The Wednesday evening series has now finished for this year and was once again enjoyed by Club Members. Thirty-five different helms took part with about twelve boats out each week.  Two nights were lost because of thunder and lightning arriving at the wrong time, but racing took place over sixteen summer evenings.

Although this series is known for a relaxing time the pursuit race is still keenly contested. The early leader was Phil Alison this year sailing his newly acquired “fast Harrier.”  Followed by Clive Girling and Henrietta Highfield the series looked close for some weeks. 

It was nice to see Roger Wilson out with his lovely Classic Merlin Rocket. We were all pleased to see new sailor Andy Adcock improving his position each week in the splash.  Daniel Harvey was regularly racing again and getting very good results in his laser, but with his personal handicap increasing to plus 6 minutes he was having to work hard at the end of the series. As usual with the pursuit races the boats closed  together towards the end of each race with competitors checking their watches to see who would end up in front of whom at the bell.

After discards kicked in and at the penultimate race, Phil Alison and Henrietta Highfield were level on points. The series winner would come down to the last night.  Henrietta crewed by Dad Phil in the Mirror started in front and held the lead until passed on the last lap by Bob Hawkins in a Wayfarer. With Phil Alison and Daniel Harvey close behind Henrietta manage to hold on to second place and so take the series trophy. Phil came second overall with Daniel third just leading Clive Girling by 2 points.

So well done to Henrietta whose personal handicap this year has increased from -4 to +3 minutes.

We are all looking forward to next years series with the current handicaps carried forward.

SO reserve your Wednesday evenings for Rollesby in 2024

Full Series Results can be found here…………

John Saddington

The recent poor weather improved on Boxing Day and 16 boats turned out on a sunny morning with a varying N.E. Breeze.
Kevin & Joe Edwards in their Norfolk set of first at the start of the Pursuit Race followed by daughter Ellie in her Splash. These two held the lead for three laps but were eventually passed by the faster boats.

Roger Wilson in his Solo built a substantial lead by laps four and five but during the sixth lap a number of the positions changed.

David Houghton and John Symmonds in their Wayfarer came through at the end to take first place and won the “Bent Vase” for the third consecutive time.

Mulled Wine and mince pies, organised by Roger, warmed competitors up between races.
Three helms took part in the Watson Cup Race by sailing double handed boats with no crew. Tony Fulford in the Comet Trio and Ian ayres in his Leader raced in close proximity for all three laps. At the line Tony was just ahead but Ian took the Trophy on handicap result.

Seven boats stayed for the Allcomers race. Howard Astley-Jones lead the way round in his Vareo and finished a few seconds ahead of Dan Bull in his Laser. Dan took the win on handicap.

Full Results for all Races Here………….

Photos on WhatsApp thanks to Toni Hancock.

John Saddington.

Summer Series concludes with convincing win for Howard Astley-Jones

Sunday’s sailing marked the end of a competitively fought summer series. The winner was never in doubt with Howard Astley-Jones enjoying a stella series and sealing an impressive 10-point margin victory, securing a 2^nd  and 1^st place in the final two races of the series.  2nd place was all to play for with Daniel Bull just pipping Tony Fullford into 2^nd place on countback, having secured a 2^nd place in the final race of the series. 3^rd was then Tony, with Richard Bailey and Ian Curtis in their Wayfarer close behind in  4^th .  There were 38 entries  and 14 races in total with 15 competitors completing the qualifying number of races. Members completing in their first series at Rollesby included Mike and Jenny Harris in their RS Vision who finished a respectable 16^th and Keith and Jane Minster who finished 13^th in their Albacore. It was also nice to see Merlin Rocket “Warpath” crewed by various willing volunteers (for some their first taste of racing!) successfully qualifying in 10^th place after a 40 year absence from Rollesby.  The afternoon series was also won  by Howard, with Tony 2nd and Bob Sparrow in his Wayfarer 3^rd. The full set of results are on the website. Trophies for all the summer series will be presented at the AGM on the 16^th Oct.

As we reflect on a glorious Summer Series and the temperature begins to drop it’s time now to don our wetsuits and drysuits and get ready for the Autumn Series which kicks-off this weekend with a one-day Autumn Regatta which is open to both club members and visitors. 3 races, split into two fleets, with best two results to count. We also look forward to welcoming back our winter members in the weeks to come as they start to return from their summer adventures. 

WEDNESDAY EVENINGS SUMMER 2002 – END OF SERIES REPORT

The evening races again proved to be a popular event this year with 36 different helms taking part. The entrants spanned the generations from young Henrietta Highfield in her mirror to the “long time members” in their favourite boats. One evening saw a record 17 boats joining the pursuit race and several others out practicing sailing.

The lovely warm evenings made this year series particularly enjoyable and it was nice to see new members from the training courses coming along. The event also attracted non sailing spectators out for an evening by the water.

The early series leader was Ian Curtis sailing his Wayfarer crewed by Richard Bailey with a number of first places. Later months though, saw Ian unable to attend enough evenings leaving the way open for David Taylor to take the trophy sailing his Enterprise single handed. Great to see David winning the series as a relative new comer to sailing and racing. With a changing personal handicap he will have to work hard next year!

Full results can be seen on the race results section of the web site