Category: Reports 2018

At Rollesby 29 boats launched for the seasonal pursuit race.  Eight Lasers formed the largest class taking part. Winds were light and a course was set going round the outside of the marks on the Broad. Steve Witby in his mini sail started  first but on the second lap the chasing solos and streaker had caught up. The leaders started to open out the field by lap three and Michael McNamara in the harrier had worked his way through to the front. In the middle of the fleet some bunching of boats occurred and two groups of the lasers went round close together. When the race timed out McNamara remained in the lead to take the Bent Vase trophy. Roger Wilson and Kevin Postelthwaite followed in solos with Tamsin Highfield’s streaker forth. Dave Houghton and John Symonds in their Wayfarer were onto  Highfield’s transom but did not have time to go past.

The second race was for the Watson Cup where two handed boats were to be sailed by the helm only. This only attracted three entries and Val Hanson lead the way round in a wayfarer. Ian Ayres in his Leader was close behind but a navigational error at the end allowed Hanson an easy win.

Fifteen single handers went out for the third race with McNamara’s Harrier leading all the way. A good performance by Keith Sykes in a laser saw him second on the water and on handicap well ahead of Wilson’s solo in third.

RESULTS
Pursuit Race (29)
1. Harrier M. McNamara,
2 Solo 5259 R.Wilson
3. Solo 4896 K.Postlethwaite
4. Streaker T. Highfiled

Watson Cup (3)
1. Val Hanson

Single Handers (15)
1. Harrier M. McNamara,
2. Laser K. Sykes
3 Solo R.Wilson
4. Laser J. Letts

A sunny day saw 23 boats on the water for the winter series races. A light wind down the length of the Broad gave rise to mixed fortunes with large gaps between front and back of the fleets.
The eight boats in the multi sail fleet included a turn out of six Wayfarers. David Houghton and John Simmons in a Wayfarer used their spinnaker with usual aplomb to pull away and win both races.
The fifteen single sail boats consisted of eight Solos and a mix of other dinghies. Mike McNamara, in his Harrier, lead round the first race but did not get far enough ahead, giving a win to Kevin Postlethwaite in a solo, followed by the streaker of Phil Highfield and solo of Roger Wilson. In the second race McNamara built up a substantial lead to take an easy win in front of Highfield and Wilson.
Six boats stayed out for the afternoon combined alcommers race. McNamara in the harrier and John Saddington with Dennis Manning in a Wayfarer pulled clear of the rest. McNamara was first on the
water but not far enough ahead, giving Saddington the win by 5 seconds on handicap.

Results
Multi Sail Races 1 and 2 – (8)
1, W10000 David Houghton & John Simmons
2. W11111 John Saddington & Dennis Manning
3. W 10213 Robert Sparrow & Tony Gibbs.

Single Sail Race 1 (15)
1. Solo 4896 Kevin Postlethwaite.
2 Streaker Phil Highfield.
3 Solo 5259 Roger Wilson

Single Sail Race 2 (15)
1. Harrier Mike McNamara.
2. Steaker.
3. Solo 5259

Combined PM Race
1. W11111,
2. Harrier.
3. Solo 3941 Steve Leigh

Twenty boats came to the starting line on a bright December day at Rollesby. The fresh breeze coming over the trees along the Broad meant some difficult course setting and blustery conditions, giving plenty of thrills and spills.

The single sail fleet had sixteen boats turn out, the nine solos being  the majority class. In the first race Mike MacNamara in his harrier crossed the finish line in front, neck and neck with Roger Wilson in his solo.  The solo wonon handicap with Ian Ayre’s solo second and Dan Bull third in his laser radial.  In the second race MacNamara had a better lead but could not make the podium on handicap with Roger Wilson againtaking first spot followed by Phil Highfield in a streaker and Matt Boreham in his solo.

The small multi sail fleet consisted of three wayfarers and aD1.  A sudden drop in the wind made atricky start in race 1 but Dave Houghton and John Simmons got away in  their Wayfarer and stayed well in front.  In the second race John Saddington and Dennis Manning stayed on Houghton’s tail for three of the four laps but did not get past.

RESULTS

Multi Sail races 1 & 2 (4)  1. Wayfarer D Houghton & John Simmons,  2 Wayfarer  J Saddington & Dennis Manning.

Single Sail (16)  Race1  1 Solo 5259 R. Wilson, 2 Solo  5232 Ian Ayres,  3 laser Radial Dan Bull. 4 Solo 4896 K. Postlethwaite

Single Sail (16)  Race 2  1 Solo 5259,  2 Steaker Phil Highfield,   3 Solo Matt Boreham.  4 Harrier M. MacNamara

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)

Last night saw a great turnout of 12 boats (4 solos, 2 lasers, 2 mirrors, Streaker, Wayfarer, D-zero, Rs300) who enjoyed a great sail with a good northerly breeze.  The ever-popular Wednesday night figure of eight course allowed some good racing with a good bit of overtaking and some close battles. At the end is was  Tamsin (Streaker) taking the win from the 2 lasers or Richard and Daniel.   One of the best evening sails of the year.

Why not come and join us for the last 4 of the year?