Jubilee Regatta at Aldeburgh Yacht Club
by Paul Botterill 5 Jun 2002 14:37 BST
Visitors from Grafham Water and Draycote joined over 60 Aldeburgh boats to enjoy some close and exciting racing in the Aldeburgh Yacht Club Jubilee Regatta.
Short tacking skills and tactical judgement were the order of the day for the first of the four race series on Saturday. The steady 12 knot Easterly onshore wind provided a perfect beat to windward against the strengthening flood tide from the upriver Stanny Point mark back to the club at Slaughden. Later in the evening, competitors enjoyed a Sea Shanty supper with the shanties lead by the popular “Skinners Rats” from Greenwich.
The warm and sunny weather continued throughout Sunday with the large cruisers sailing down to Orford and the smaller classes making use of the upriver stretches of the River Alde for both races. Probably one of the most memorable sights of the event was Peter Wilson’s beautifully restored classic 8 metre “If” reaching back from Orford with a “bone in her teeth” and Justin Waple’s riding on her quarter wave to increase his lead over the Flying Fifteen fleet.
Fortunately Monday morning’s thunderstorms had cleared before the start of racing on Monday. With the wind veering into the South West and strengthening and the final positions of most classes still depending on the outcome of the fourth race, there were some very keen crews on the water and several classes needed recalling. In the 16 strong Loch Long class, Phil Montague in Ripple finally managed to wrest line honours from the thrice victorious Ian Liddel in his brand new Eden and in the RS400 fleet Paul Walker did likewise from Stephen Fulford.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Name | Helm |
|---|
| Cruisers: |
|---|
| 1 | If | P Wilson |
| 2 | Imari | J Thomson |
| 3 | Blue Knight | A Beveridge |
| RS400: |
|---|
| 1 | Null Null | S Fulford |
| 2 | Firebolt | P Walker |
| 3 | Lunar Sea | M Fairless |
| Flying Fifteens: |
|---|
| 1 | Sparks | J Waples GWSC |
| 2 | Arfful Dodger | J Mawson |
| 3 | Mr Puffa | P Botterill |
| Swallow: |
|---|
| 1 | Ruff | R Russack |
| 2 | Panther | A Graham-Enoch |
| 3 | Hannah | P Curtin |
| Wayfarer: |
|---|
| 1 | Vagabond | G Hinton |
| 2 | Skimmer | A Eastaugh |
| 3 | Bosbury | R Cowley |
| Squib: |
|---|
| 1 | Astron | G Johnson |
| 2 | Eyas | P Wullie |
| 3 | Dragonfly | A von Moll |
| Loch Long: |
|---|
| 1 | Eden | I Liddel |
| 2 | Whim | L Fulford |
| 3 | Akela | J Darbyshire |
| Youth Handicap: |
|---|
| 1 | Laser Radial | Andrew Cresdee |
| 2 | Laser Radial | Emma Redshaw |
| 3 | Laser Radial | Henry Bardsey |
| Junior Handicap: |
|---|
| 1 | Splash | Jack Gifford |
| 2 | RS200 | David Peel |
| 3 | Splash | Oscar Thornton |
More Information: