Lightning368 Sea Championships at Snettisham Beach Sailing Club

Its been a manic time for the Lightning368 fleet during the last few weeks or so, with 'Championship' events coming thick and fast.

First it was the Northerns up at Ullswater - won by Robbie Claridge, then the Southerns down at Cookham Reach - won by John Claridge and, just last weekend, the Sea Championships held at Snettisham Beach SC.

With 2 late races on the Saturday followed by 2 early races on the Sunday, class chairman Simon Hopkins offered a free drink at the upcoming Nationals to anyone that could go straight through the night and still be on the Sunday start line...

I'm saying nothing. What goes on in Norfolk, stays in Norfolk!

With some grumbling from Bryan about the waves we set off from the beach in about 15 knots of breeze onto the water for the first race.

Robbie quickly hit the front and was largely untroubled as he surfed his way downwind to a lead which he would hold onto for pretty much the rest of the weekend! Second and again relatively untroubled, wondering how Robbie was making his boat go so fast and enjoying the wind was Paul.

Battling over 3rd it was Penny and Norfolk week veteran Ian Gore, taking a break from his National 12 this year, with Ian coming out on top in the first race.

With the high wind and massive waves (at least for Bryan) saw the rest of the fleet well spread out.

The second race was started a bit optimistically in fading light and, while the breeze had died, the waves remained making sailing fast tricky.

Robbie disappeared again, almost literally this time given the light and the fleet made it round one and a half laps before being told to head in with Paul in second, Penny getting the better of Ian this time and Caroline fifth again.

Back on shore the torches were out to pack up the boats with Tony discovering that the holes on his deck and the lumpy sea had filled the boat up enough for it to still be pouring out 5 minutes after coming off the water!

After filling up on a hog roast and a few drinks it was agreed that whoever was up at 6am for racing would make sure everyone else was up, except of course for Robbie, we were happy if he wanted a lie in...

The morning heralded a lighter breeze and to Bryan's relief a lack of waves, although this happy state of affairs was slightly marred by the news we were to start with the Nationals 12s and the fact that Robbie made it out of bed.

The first race of the day proved to be a bit of a nightmare at the start, apparently the news had not gotten to the National 12s about the Lightings starting with them and there were a few 'polite exchanges' on the start line before we got underway.

While Robbie did his usual bit at the front, in the lighter wind the racing was much closer between the following boats with Paul, Penny and Caroline jostling for most of the race. In the end Penny went clear and Paul managed to sneak past Caroline on the last leg to snatch third.

In the second race the tide had turned and it was much more tactical. Another entertaining start saw Robbie taking offence to some underhand National 12 tactics, only to get them back further up the beat. Racing was again close behind Robbie, Penny again taking second and this time Caroline holding onto third from Paul.

With the end of racing for the weekend we were back on shore for some well-deserved breakfast and prize giving which saw Robbie take the event, Penny second and Paul third.

Congratulations also for Penny who is taking part in the rest of Norfolk week and was second overall for the day! (NB: Penny has just finished 4th Overall in the Allcomers fleet on the week as a whole.)

A big thanks to Snettisham who put on a wonderful weekend, a great event which was friendly and lively with all the other Norfolk Week competitors, alongside some great sailing.

We will definitely be looking to go again in the future, although I think I'll pack some more torches next time!

Next up, on Saturday 22nd of August, we're off to Oxford SC at Farmoor.

Overall Results: