Fireflys at the Waldringfield Easter Egg Open

by Alex Davey 3 Apr 2013 07:48 BST 29-30 March 2013

There have been years when Waldringfield Easter Regatta, one of the oldest events and trophies in the Firefly calendar, has been sailed in hot sunshine with kids playing on the beach. This year it snowed throughout, which perhaps explains why there were not many takers!

Nevertheless, those that turned up enjoyed good, close racing with some funny moments. In the first start, Greaves and Gifford tried a port tack approach without checking the water level first. They hit the ground hard just as the rest of the fleet were approaching on starboard.....and then capsized. Chaos. At least Steve could stand up in the water to sort out the mess. The Hudson got away best, closely followed by Davey/Joslin.

In the second race, it was the Hudson's turn. To be fair, everyone was trying to keep out of the tide, downwind with plates up and they had the misfortune to be first at that moment, so we were all following them. When they hit hard, everyone else sailed round in deeper water. Stuart had to get out in the end to unstick his rudder. Davey/Joslin took the race with the Richardson's second.

In the final race, Davey/Joslin managed to sneek inside at the first mark and hold on for the win with the Hudsons second. At some point on Saturday, Greaves/Gifford decided to try to sail over the island, but even at high tide they proved that was not possible, going aground right next to one of the small marker posts that they had mistaken for... a small marker post in the wrong place perhaps? I am pretty sure they also sailed past a mooring buoy at one point and caught the line around their rudder. Lucky. By the way, Steve told everyone he had changed his spreaders by 5mm that morning, so that seemed to have worked well.

Sunday was marginally less cold, but only marginally. Greaves/Gifford made up for Saturday with a win in the first race, with the Morris joining the racing and taking second. In the final race it was all to play for. The event was decided on the very final tack on the last beat. With a squall passing through, Davey/Joslin had Greaves/Gifford under their lee bow, when Hudson/Bowden dipped behind on port for the windward mark. Does that make sense? Anyway, Hudson/Bowden took the win and the event after a double tie break, with Davey/Joslin second.

We are due a sunny Easter next year, so do join us.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts
1st	3850	Stuart Hudson	Jane Hudson	Keyhaven SC	1	3	2	‑4	1	7
2nd	2649	Alex Davey	Belinda Joslin	RHYC	2	1	1	‑3	3	7
3rd	1867	Steven Greaves	Frances Gifford	Rickmansworth SC	‑4	4	3	1	2	10
4th	2542	Josh Richardson	Tristan Richardson	Ardleigh SC	3	2	4	(DNC)	5	14
5th	3133	Roger Morris	Amy Morris	Papercourt SC	(DNS)	DNS	DNS	2	4	18