Norfolk Punt Open at the Norfolk Broads Yacht Club

by Dick Roe 15 Sep 06:28 BST 12-13 September 2026

After a busy summer of racing many Norfolk Punt sailors had used up all their sailing 'Brownie Points', with some punts undergoing repairs and younger teams returning to university, it was a smaller, but select fleet which arrived at the Norfolk Broads Yacht Club for their autumn Norfolk Punt open meeting.

Entries came from all three clubs with regularly racing fleets, Hickling Broad Sailing Club, the Norfolk Punt Club from Barton Broad and the host club based at Wroxham Broad. The open meeting was to be shared with the International Star class and the Yeoman class, with separate starts for each class, Stars going first then Punts followed by Yeomans. The forecast, which proved to be acurate, was for fairly strong winds from the south west on the Saturday and then for light winds more variable in direction on the Sunday.

Saturday

Race One

As teams rigged the wind speed built considerably and the owners of the older traditional boats wondered if they should subject their vintage craft to such conditions, the oldest entry Goldeneye being 98 years old. However all were on the start line for the first race. With the wind blowing along the length of the broad a simple port hand windward/leeward with spacer mark was set for both scheduled races. With conditions now fresh to frightening plus very shifty, keeping the mast pointing at the sky was the fastest option, although staying in the breeze and making the most of the shifts both up and downwind rewarded the brave! First to finish was the Wyche and Coppock 'Hardchine' design Wild Goose Two (Jane and Megan Pye) followed by the Herbert Woods 'Traditional' design Decoy (Simon and Rachel Clayton) then the 'Hardchine' Comet (Richard and Lizzie Whitefoot). However as the fleet was still quite compact at the finish the George Marshall 'Traditional' design Goldeneye (Dick Roe abd Kate Dulieu), the slowest boat in the fleet, had saved her time to take the win on handicap, with Decoy second and Wild Goose Two third.

Race Two

With conditions for the second race being similar if a tad windier with the addition of rain, the race officer Brian Wilkins wisely left the course unchanged, although he increased the length to five laps! With a longer race the fleet became more spread out and there were some close calls with the Star fleet (who seem to take up a lot of room on the water) as the fleets crossed. First to finish was Wild Goose Two then the 'Hardchine' Shoveller (Wilum Johnston and Kate Davies), followed by Comet. However the windy conditions and course seemed to be favouring the 'Traditional' non-spinnaker punts with the winner on handicap being Decoy with Goldeneye second and then the 'Hardchine' Wild Goose Two again third.

After racing many of the Punt and Star fleet headed off to the 'Indian Spoon' curry house to rest, refuel and debrief.

Notable performance of the day was from the new "Extremely Light" team of Zoe Barnes and George Davies, sailing the recently relaunched Phil Morrison design Shag, getting their powerful design round the course in quite testing conditions.

Sunday

Race Three

As it says in the song 'what a difference a day makes'. Crews arrived on Sunday to an idyllic scene of glassy smooth water perfectly reflecting the broads edge Fauna and Flora, the water being ruffled by the occasional zephyr. Competitors took advantage of the inevitable postponement to partake of the victuals available from the club galley. With no apparent improvement in the conditions the racing then got under way, with an 'interesting' starboard hand course.

Once competitors had managed to clear the line the race was a true game of snakes and ladders which required navigation of puffs, holes and massive shifts with added excitement of meeting the other fleets drifting in the opposite direction at each mark rounding. While some boats were in breeze others stopped completely or practised sailing backwards. Mastering the conditions to finish first were Comet followed by the consistent Wild Goose Two, then Decoy, with the handicap results giving the same result.

Race Four

After a break for lunch and another short postponement and a course modification the fleet headed back out for the fourth race into what seemed a bit more breeze. However as soon as racing got under way the mornings conditions returned all be it with a bit more breeze when there was some. First over the water was the 'Hardchine' Wild Duck (James Clarke and Thomas Evans), followed by Wild Goose Two, then Shoveller with the handicap results again being the same.

So a true mix of conditions with a different winner in each race and many crews thankful to discard a result. Overall winners of the beautiful Collins trophy, with 6 points were Decoy, second was Wild Goose Two with 7 points and Goldeneye was third with 8 points.

Thanks to all at the Norfolk Broads Yacht Club who made us so welcome and thanks to the competitors in the other fleets for the good natured banter on and off the water.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	PY	R1	R2	R3	R4	Pts
1	40	Decoy	Simon Clayton	926	2	1	3	‑6	6
2	103	Wildgoose II	Jane Pye	884	‑3	3	2	2	7
3	25	Goldeneye	Dick Roe	996	1	2	‑5	5	8
4	102	Comet	Richard Whitefoot	884	‑5	5	1	4	10
5	52	Wild Duck	James Clarke	884	4	6	(DNC)	1	11
6	61	Shoveller	Wilum Johnston	884	‑6	4	4	3	11
7	81	Grayling	John Rudd	884	‑7	7	6	7	20
8	87	SHAG	Zoe Barnes	847	8	(RET)	DNC	DNC	23