2000 Noble Marine Millennium Series Round 3 at Snettisham Beach SC
by Tom Hall 28 Jun 2016 00:03 BST
25-26 June 2016
Noble Marine Millennium Series at Snettisham Beach © Peter Hutchinson
On Saturday 25th June 18 boats turned up for the 3rd Noble Marine Millennium Series event of the season at Snettisham Beach Sailing Club. The forecast for the weekend was light winds. With the first race scheduled for 8:50 am on Saturday, sailors were greeted on arrival with a light breeze of 4-5 knots. Race officer Peter Hutchinson delivered the briefing at 8 o’clock, aiming to complete 3 races in the day, provided the wind held. The wind was forecast to drop throughout the day, so the fleet launched as quickly as possible, eager to get the first race underway.
The first race was underway, with the fleet roll–tacking their way up the first beat in the gentle breeze. The windward mark saw battles at the top of the fleet between Jasper and Laura Barnham, Fergus Barnham and Genesta Gage, and Iain and Sarah Yardley. Jasper and Laura edged away on the downwind leg, and Paul Norris and Jennifer Whitgift managed to battled their way into 3rd place. Jasper and Laura held off Fergus and Genesta, finishing in 1st and 2nd respectively.
The second race saw a huge wind shift on the second lap, which shook things up at the top of the fleet. Dan and Cat Rule rounded the windward mark in 1st, with Tom Hall and Nick Maris in 2nd. However, Jasper and Laura again showed their dominance in light airs and, coming from 5th around the first mark, went on to win the race. Iain and Sarah, and Fergus and Genesta capitalised on Tom and Nick hitting the spreader mark, to secure 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Unfortunately, the wind was dying by the minute and Peter decided to abandon the 3rd race, because by that point it had become impossible to sail against the tide due to the lack of wind.
Saturday evening consisted of an excellent Stew and dumplings supper, with special thanks to Mags. Adrian Tebbut ran the pub quiz, with the youth members of the fleet struggling to answer some questions relating to the 1920’s!
The start of day 2 saw a bit more breeze, with Peter aiming to get four races in. The first race of the day saw the nicest wind of the weekend, with both helm and crew having to hike to keep the boat flat. The race was a short one, with only 2 laps, in an attempt to accommodate the 4 races. Jasper and Laura took 1st position, while Finlay Barnham and Molly Charnley started the day well, claiming 2nd. Iain and Sarah took 3rd position, showing their consistency.
Although the wind was forecast to build, like yesterday the wind was dropping as the day wore on, so Peter got the 4th race underway quickly. This race saw the wind drop to a similar strength to the day before, and with typical Snettisham chop being created due to the change of tide, it became easy to stall the boat upwind. Paul and Jennifer dealt with these tricky conditions well, having the best race of their weekend, claiming 2nd. Jasper and Laura again finished 1st. Guy and Rosie Tasker skilfully played the shifts upwind, managing to finish 3rd.
Race 5 saw the winds drop off to around 4 knots, with Guy and Rosie, and Tom and Nick being over the line at the start having to go round the committee boat as a result of the i-flag being flown. James and Jenny McGregor overcame the conditions and sailed a good race, finishing 3rd. 2nd place went to Fergus and Genesta and Jasper and Laura wrapped up a perfect series by finishing 1st.
Similar to Saturday, the 6th race was abandoned due to the wind having dropped to virtually nothing.
Special mention to Rachel Sheridan from Wilsonian Sailing Club for winning the endeavour price.