Category: Sailing

Upright is faster than horizontal – well mostly! There was certainly enough wind to cause several of the more wary to remain ashore at Rollesby Broad on the 19^th March, and with capsizes before the racing started they were certainly justified. In the event the wind dropped slightly mid race 1 encouraging more launches to ‘play’ in the gusts and a larger turnout for race 2 before the last few squalls sent even the hardiest to shore for lunch and an early end to the day.

In the Single-handers it was a case of staying upright gets round the course faster even if your boat is naturally slower. Chris Toothill (Phantom) did eventually manage to get to the right point of the fleet, showing some terrific downwind speed, but could never get far enough away from the Solo of Ian Ayres and the Radial of Keith Sykes on handicap. Race 2 saw Bob Hawkins (Solo) join the fray and he led narrowly at the end of the first beat from Toothill and Ayres; after Toothill joined the multiple bathing brigade the two Solo’s enjoyed a very close race, gaining or losing depending who was most under control. Eventually Ayres made the break on the final run, Sykes recovered best of the rest to take third.

A little more stability meant fewer swims but still some rapid sailing in the multisails; John Saddington and Dennis Manning put their Wayfarer in front and stayed there all day! Bob Sparrow and Tony Gibbs decided to use their jib rather than genoa and whilst competitive upwind lost out on the return legs. In both races it was the Vareo of the Highfield’s which took second, Phil recovered well from a poor start (he blamed technical issues) in race one, whilst Tamsin’s speed was limited in race 2 due to Phil tearing the spinnaker!

Multisails

Race 1 (4 entries)

1. John Saddington & Dennis Manning (Wayfarer)
2. Phil Highfield (Vareo)
3. Bob Sparrow & Tony Gibbs (Wayfarer)

Race 2 (5)

1. John Saddington & Dennis Manning (Wayfarer)
2. Phil Highfield (Vareo)
3. Bob Sparrow & Tony Gibbs (Wayfarer)

SingleHanders

Race 1 (6 entries)

1. Ian Ayres (Solo)
2. Keith Sykes (Radial)
3. Chris Toothill (Phantom)

Race 2 (7)

1. Ian Ayres (Solo)
2. Bob Hawkins (Solo)
3. Keith Sykes (Radial)

There was plenty of breeze at Rollesby Broad on Sunday 26^th and with the wind more or less aligned with the geography some of the gusts were strong enough to produce capsizes throughout the fleet.

In the single-handers it looked like youth might prevail as Daniel Bull started best in his Laser Radial. He was mixing it with Nick Eastwood in his Finn and Matt Boreham’s Laser until ditching several times on lap two. Ian Ayres in his Solo was recovering from an uncharacteristically poor start and taking the scenic but windier route downwind to pip Eastwood by just 2 seconds on handicap. Eastwood took the win in race 2 as the wind eased towards the end giving him a comfortable lead over Ayres and Boreham.

Dave Houghton & Jon Symonds flew downwind in their RS400 to comfortably lead on the water but John Saddington & Dennis Saddington in their Wayfarer always stayed in close enough contention to win both multisail races on handicap.

A much reduced fleet in the afternoon saw the wind rise, with a final lap beat that could only be described as brutal – white horses and spray in your face are not a common occurrence on Rollesby Broad! Ayres took the win from Eastwood with Saddington & Manning the only other finisher.

Multisails

Race 1 (6)

1. John Saddington & Dennis Manning (Wayfarer)
2. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (RS400)
3. Bob Sparow & Tony Gibbs (Wayfarer)

Race 2 (4)

1. John Saddington & Dennis Manning (Wayfarer)
2. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (RS400)
3. Bob Sparow & Tony Gibbs (Wayfarer)

Single-Sails

Race 1 (9)

1. Ian Ayres (Solo)
2. Nick Eastwood (Finn)
3. Matt Boreham (Laser)

Race 2 (7)

1. Nick Eastwood (Finn)
2. Ian Ayres (Solo)
3. Matt Boreham (Laser)

PM Mixed Fleet (4)

1. Ian Ayres (Solo)
2. Nick Eastwood (Finn)
3. John Saddington & Dennis Manning (Wayfarer)

With warmer weather over the weekend it was a smaller than usual but highly competitive fleet which assembled for Rollesby’s Frostbite Regatta on Sunday 5th Feb.

The single sailed fleet were very helpful to the race officer in at least finishing every race in appropriate handicap order; however it was the four strong Solo contingent who were to dominate the results. Chris Mann and Simon Strode swapped places several times in races one and two; Mann came out on top on both occasions; much more comfortably in race one than race two. Strode stepped up his game after lunch to take race three narrowly from Mike Horwitz who had been the leasing duo’s closest pursuer all day and created a Solo clean sweep in the prizes.

In the Multisail fleet John Saddington and Dennis Manning won all three races on the water in their Albacore; but a close second by Ian & Sharon Ayres in their Leader, after they had taken full advantage of the long spinnaker reach down the broad gave them the race on handicap. Though the gap was much bigger in race two the Albacore were also pipped for second by Bob Sparrow and Tony Gibbs Wayfarer. Without a crew after lunch Ian was still able to fly his spinnaker and chased Saddington hard all the way round the course as these two finished well clear of the rest.

Frostbite Regatta Results

Multisails (6 Entries)
1. Ian & Sharon Ayres (Leader)
2. John Saddington & Dennis Manning (Albacore)
3. Bob Sparrow & Tony Gibson (Wayfarer)

Single-Handers (8 entries)
1. Chris Mann (Solo)
2. Simon Strode (Solo)
3. Mike Horwitz (Solo)