring Regatta on Sunday. In the pouring rain, at the start of the morning, it did not feel like spring but eleven single handers turned out. As the rain stopped a fresh breeze developed from the north blowing down the Broad and the fleet was treated to some good sailing conditions.
In race one John Saddington in a solo and Matt Boreham in his laser got clear of the rest. Boreham crossed the line first but Saddington took the win on handicap with Steve Whitby in his mini sail second.
In race two Boreham gained a substantial lead on the first lap and was not to be caught. The solo of Ian Hanson made second with the mini sail third. With mixed results and a discard available the regatta win was up for grabs in the third race. With an increasing wind the lasers lead the way with a win by Boreham, the mini sail second. The results reconciled gave Boreham the
trophy with the mini sail second and Ian Hanson in the solo third.
Results Spring Regatta.

1. Laser Matt Boreham
2. Mini Sail Steve Whitby
3. Solo Ian Hanson

FYI — Car Number Plate – AU14 HKN, Found on floor now in Club house

A delightlyfully bright sunny morning and a forecast force 4 straight along the Broad, saw 32 boats take to the water for the first race at Rollesby on Sunday 17^th February.

With a slightly lighter breeze in reality, the 9 multi-sails were first away; it took a little while for the fleet to settle into an order, but Steve Grey quite rightly led after a lap in his D-One. With a long run it looked like Dave Houghton & Jon Symonds and John Saddington & Dennis Manning flying their spinnakers would have a big advantage, but it was Ian & Sharon Ayres taking a wider route in their Leader who led the main pack at this point. The Wayfarers showed their pace upwind with Houghton eventually winning from Ayres and Saddington.
Those spinnakers paid more as the wind rose in race two however Peter and Eileen Dearnley sailing without a kite were flying up the beats and split the other Wayfarers to take second from Houghton this time around.

In the single-handers with 23 boats on the line a clean start was clearly in order; David Frary (Finn) and Mike McNamara (Harrier) were able to use their additional boatspeed to establish a small lead on the first beat, however the midfleet were ignoring handicaps and swapping places regularly. Richard Brown and James Letts represented the Laser push early on with Daniel Bull catching them on the second lap, however as the race progressed they were losing out to the Solos of Robert Hawkins and Terry Palme, indeed had Palmer not misread the finish they would have been 1 & 2 but instead they were split by McNamara. The increased breeze in race 2 saw Frary put the hammer down and establish a good lead, however Phil Highfield in the ‘family’ Streaker had other ideas downwind as he came back at the leaders on every lap to eventually tie with Frary for the win, with McNamara 3^rd and Brown 4^th.

The good weather encouraged 16 starters for the mixed afternoon race and there were two distinct bunches, the Wayfarers, with three boats less than a minute apart and the Solos whose first three finished within 15 seconds of each other! But who would come out on top; it looked like a Houghton win and indeed it was but Dearnley and Saddington had to wait for the calculated results to confirm they had indeed beaten the Solos by a very narrow margin.

Multisails
Race 1 (9 entries)

1. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)
2. Ian & Sharon Ayres (Leader)
3. John Saddington & Dennis Manning (Wayfarer)

Race 2 (9)

1. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)
2. Peter & Eileen Dearnley (Wayfarer)
3. John Saddington & Dennis Manning (Wayfarer)

SingleHanders
Race 1 (23 entries)

1. Robert Hawkins (Solo)
2. Mike McNamara (Harrier)
3. Terry Palmer (Solo)
4. David Frary (Finn)

Race 2 (19)

1. Phil Highfield (Streaker)

1. David Frary (Finn)

3. Mike McNamara (Harrier)
4. Richard Brown (Laser)

Mixed PM Race 3 (16)

1. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)
2. Peter & Eileen Dearnley (Wayfarer)
3. John Saddington & Dennis Manning (Wayfarer)

The air temperature had certainly seen the day’s title as ice was cracked off of covers and decks for Rollesby’s Frostbite Regatta on Sunday 3^rd February; fortunately the sun was out and the wind relatively light so everyone felt much warmer than the 4 degrees air temperature. Unusually, only 2 Wayfarers joined the 18 mixed single-handers; so it was decided to run the racing as all in, rather than in separate fleets.

Phil Highfield (Streaker) and Ian Ayres (Solo) took the furthest left and right hand routes up the initial beat before rounding the first mark overlapped, with Mike McNamara (Harrier) in closest pursuit. McNamara rolled over the two slower boats on the first reach and rapidly built a lead. Dave Houghton & Jon Symonds (Wayfarer) recovered well from having been a long way over at the start! dragging David Frary in his Finn up to the top group with them. On the last lap some large gaps opened with McNamara taking a 15 second handicap win from Ayres; compared to the 3 minute gap back Highfield and Frary who almost dead-heated in third and fourth.

A change of wind direction and course saw Steve Leigh (Solo) with an almost perfect start; however he and Ayres were quickly sandwiched by the faster travelling McNamara and Frary and by the time they could take remedial action were back in the pack led by Daniel Bull and James Letts in their Lasers. Highfield had taken full advantage of the bunching behind to sail along the bank and lead round the first two marks. The wind increased as the race progressed benefitting the faster craft most and McNamara took another narrow win, this time with Frary second and Houghton third.

A slightly reduced but still substantial fleet of 13 took to the water after lunch; McNamara and Highfield were best away with Houghton close behind, however the wind had swung a little further and Ayres and the second Wayfarer of John Saddington & Dennis Manning were the first to spot this, closing in at the first windward mark, this pack all finished within 25 seconds on handicap! McNamara rightly led on the water, but a better spinnaker course gave the win to Houghton. Highfield and Ayres had a bit of an epic cat and mouse race with Ayres close enough behind on the water to just take second place on handicap and for the day overall.

Overall Results (20 entries)

1. (& 1st Singlehander) Mike McNamara (Harrier) – 2 pts
2. Ian Ayres (Solo) – 4
3. (& 1st Multisail) Dave Houghton & Jon Symonds (Wayfarer) – 4
4. Phil Highfield (Streaker) -6
5. David Frary (Finn) – 6
6. Steve Whitby (MiniSail) – 12
7. Matt Boreham (Solo) – 13
8. John Saddington & Denis Manning (Wayfarer) – 14
9. Terry Palmer (Solo) – 14
10. Kevin Postlethwaite (Solo) – 17
11. Keith Sykes (Laser) – 19
12. Steve Leigh (Solo) – 20
13. Dan Bull (Laser) – 24
14. Chris Codling (Laser ) – 24
15. Phil Alison (Solo) – 24
16. James Letts (Laser) -24
17. Stuart Highfield (Laser) – 28
18. Vince Steele (Solo) – 31
19. Richard Foster (Laser) – 33
20. Richard Brown (Lightning) – 33