Category: Reports

A good south westerly breeze, which rise for race 2 causing several capsizes, greeted the fleet for Rollesby’s Winter Regatta on 2^ndDecember.

The direction meant a long initial beat down the broad, which later in the day needed splitting in two, and a run / broad reach back which at times proved an exciting ride. Continuing their excellent form in what became a Wayfarer fleet race, David Houghton & John Symonds flew their spinnaker with great effect on the run of race one for a comfortable win from John Saddington & Dennis Manning. This however was their undoing in race two asa double capsize with kite up let the Saddington & Manning through and they took the meeting.

The single handers were much more mixed up! Mike McNamara unsurprisingly led the fleet round in race one in his Harrier, however hot on his transom throughout was Phil Highfield’s Streaker who won comfortably on handicap, Ian Ayres and Matt Boreham in Solos led home the rest of the tight pack some way back in 3^rd and 4^th.

The wind rose for the start of race two before briefly rising to some people’s survival limit on the second lap. McNamara led up the first beat from James Letts (Laser) and Highfield, whilst Daniel Bull had also joined the front pack in his Laser Radial. On the second run McNamara capsized (adopting anew coaching position – mid- broad on a centre-board?) and Bull took off to win by a good margin from Highfield with Carl Buck (Laser) also enjoying the down wind ride for third.

Only single handers took to the water after lunch and the fleet was tightly packed for a perfect false start 5 minutes early! Keith Sykes caused some mayhem at the restart, putting his Laser in a rapidly disappearing gap but thankfully all remained upright. Bull and Highfield enjoyed some excellent match racing, just in front of the Solos, doing the same thing.Highfield piped Bull on the line but not on handicap and the first five finished with tired limbs in regatta order, Bull, Highfield, Ayres, Boreham and Whitby……. with Sykes also finishing.

Multisails (5 entries)

1. John Saddington & Dennis Manning (Wayfarer)
2. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)

Single Handers (15 entries)

1. Daniel Bull (Radial) – 2 pts
2. Phil Highfield (Streaker) – 3
3. Ian Ayres (Solo) – 6
4. Matt Boreham (Solo) – 9
5. Steve Whitby (MiniSail) – 9
6. Carl Buck (Laser) – 11
7. Bob Hawkings (Solo) – 12
8. Keith Sykes (Laser) – 15
9. James Letts (Laser) – 18
10. Mike Horwitz (Solo) – 20
11. Phil Alison (Solo) – 22

Those who looked out at the flat water before the start of raceone and opted not to rig probably thought themselves wise until they missed out on an exciting ride through a squally race two and a pleasant race three at Rollesby for the completion of the Autumn series.

Mike McNamara must have taken note of some of his own instructing (elsewhere in the Broads) as he produced two good starts in his Harrier to lead round the course in both the mornings’ single hander races. Given the very lightwinds for race one he was probably surprised to win on handicap; with John Saddington (Solo) and Tamsin Highfield (Streaker) leading home the main pack in second and third. Second place gave Saddington the series without having won a race.

The sky darkened and the breeze kicked in for race two and there were several calls for water at the three downwind marks as the pack compressed and stretched out behind McNamara whilst the gusts came and went. Steve Whitby brought his MiniSail home in mid-fleet to take second on handicap and the series; he didn’t win a race either!; with Phil Highfield third in the family Streaker.

In the Multisails Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer) had already won both series but were pushed harder than usual by Ian & Sharon Ayres in their Leader. These two finished nearly half a lap clear in race one after escaping the rest early on the downwind part of the course. As the wind picked up for race two Richard Foster & Tony Ingram brought their Xenon to the front and as these three boats arrived overlapped and planing with kites up at the first gybe of race two there was a moment of ‘it’s not like Rollesby’ panic before a successful synchronised rounding! Houghton & Symonds eventually stole just enough distance to win by a few seconds from the Ayres’. 

McNamara continued his good form after lunch to win from Ayres (now in Solo mode) and Saddington and take the afternoon series.

Multisails
Race 1 (7 entries)

1. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)
2. Ian & Sharon Ayres (Leader)
3. Bob Sparrow & Steve (Wayfarer)

Race 2 (6)

1. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)
2. Ian & Sharon Ayres (Leader)
3. Richard Foster & Tony Ingram (Xenon)

SingleHanders
Race 1 (13 entries)

1. Mike McNamara (Harrier)
2. John Saddington (Solo)
3. Tamsin Highfield (Streaker

Race 2 (14)

1. Mike McNamara (Harrier)
2. Steve Whitby (MiniSail
3. Phil Highfield (Streaker

Mixed PM Race 3 (9)

1. Mike McNamara (Harrier)
2. Ian Ayres (Solo)
3. John Saddington (Solo)

Autumn Series Results Overall

Multisails
Race 1 (15 entries)

1. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer) – 3
2. Bob Sparrow & Steve (Wayfarer) – 7pts
3. Daniel Harvey & Andy Smith (Wayfarer) – 8

Race 2 (18)

1. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer) – 4
2. Bob Sparrow & Steve (Wayfarer) – 9pts
3. Jim Anderson (Wayfarer) – 19

SingleHanders
Race 1 (27 entries)

1. John Saddington (Solo) 7 -pts
2. Tamsin Highfield (Streaker) – 8
3. Matt Boreham (Solo) – 12

Race 2 (29)

1. Steve Whitby (MiniSail) – 8
2. Ian Ayres (Solo) – 9
3. Phil Highfield (Streaker) – 13

Mixed PM Race 3 (13)

1. Mike McNamara (Harrier) – 4
2. John Saddington (Solo) – 8
3. Ian Ayres (Solo) – 13

Eels Foot Series (41 Entries)

1. Ian Ayres (Solo) – 8
2. John Saddington (Solo) -8
3. Ian Hanson (solo) – 13

The fine weather and slightly lighter breeze than the previous week brought out a fantastic turnout at Rollebsy Broad on Sunday 18^thwith 38 sailors taking to the water at some point during the morning.

In the multisails; Chris Sallis & Matthew Frary won both raceson the water in their Tasar; but they couldn’t pull out enough of a lead overthe pack of five Wayfarers, Dave Houghton & John Symonds wrapping up the Autumnseries with a week to go by winning both races on handicap. Bob Sparrow &Steve completed the podium places with a third and a second place.

The short first beat meant the eighteen boat single-hander fleet remained more mixed up on handicap. Mike McNamara (Harrier) and David Frary (Finn) managed to break clear of the pack in race 1. Steve Leigh in his OK led the mid fleet pack before a navigation error brought him back into the clutches of Tamsin Highfield’s Streaker and John Saddington & Ian Ayres Solos. After pulling well clear on lap 2 a further course reading error by Ayres cost him the race, giving Saddington third; Steve Whitby hung on to the back of the pack in his MiniSail to take fourth.

It looked like the same service at the first mark in race two; but some smart downwind sailing by Phil Highfield (Streaker) and Gareth Thomas (Phantom) meant these two had the lead after a lap, with Ayres in closest pursuit. McNamara did eventually get clear on the water but could only count 4^th on handicap with Highfield well clear of the rest and Whitby again in close enough proximity, this time for second.

The weather was even nice enough to entice eight boats back out after lunch!

Multisails

Race 1 (7 entries)
1. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)
2. Chris Sallis & Matt Frary (Tasar)
3. Bob Sparrow & Steve (Wayfarer)

Race 2 (8)
1. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)
2. Bob Sparrow & Steve (Wayfarer)
3. Chris Sallis & Matt Frary (Tasar)

SingleHanders

Race 1 (18 entries)
1. Mike McNamara (Harrier)
2. David Frary (Finn)
3. John Saddington (Solo)
4. Steve Whitby (MiniSail)

Race 2 (17)
1. Phil Highfield (Streaker)
2. Steve Whitby (MiniSail)
3. Ian Ayres (Solo)
4. Mike McNamara (Harrier)

Mixed PM Race 3 (8)
1. Ian Ayres (Solo)
2. Mike McNamara (Harrier)
3. John Saddington (Solo)

Who has the fastest survival mode, was the order of the day at Rollesby Broad this Sunday; following a delayed start to observe two minutes silence at 11 am.

The singlehanders made up the majority of the sailors on the water, with Chris Toothill rightly leading the fleet round the course in his Phantom in both races. However an ability to stay upright was more important than outright speed and Ian Ayres led (all be it by a long way) a trio of Solos to handicap victory with Phil Alison and John Saddington having survived the rather scary long run second and third.

A zig-zag downwind with several gybes proved a more stable course in race two, favouring the Lasers of Keith Sykes, who worked really hard in the later stages to catch Stuart Highfield, as they enjoyed some great planing reaches; neither however could quite get far enough ahead of Ayres as he won by a handful of seconds.

In race one for the multisails, Dave Houghton & John Symonds put their Wayfarer into hyper-drive by flying their spinnaker and left the opposition lagging far behind. The only other finishers were Daniel Harvey & Andy Smith with a somewhat more cautious but very seaman like performance. When Houghton & Symonds performed their ‘once a year’ capsize before the start of race two the rest of the fleet elected to stay ashore, only to watch them very nearly repeat the feat on lap two!

Multisails
Race 1 (5 entries)
1 Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)
2. Daniel Harvey & Andy Smith (Wayfarer)

Race 2 (2)
1 Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)

Single Handers
Race 1 (11 entries)
1. Ian Ayres (Solo)
2. Phil Alison (Solo)
3. John Saddington (Solo)

Race 2 (8)
1. Ian Ayres (Solo)
2. Keith Sykes (Laser)
3. Stuart Highfield (Laser)

Rollesby Broad SC – Sunday 4th November

The arrival en masse of our friends from Gorleston and the last Eel’s Foot race of the year indicate the start real start of winter sailing at Rollesby Broad; only the unseasonably warm weather indicated anything else!

A rare outing in their Tasar saw the Sallis’ rightly lead pretty much from start to finish, with Mike McNamara’s Harrier in closest pursuit. With 20 boats on the start line, it was a good job the southerly wind spread the pack on the 1km beat to the cut. Ian Ayres in his Solo led the main pack with Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer) recovering from a mid-fleet start and slowly working their way through to the front group. Good spinnaker conditions meant the Wayfarer slowly pulled clear enough of the single-handers to take the win from Ayres with Roger Wilson (Solo) leading home the next group to take third.

A short split fleet second race saw Houghton again win in his Wayfarer from the Sallis. The single handers had a very close finish with boats from 4th to 11th finishing nose to tail but Ayres and McNamara had started sufficiently well to once again escape the melee behind.

The perfect conditions saw nine boats race in the afternoon and though the dying breeze meant a shorten course, with McNamara this time taking the win from Houghton.

Eels Foot Race (Mixed) 20 entries

1. Dave Houghton & John Symmonds (Wayfarer)
2. Ian Ayres (Solo)
3. Roger Wilson (Solo)
4. Mike McNamara (Harrier)
5. Chris & Angela Sallis (Tasar)

Multisails

Race 2 (7 entries)

1. Dave Houghton & John Symmonds (Wayfarer)
2. Chris & Angela Sallis (Tasar)
3. Bob Sparrow & Steve (Wayfarer)

SingleHanders

Race 2 (14 entries)

1. Ian Ayres (Solo)
2. Mike McNamara (Harrier)
3. Matt Boreham (Solo)

Mixed PM Race (9)

1. Mike McNamara (Harrier)
2. Dave Houghton & John Symmonds (Wayfarer)
3. Roger Wilson (Solo)

In the event neither the forecast force 6 nor heavy rain arrived at Rollesby on Sunday 13^th May for their Mutlisail regatta; however it had put off a few longer distance travellers who missed out on a very pleasant days sailing.

In race one John Saddington & Dennis Manning led the fleet round in their Albacore, but they could not escape the clutches of the main fleet and the race was won by Bob Sparrow and Simon in their Wayfarer, with Chris and Jane Wharmby from Milton Keynes leading the mid-fleet Leader group home. Race two was dominated by the Leaders; local pairing Ian & Sharon Ayres chasing the Albacore closely for most of the race before some late penalty turns let Ben & Ben Rickard from Hickling through for the win with the Wharmby’s third.

So the whole event was wide open and down to one of Rollesby’s infamous Eels Foot passage races. With a long run down Rollesby Broad, the Ayres were able to fly their spinnaker all the way, even through the cut; leaving everyone including the Albacore playing catch up. The two Bens were the closest pursuers but lost out as the wind went fickle in Eel’s Foot Broad. A long beat home in a rising breeze gave the Ayres the win over the Albacore with the Bens recovering well to take a well deserved third. The Ayres win gave them the event overall with the two Bens representing the visitors in second and John and Dennis third.

The Bitterns sailed shorter courses, despite the best efforts of Bruce Thompson especially in race one, John Atkinson and Leona Levine took a clean sweep of wins and the bittern trophy once again.

Multisail Fleet

1. Ian & Sharon Ayres (Leader)
2. Ben & Ben Rickard (Leader) – Hickling Broad
3. John Saddington & Dennis Manning (Albacore)
4. Chris & Jane Wharmby (Leader) – Milton Keynes
5. Bob Sparrow & Simon (Wayfarer)
6. Julius & Clare Mach (Leader) – Netley
7. Chris Mann & Jo Sapsford (Enterprise)
8. Mike Broadbent & Hugh Rout (Xenon)
9. Sarah & Chris Toothill (Stratos)

Bittern Fleet

1. John Atkinson & Leona Levine (Norfolk Punt Club)
2. Bruce Thompson (NPC)
3. Colin Burrow & Frankie Lorimer (Bittern Owners Assoc)
4. Gareth Barham & Genevieve Prothan (BOA)

Rollesby Broad Solo & Single-Handers Open

A bright sunny day, with considerably more breeze than first looked likely greeted 21 competitors at Rollesby Broad for their annual Solo Open on 22^nd April. A brief but significant wind shift between laying the course and the first start meant a general recall in race one, but by the end of this race the direction settled back and the wind rose.

Bob Suggitt comfortably won the first race having pushed the reeds hard on the left hand bank off the line and gained from a rare port shift up that side. The rest of the fleet were closely packed. Alan Bishop narrowly led them round, with Steve Ede and Jarvis Simpson in close pursuit. Local sailor Ian Ayres was rapidly recovering from a poor start and after a brif spell in third had to settle for 4^th place.

In race 2 Ede was getting the measure of his new craft and led more or less form start to finish. Simpson managed to just sneak round the leeward mark before the pack to escape for a secure second, Mark Maskell was the big gainer rising to third in the following melee, which was only fair as he’d lost out at the same place in race one. Ede then provide confusion by not crossing the finishing line, he had sufficient lead to return and still win but most of the fleet added a fifth unnecessary lap to their race!

After lunch two shorter back to back races were held, Bishop took the first by a margin, from Ede and Maskell , with Terry Palmer having his best race in 4^th and Steve Bishop enjoying the livelier conditions to just pip Ayres for 5^th. The first two reversed places in race 4 to give Ede the meeting with Maksell again third to confirm the podium places.

The Solos were joined by a nine strong handicap fleet, including for the first time, four visiting Streakers, joining one home boat, who had their own very close racing. Veronica Falat won with a 1,2,1 was a solid winner, with  Daniel Bull in his radial second after a tie break with Doug Horner from Swanage, hopefully this new fleet will return and possibly earn their own class start.

Solo Results

1. 5804 – Steve Ede (Ardleigh); 4pts
2. 5723 – Alan Bishop (Girton); 5
3. 5779 – Mark Maskall (Blackwater); 9
4. 5232 – Ian Ayres (Rollesby Broad); 14
5. 5406 – Jarvis Simpson (Brightlingsea); 16
6. 5724 – Terry Palmer (Upper Thames); 16
7. 5649 – Steve Bishop (Girton); 19
8. 5318 – Bob Suggitt (Barnt Green); 21
9. 5001 – Peter Matthews (WOBYC); 23
10. 5472 – Robert Hawkins (Hickling Broad); 23
11. 5138 – Pat Overs (Paxton Lakes); 28
12. 5665 – Paul Aldridge (Brightlingsea); 31
13. 4258 – Ian Hanson (Rollesby Broad); 36
14. 5443 – John Saddington (Rollesby Broad); 40
15. 5648 – Simon Strode (Rollesby Broad); 41
16. 4589 – Phil Atherton (Hickling Broad); 41
17. 4180 – Phil Alison (Rollesby Broad); 46
18. 4405 – Mike Horwitz (Rollesby Broad); 49
19. 2842 – Steve Leigh (Rollesby Broad); 53
20. 5648 – Chris Mann (Rollesby Broad):
21. 2019 – Gordon Jewell (Rollesby Broad):

Handicap Results

1. Streaker 1972, Veronica Falat (WOBYC); 4 pts
2. Radial 207011, Daniel Bull (RBSC); 8
3. Streaker 1940, Doug Horner (Swanage SC); 8
4. Streaker 1817, Ian Bradley (Ouse ASC); 9
5. Streaker 1490, Tamsin Highfield (RBSC): 13
6. Streaker 1920, Mark Langston (Beccles SC); 17
7. Phantom 1212, Chris Toothill (RBSC); 20
8. Laser 169153, Stuart Highfield (RBSC); 21
9. Laser 853365, Daniel Harvey (RBSC); 28

 

Rollesby Broad SC – 18^th Feb

Lighter winds than recent weeks and a good show of sunshine brought out the fleet at Rollebsy Broad on the 18^th February.

With 3 D-Ones and a rarely sighted GP14 joining the Wayfarers, the multisail fleet was boosted into double figures. Chris Sallis rightly led both races in his D-One, with Steve Gray working his way through more cautiously; neither of these could escape the Wayfarers on handicap. With a virtually windward / leeward course over nearly the full length of the broad Dave Houghton & Jon Symonds along with Val & Chris Hanson (Wayfarers) were able to fly their spinnakers to great effect, taking the first two positions in both races. Bob Sparrow & Steve led the non-spinnaker boats, just sneaking ahead of Sallis for 3^rd in race 1 with the result slightly more comfortably reversed in race 2.

In the single handers Mike McNamara (Harrier) and David Frary (Finn) led the fleet round in both races; these two had a really good match on the water with McNamara edging the handicap result. Behind they were chased by Dave Shipstone (Finn) in race 1 and Keith Sykes (RS300) in race 2, but in the handicap battle it was John Saddington’s Solo which triumphed for 3^rd over the Highfield family; Stuart’s Laser in race 1 and Phil’s Streaker in race 2.

The spring like weather encouraged 12 boats to take to the water again after lunch, McNamara pulled out a good lead on the water on the first lap, but Houghton & Symonds reeled him back in later on to take the handicap win, with Saddington emerging from the mixed pack to take 3^rd yet again!

Multisails

Race 1 (10 entries)

1. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)
2. Val & Chris Hanson (Wayfarer)
3. Bob Sparrow & Steve (Wayfarer)

   Race 2 (10)

1. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)
2. Val & Chris Hanson (Wayfarer)
3. Chris Sallis (D-One)

SingleHanders

Race 1 (15 entries)

1. Mike McNamara (Harrier)
2. David Frary (Finn)
3. John Saddington (Solo)
4. Stuart Highfield (Laser)

Race 2 (15)

1. Mike McNamara (Harrier)
2. David Frary (Finn)
3. John Saddington (Solo)
4. Phil Highfield (Streaker)

Mixed PM Race 3 (12)

1. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)
2. Mike McNamara (Harrier)
3. John Saddington (Solo)