COLDHAM HALL SAILING CLUB RACE REPORT

Sunday 10th April

The morning started with a 2 minute silence to mark the recent death of Duncan Ellis who sadly passed away earlier in the week after a long illness, Duncan had been a member of the club for many years and was a keen sailor in his boat Golden Moon.

This Sunday sees the start of the clubs racing season, with the weather changing from the recent strong cold winds to a very pleasant temperature with light winds, the first race attracted 9 boats to the start line. 7 Keelboats and 2 Dinghies. It being the first race of the season race officer David Woolston set a course with only 2 turning buoys to negotiate, which proved the right decision given the very light and variable wind. Paul Parker and Gill Pearson sailing the clubs Wayfarer took the bell to win the first race of the season, with Ben Adams crewed by Commodore Ian Barker sailing recently renovated Yeoman Felspar second and John Wells crewed by daughter Sandy Watt taking third place with their Flying Fifteen Findus Archates David Greenacre crewed by Gary Corbett sailing Yeoman Kingfisher took first place in race two, with Felspar again taking second place, third went to the clubs Wayfarer this time sailed by Gill Pearson and crewed by Paul Parker With the wind showing some signs of picking up the OOD extended the course to 3 rounds which turned out to be somewhat of a curates egg, this time Felspar took the bell first an excellent mornings result for Ben Adams, second place went to Magpie sailed by David Hickman and Debbi Jaffey, with third place going to Kingfisher again sailed by David Greenacre Below is pasted a link to an excellent video of the mornings racing which was organised by John Wells and the video was recorded by Andy Bowen using his drone, A big thanks to them both https://youtu.be/KLtybnWMs_g

Sunday 24th April

With the weather forecast predicting winds of 16/17mph and gusts up to 33mph, it was quite a reduced field of sailors competing in the second local races of this season’s local race series. Five keelboats and two dinghies came to the line for the first race. With high wind conditions race officer of the day David Hickman was able to set a very long course of three rounds with good wind over the entire course. The first race got away to a very good start for all, John Wells and crew Sandy Watt sailing their Flying Fifteen Findus Archates soon established a commanding lead over the other boats, going on to win the race in fine style, with Yeoman Felspar sailed by Ben Adams and Mike Roll second and Gary Corbett crewed by David Greenacre sailing another Yeoman Kingfisher third. After a short break for refreshments and a chance to get their breath back, race two commenced, this time with two rounds of the course to sail. Findus Archates this time with Sandy Watt on the tiller again soon established a good lead over the other boats going on to win the race, with this time Yeoman Trio sailed by David Taitt with his all female crew Judith Robertson an Emma Crowfoot second, third place went to the clubs Wayfarer Club 1 sailed by Paul Parker and Gill Pearson who done exceptionally well to stay upright. With some dissention from the competitors about the short second race, OOD David Hickman relented and called for 3 rounds for the third and final race of the day, much to the delight of the competitors. Findus Archates while not getting the start experienced in the first two races, soon again this time with John Wells back on the tiller soon put the distance between him and the other boats, taking first place making it three in a row for Findus Archates, Second went to Kingfisher with Gary Corbett on the helm, and third again went to Club 1 with Paul Parker on the helm A Fantastic mornings sailing amazingly with no mishaps giving the strength of the wind

REGATTA REPORT

Saturday 30th April Sunday 1st May

With the previous week’s weather seeing a return to very much colder temperatures, it was with some relief that this weekend’s weather warmed up for the club’s annual Open Regatta (the first regatta of the broads sailing clubs) the wind strength was on the light side leading to somewhat gentle sailing conditions. First race of the Regatta on Saturday, the Combined Allcomers was won in fine style by Gary Corbett crewed by wife Nicky sailing Yeoman Kingfisher,who then went on to also win the last race of Saturdays programme another Combined Allcomers race. The downriver race for Cruisers sailed to a much shortened course due to lack of wind went to Anna sailed by Bob and Diana Branscombe The first of the Yeoman series races went to David Hickman and crew Debbi Jaffey sailing Magpie while David Mackley sailing his Norfolk Lucifer B6 was first home in the Norfolk series race, Phil Parker sailing Wayfarer Pippin took first place in the Wayfarer series race. Sunday saw another bright warm day, but with slightly less wind leading OOD Ian Barker to reduce the rounds to one. First race of the morning Combined Allcomers, also including the cup for the first local boat to cross the line, saw again Kingfisher take the bell first, this time crewed by David Greenacre. The second Yeoman series race was this time won by Shibboleth sporting a new set of sails sailed by David and Margaret Woolston. Sam Woodcock sailing Norfolk B20 took first in the Norfolk series with John Well crewed by Sandy Watt sailing Club 2 Wayfarer taking first in the Wayfarer series races. Midmorning saw the Mixed Keelboats race won by Yeoman Magpie sailed by David Hickman and Debbi Jaffey, with John Wells and Sandy Watt taking first in the Mixed Centreboards in Club 2, overall winner of these two races goes to the faster corrected timed boat, which was Club 2 giving John two cups for one race. The afternoon downriver race for cruisers sailed to a shortened course was won by Anna sailed by Bob and Diana Branscombe. David Hickman and Debbi Jaffey took first in Magpie in the third Yeoman series race with David Mackley in Lucifer B6 taking first in the Norfolk series race, and due to injury sustained on shore by a crew member no wayfarer series race was held In the final series races of the Regatta Magpie swooped again to take first place in the Yeoman race, with Sam Woodcock this time taking first in the Norfolk race. The prize giving took place outside the clubhouse First up to the winner’s podium was Gary Corbett winning the Allcomers and Local boats trophies Next with quite a haul of trophies was John Wells winning the Wayfarer trophy, the Jack Points Trophy (combined Keelboats and Centreboards race CHSC members only) and the Challenge Cup for overall winner of the combined Keelboats and Centreboards race. Sam Woodcock won the Silver Challenge Cup for Norfolk one designs, and also the Harry Last Memorial Trophy for the fasted corrected time taken from the last series of races of the day The Merlin Challenger Cup went to Bob and Diana Branscombe for the Cruiser downriver series David Hickman won the Youngman Bowl for Yeomans in grand style winning three of the four races The Regatta finished with Commodore Ian Barker thanking all who had helped make the event a great success enjoyed by all either taking part or enjoying the action from the bank

Sunday 8th May

With last weekend’s successful Regatta concluded this Sunday sees the return of club racing in the form of the 2nd Downriver race for allcomers and the Cruiser fleets first Downriver race of their seasons series. The weather promised a light 8/9 mph wind speed from an easterly direction resulting in despite the sunny conditions a rather brisk feel to the temperature on the water. Officer of the Day Paul Parker decided on a upriver turning buoy to be negotiated before the boats started on their downriver journey enabling the boats to start the race into the prevailing wind. First away at 10.20 were the three cruisers Morning Calm sailed by Bill Clark and Family, Anna sailed by Bob and Dianne Branscombe and Swallowtail sailed by John Wells and Family soon disappearing from sight down Train Reach. !0 Boats came to the line for the allcomers downriver race, 8 Yeoman and 2 wayfarers, first boats to turn the mark were Felspar sailed by Ben Adams and Judith Robertson, Kingfisher sailed by David Greenacre and Gary Corbett, with Magpie sailed by David Hickman and Debby Jaffey together with Shibboleth sailed by David and Margaret Woolston and Obsession helmed by Richard Joy who was sailing singlehanded not too far behind. The two leading boats managed to extend their lead as the fleet made its way down train reach, the trees as usual making the wind very fluky and hard to predict. With the wind direction being mostly ahead ensuring plenty of tacking it was quite a long haul to the chosen turning point this being the long course mark which is just before Langley Dyke. The Cruisers Morning Calm and Swallowtail turned first closely followed by Cruiser Anna passing, the dinghies and keelboats, on their way back to the finish line. Felspar, Kingfisher and having caught up from quite a way back Magpie turned first of the allcomers, passing Shibboleth and Obsession still heading for the turn. The boats all made good progress on the return journey with Obsession moving up to challenge the leaders. However on entering Train Reach the wind again proved difficult to predict and the boats made very slow progress to the finish line. Swallowtail was first home of the cruisers with Morning Calm second seperated by 3 seconds, after handicap had been applied the winner was Morning Calm, second Anna and third Swallowtail First to take the bell for the allcomers was Felspar second came Magpie with Kingfisher 4seconds later Obsession took fourth place having managed to close the very large lead of the leading boats

Sunday 22nd May

The first of the clubs Picnic Races was held this Sunday, with the weather and wind conditions ideal, a surprisingly small number of boats turned out for the event. The Picnic Races consist of the combined results of a downriver leg and upriver leg, the destination usually being Cantley, as was the case this Sunday. First to start at 10.20 were the Cruisers of which there were three, Swallowtail sailed by John Wells and crewed by Sandy Watt, Amanda Bleazard and Crispin Lambert, Morning Calm sailed by Bill Clark and Ann Clark and Anna sailed by Bob and Dianne Branscombe, the cruisers got away to a good start making short work of Train Reach. After a journey of around 1 hour 20 minutes at the finishing line the boats could not have been closer, with only 2 minutes separating the first and third boats, after handicap Morning Calm took first place at the halfway stage. The Alcomers were next to start at 10.30, and with only five Yeomen keelboats taking part the start line was unusually quiet. All the boats got away to a good start, but Magpie sailed by David Hickman and Debbi Jaffey soon put distance between them and the rest of the fleet, followed by Kingfisher sailed by Gary Corbett, Paul Parker and Judith Robertson and Millchic sailed by Emma Crowfoot and Jane Yeates leaving the other two Yeomen with quite a task to overcome as they were left well behind. Magpie managed to maintain her lead over the course of the race finishing well ahead of the other two following boats, second to cross the line after quite a tussle with Kingfisher was Millchic followed by Kingfisher. A very pleasant picnic was enjoyed at Cantley, before the return journey commenced, with the Cruisers starting first at 13.00 in the brisk wind which had picked up, followed by the Yeomans at 13.10. The Cruisers were soon out of sight in the brisk conditions, taking less time on the return leg with the stronger wind. At the finish line it was again very close, with only one minute separating the three boats. This time after handicap it was Anna taking first position. The overall result of the race was very close with Morning Calm taking first place and Anna taking second place on the downriver leg and the reverse result in the upriver leg the overall first position goes to Anna as the winner of the last race. The return upriver leg of the Yeoman race saw this time the boats vying for position for most of the race, with all the boats nearly in touching distance of each other until Buckenham Ferry when Magpie moved ahead follow by Shibboleth sailed by David and Margaret Woolston. These two boats managing to put some distance between them and the other boats. At the finishing line Magpie claimed the honours with Shibboleth second and Trio sailed by David and Will Taitt third. With two clear wins on both legs of the race Magpie won the Picnic race overall in the alcomers class