Hornet Open Meeting at Topsham Sailing Club
by Brett Gregson 17 Sep 2002 14:24 BST
Photo © Brett Gregson
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23 Hornets attended Topsham Sailing Club's open meeting to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Hornet, many travelling from Stone, Port Dinowic, and Medway.
Topsham Sailing Club was one of the first clubs in the
country to establish a Hornet fleet and the principal race
officer for the event was long time member and 1956 and 57
world Hornet champion Trevor Greenslade.
Boats ranging from new to 40 years old, including a number
with sliding seats made for a spectacular sight, with many
previous hornet sailors watching from the Turf Hotel and a
flotilla of small boats.
Topsham was blessed with perfect sailing weather. Saturday
brought bright sunshine. A shifty force 4 Easterly,
combined with a narrow channel tested the crews, many of
them finding the mud more than once. Sunday was gusty,
shifty and more tide running in the second race made for
plenty of place changes.
The event was dominated by local hornet builder Tim Coombe
and his crew Jane Smith. They won both races on Saturday
and the first race on Sunday. In the second race they were
beaten into second place by Strangler and Julia Hoyle.
Topsham sailing club provided their famous teas after each
day racing and a memorable dinner with nearly 100 guests on
the Saturday evening, followed by an impromptu firework
display!
Prizes were awarded for pre and post revolution boats.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Boat Name | Helm | Crew | Club |
|---|
| 1st | 2147 | Virginia Planes | Tim Coombe | Jane Smith | Starcross |
| 2nd | 2154 | Mr Wiggly | Richard Garry | Mike Polfreyman | Starcross |
| 3rd | 2132 | Seaman Staines | Starngler | Julia Hoyle | Stone |
| 4th | 2140 | | Lewis Woodland | Nic Barnes | Stone |
| 5th | 2099 | | Paul Jacobs | Brett Gregson | Topsham |