Norfolk Punt Open Meeting at the Norfolk Punt Club
by Caroline Dixey 10 Jul 2012 23:31 BST
7-8 July 2012
Punt racing on Barton Broad © Simon Jenner
The Punt Open hosted by the Norfolk Punt Club at Barton
Broad on 7/8 July attracted eight entries for the five
race series despite the very unfavourable weather forecast
for the weekend. It was an interesting entry with three
Morrisons, three hard chines and two traditional punts,
with carefully varied courses set to test the different
Punt designs.
On the Saturday the winds were mostly
strong southerly with some testing upper force four gusts.
The first race was won by Simon and Rachel Clayton in Peregine. The second
race saw
several capsizes and was won by Mark Elson & Howard Bolton in Snark. By
the third race half of the fleet
had fallen by the wayside but Peregrine again led the field.
Sunday saw the winds back
by 180 degrees to north to north west, much lighter than
the day before and with six entries. Racing was close but both races were
won by Brian Wilkins and Chris Tuckett in Shoveller. Mike Griffin in
White
Eagle was unlucky to be forced to retire due to a torn
mainsail during the first race and this left the first two overall
positions to be hotly contested by hard chine Shoveller
with Brian Wilkins and Chris Tuckett and Morrison Peregrine with
Simon and Rachel Clayton.
After taking account of the
discards the two boats had the same number of points so
the final positions were decided on the results of the
final race, which saw Shoveller triumph. Third place was
Mark Elson crewed by Howard Bolton in Snark.
Top Three
1 Shoveller - Brian Wilkins & Chris Tuckett (NPC)
2 Peregrine - Simon & Rachel Clayton (HBSC)
3 Snark - Mark Elson & Howard Bolton (NPC)