News

Sunday Feb 2^nd saw Rollesby’s Frostbite Regatta day, a somewhat grey early morning with light winds may have put off a few competitors, but a sensibly short course was set with legs in every direction, in the hope that the wind would settle!

In the multisail fleet Mike McNamara & Andy Smith led from start to finish in each race. In race one it looked as if they had a big enough lead but they got held up when catching the rear end of the singlehander fleet which cost them significant time against the Wayfarer of Dave Houghton & John Symmonds, with Howard Astley-Jones also enjoying clearer air to bring his Vareo home in second place. Though McNamara established a good lead in the next two races it was never quite enough to hold Houghton on handicap and with three wins the Wayfarer took the cup!

In the single handers, Phil Highfield (Streaker) dutifully let his wife Tamsin (Laser) have inside room at the first mark, but they both misread the next leg which was actually a one sided beat rather than a fetch and let Ian Ayres (Solo) take the lead which he extended away downwind for a comfortable on the water win. Phil stayed in front of the pack with Terry Palmer (Solo) enjoying a great last lap to rise to third. In race two a significant mis-navigation by the front end of the fleet saw Daniel Bull in his Laser lead after a lap with Roger Wilson (Solo) and Ayres in close pursuit. Ayres took the lead with an early tack on the short beat and looked to have the race won until Wilson found a shift all of his own and sailed past Ayres and Bull at a completely different angle on the final leg! Wilson stayed for the afternoon and enjoyed the rising breeze to take victory overall.

Multisails (5 Entries)

1. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer) – 2 pts
2. Mike McNamara & Andy Smith (Albacore) – 4
3. Howard Astley-Jones (Vareo) – 6

Full Results Here………

Single Handers (17 Entries)

1. Roger Wilson (Solo) – 2 pts
2. Ian Ayres (Solo) – 3
3. Phil Highfield (Streaker) – 4
4. Terry Palmer (Solo) – 6

Full Results Here………

Sunday 26^th January saw the end of a very mild and variable wind strength winter series at Rollesby Broad and our very competitive fleets produced four different winners over the five series! Next week sees our one day Frostbite Regatta – followed by the series. Watch out for the forecast, you have been warned………

A good south westerly blowing almost straight up the broad saw youth triumph over experience on the day in the singlehander fleet as Daniel Bull found the turbo button on his Laser, narrowly out pacing the pack upwind, but really nailing the two main downwind legs, which were almost dead runs. Clearly the course suited the Lasers as Andy Bassett took second from Tamsin Highfield in her Streaker. Terry Palmer was the dominant Solo, leading home from Ian Ayres whose fifth was good enough to give him the series.

Bull was again on form in race two but this time challenged more closely by Phil Highfield who brought the Streaker home in second place to take this series with Steve Whitby’s Europe in third in the race and the series!

With Mike McNamara & Andy Smith having already secured the first race multisail series, and not on the water, the Wayfarers of Roger Wilson & Dennis Manning and Dave Houghton & John Symonds were able to play with their kites on the favourable downwind legs. However neither could stay close enough to Chris & Angie Sallis in race one, who won in their Tasar. Wilson won the Wayfarer battle but Houghton took second in the series with Howard Astley-Jones securing third overall with a fourth place in his Vareo.

Wilson and Manning had a faulty drop in race two to give the victory and the series to Houghton & Symonds from McNamara with Astley-Jones third in the race and overall again!

With a smaller turnout in the afternoons McNamara took the series without winning a race! Wilson & Manning took the final win very narrowly from Palmer with Whitby’s third close enough to give him second overall.

Full series results are on the club website.

Multisails

Race 1 (7 entries)
1. Chris & Angie Sallis (Tasar)
2. Roger Wilson & Dennis Manning (Wayfarer)
3. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)

Race 2 (6)
1. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)
2. Roger Wilson & Dennis Manning (Wayfarer)
3. Howard Astley-Jones (Vareo)

SingleHanders

Race 1 (14 entries)
1. Daniel Bull (Laser)
2. Andy Bassett (Laser)
3. Tamsin Highfield (Streaker)

Race 2 (13)
1. Daniel Bull (Laser)
2. Phil Highfiled (Streaker)
3. Steve Whitby (Europe)

Mixed PM Race 3 (7)
1. Roger Wilson & Dennis Manning (Wayfarer)
2. Terry Palmer (Solo)
3. Steve Whitby (Europe)

Autumn Series Results Overall

Multisails

Race 1 (14 entries)
1. Mike McNamara & Andy Smith (Albacore) – 5pts
2. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer) – 7
3. Howard Astley- Jones (Vareo) – 12

Race 2 (13)
1. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer) – 4
2. Mike McNamara & Andy Smith (Albacore) – 7
3. Howard Astley- Jones (Vareo)- 11

SingleHanders

Race 1 (30 entries)
1. Ian Ayres (Solo) – 5pts
2. Tamsin Highfield (Streaker) – 11
3. Bob Hawkins (Solo) – 13
4. Terry Palmer (Solo) – 13
5. Matt Boreham (Solo) -16

Race 2 (31)
1. Phil Highfield (Streaker) – 5
2. Ian Ayres (Solo) – 9
3. Steve Whitby (Europe) – 11
4. Chris Foster (Laser) – 16
5.Daniel Bull (Laser) – 16

Mixed PM Race 3 (23)
1. Mike McNamara & Andy Smith (Albacore) – 6pts
2. Steve Whitby (Europe) – 12
3. Chris Foster (Laser) – 13

The forecast was for very strong winds for the fifth episode of the winter series, however, most of the time conditions were manageable although there were some big gusts and equally big shifts which tested the eighteen boats which entered. 

The race team used most of the broad when setting the course which comprised of two beats, two reaches and a run. In the multi-sail fleet Mike McNamara and Andy Smith , sailing their Albacore, led off the line, closely followed by Howard Astley-Jones in a Vareo and Dave Houghton and John Symonds in a Wayfarer.  The Albacore slowly pulled away, crossing the line a minute and a half ahead of the Vareo, to win by one second on corrected time.  Houghton and Symonds were just behind the Vareo but capsized when tacking just metres from the line.

In the single-hander race Chris Foster, sailing a Laser, led the fleet for the first two laps only to be caught by the Solos of Ian Ayres and a charging Terry Palmer who picked up several places on the last lap to finish just five seconds behind Ayres.  Tamsin Highfield, in a Streaker, maintained her position throughout the race to claim third place on corrected time. 

At the start of Race Two the multi-sail fleet were hit by a big header which resulted in Astley-Jones capsizing to windward on the line.  McNamara and Smith led the fleet once again and opened up a good lead after the first lap.  However, on lap two Houghton and Symonds enjoyed a good downwind leg, using their spinnaker, closing the gap which helped earn them a win on corrected time. Astley-Jones recovered well from his slow start to claim third.

In the single-hander fleet Solos took the top two positions after the first lap.  Daniel Bull, in his Laser, proved to be fastest on the water, took the lead a couple of times and finished thirty seconds ahead of the next boat but a few capsizes probably cost him the race.  Next across the line was Phil Highfield in the family Streaker who took third place on corrected time but just behind him was Ayres in his Solo and Steve Whitby in a Europe who claimed the top two places, respectively.

Race 1 Multisail (6) :
1 Albacore 8225 (M McNamara & A Smith),
2 Vareo 516 (H Astley-Jones),
3 Wayfarer 10000 (D Houghton & J Symonds),
4 Wayfarer 10213 (R Sparrow & A Gibbs)

Race 1 Single handers (12) :
1 Solo 5232 (I Ayres),
2 Solo 5724 (T Palmer),
3 Streaker 1493 (T Highfield),
4 Laser 207011 (D Bull),
5 Europe 12 (S Whitby).
6 Laser 169158 (S Highfield)

Race 2 Multisail (5) : 
1 Wayfarer 10000,
2 Albacore 8225,
3 Vareo 516,
4 Wayfarer 1809 (D Harvey & G Jewell)

Race 2 Single handers (11) : 
1 Solo 5232 ,
2 Europe 12 (S Whitby)),
3 Streaker 1493 (P Highfield),
4 Laser 207011 (D Bull),
5 Solo 5724,  
6 Laser 171864 (C Foster)

The slightly grey sky and lightish forecast brought only two visitors to Rollesby Broad’s annual free open meeting on New Year’s Day this year, however the fact that so many previous visitors have joined for our full winter series meant we saw 30 boats on a somewhat crowded first start line.

A good length beat saw Dave Houghton & John Symonds in their Wayfarer get to the first mark ahead of the Albacore of Mike McNamara & Daniel Harvey. Hoisting their spinnaker took Houghton & Symonds clear for a good win; it looked like the Solos would clean up the minor places but some last lap navigational errors saw Roger Wilson & Dennis Manning (Wayfarer) recover from a poor start to take third with Ian Ayres fourth in his Mirror despite being last (30^th) on the water.

Race 2 saw an increased start line length, with the fleet was just about evenly split over its full length. McNamara and Richard Fryer (RS300) got the best starts and McNamara seemed to have entirely his own air as he did a horizon job on the fleet. Houghton held on to second on handicap after Phil & Tamsin Highfield in a borrowed Albacore had wriggled through the fleet on the water. John Saddington led home the Solos and Lasers who finished very closely bunched together after rounding almost every mark several ranks deep.

The afternoon race began with a little more breeze and Houghton took full advantage of a rare McNamara penalty to lead at the first mark. Several mid fleet sailors were surprised to be accompanied by the Mirror at the first mark! However as the wind fell away the faster craft re-established their positions, McNamara won to take the meeting but Saddington had stayed with the pack for long enough to take a well earned second from the Highfields.

McNamara & Harvey took the binnacle home on a good day for the multisails, with Houghton & Symonds second and the Highfields third. Saddington was the first singlehander on a tie break from Wilson & Manning……

Overall Results:

1. Mike McNamara & Dan Harvey (Albacore) – 2 pts
2. Dave Hougton & John Symonds (Wayfarer) – 3
3. Phil & Tamsin Highfield (Albacore) – 6
4. John Saddington (Solo) – 7
5. Roger Wilson & Dennis Manning (Wayfarer) – 7
6. Matt Boreham (Solo) – 12
7. Ian Ayres (Mirror) – 13
8. Simon Strode (Solo) – 14
9. Terry Palmer (Solo) – 15
10. Nick Crickmore (Vareo) – 17
11. Mike Horwitz (Solo) – 25
12. Bob Sparrow & Tony Gibbs (Wayfarer) – 26
13. Clive Girling (Laser) – 26
14. Ellie Edwards (Splash) – 27
15. Richard Fryer (RS300) – 27
16. Steve Whitby (MiniSail) – 28
17. Val & Chris Hanson (Wayfarer) -30
18. Paul Warnes (Solo) – 31
19. Steve Leigh (Solo) – 31
20. Chris Codling (Laser) – 32
21. Phil Alison (Solo) – 36
22. Daniel Bull (Laser) – 36
23. Bob Hawkins (Solo) – 37
24. Vince Steele (Solo) – 38
25. Stuart Highfield (Laser) – 40
26. Pippa Edwards (Splash) – 48
27. Richard Foster (Laser) – 49
28. Oscar Norris (Radial) – 53
29. Phil & Lorna Harlow (Wayfarer) – 54
30. Carl Buck (Laser) – 60