A busy weekend at Horning Sailing Club

by Holly Hancock 30 Sep 2009 10:03 BST 26-27 September 2009

A busy weekend at Horning Sailing Club © Holly Hancock

It was a busy weekend at Horning Sailing Club, with several events held over the two days.

Saturday morning saw the annual Junior Regatta take place on Black Horse Broad with around 25 young sailors taking part from the Training Centre, followed by the Sailing Club’s OnBoard launch. Horning Sailing Club is the very first OnBoard Club in the Broadland area, and the plaque was presented to Training Centre Principal Robert Hancock and Vice-Commodore Denis Hands by the OnBoard Coordinator for East Norfolk, Holly Hancock.

The afternoon and Sunday saw HSC host an Open Dinghy weekend, with many of the Juniors stopping on to race in this event too. In the ten strong Allcomers C fleet of Optimists and Toppers, close racing was seen in the light variable winds, although James Galloway sailing his Topper went on to win all five races and the Cadet Trophy. Sister Laura came second overall with two seconds and two thirds, followed by Matthew Varcoe in third, both also sailing Toppers. A special award was given to Matthew’s sister Megan sailing her Optimist for her persistence over the weekend, and achieving a third place in her first time racing.

Sunday’s racing saw extremely light winds once again. At one point it almost seemed as if the Broad had split into two, one side had a steady breeze whilst the other resembled a millpond, much to the frustration of the competitors seeing the front of the fleet sail away! In the Allcomers B fleet first overall and winner of the Onyx Barometer and Tino Trophy was Jane Williams sailing Kestrel .Com crewed by Sarah Dugdale with four first places, and second was Jo Moore sailing Splash Buzz with a first, two seconds and a third. Particularly close racing was seen between the Splashes of Jo Moore and Imogen Tassie – often finishing within a few seconds of each other!

Meanwhile, HSC also held an Open Downriver race to Thurne. Due to the light winds the race started and finished at the waterworks in Horning, with the tide carrying the competitors each way. In the largest fleet of the day, there were ten entrants in the Cruiser Class and good competition on both legs between Richie Dugdale sailing Zingara and Pip Roney helming Vixen, Zingara eventually winning, just forty seconds separating the two boats on handicap on the way to Thurne despite over an hour’s racing! Whilst the downward leg was relatively quick for some of the faster boats, for others it was a much slower process, some taking around two hours to make it down. The breeze filled in a little for the return leg, allowing Ken Davies sailing Rebel Jade to win the Allcomers A fleet over his son John, reversing the morning’s result – just seconds separating their boats each way! In the Yeoman fleet Pam Goodman and Q Stewart sailed consistently to cross the line first in both directions.

Overall Results:

Junior Regatta

Optimists (5)
1. Oppie (Harriet Bradnock)
2. Oppie (Maria Willis)
3. Kingfisher (Joel Bailey)

Teras (4)
1. Tera (Ezra Gentle)
2. Tera (Megan Smith)
3. Tera (Daniel Lawton)

Toppers (12)
1. Topper (James Galloway)
2. Red Rum (Anna Bunn)
3. M & Ms (Matthew Varcoe)

Allcomers (4)
1. Mistral (Abi Tassie)
2. Buzz (Jo Moore)
3. Adrenaline (Ezra Bailey)

Open Dinghy Weekend

Allcomers B (5)
1. .Com (J Williams/S Dugdale)
2. Buzz (J Moore)
3. Bullseye (G Williams/C Galloway)

Allcomers C (10)
1. Topper (J Galloway)
2. Puffle (L Galloway)
3. M&Ms (M Varcoe)

Trophies

Onyx Barometer and Tino Trophy: .Com
Cadet Trophy: Topper (J Galloway)

Open Downriver to Thurne