Sailing
After two weeks of indifferent weather the winter sailing series finally got under way at Oulton Broad on Sunday in excellent conditions for racing with a pleasant southwesterly wind and bright sunshine.
The sunny lull between the rainstorms produced the best turnouts of the season at our winter clubs last Sunday, headed by the 16 Yeomans which took part in Snowflakes' open meeting.
The end of season regatta was held on Oulton Broad last Sunday but it was almost ruined by one of the lowest tides for years which prevented at least half the keel boats competing as they were hard aground on their moorings.
Generally last Sunday's sailing was notable for a shade too much wind and, more seriously, too little water, at any rate in the rivers where the lowest tide of the season was manifest.
The summer points sailing series on Oulton Broad ended on Sunday in summer-like weather, the main problem being a shortage of wind. The first races were spoilt by a massive wind shift just before the starts which ruined the course by getting rid of the beats and turning the races into processions and in all the races the first boat at the first mark was still there at the end.
Snowflakes' season got under way with the Tri-Icicle race as 38 boats set off for a leisurely sail from Horning down to Womack and then back along the Thurne and towards Upton.
Eighteen BODs came to the line on Saturday afternoon for the first of their Cigarette Plate races, and by all accounts it was a tempestuous affair, with two reefs and a small jib ordered to combat the winds which reached the 30 knot mark at times.
He may have won gold in China and sailed at some of the best venues in the world, but yesterday Andrew Simpson couldn't fail to be impressed with a sporting facility on the doorstep of Norwich.
Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Sailing Club held its beach regatta at the weekend and the event was well supported by members and visitors. Even though the club's original base was at Burgh Castle, with racing on the Waveney and Breydon Water, the Beach Regatta was a major annual fixture from the 1950s to the 1990s.
A light north-easterly made for frustrating sailing at Beccles SC. In race one of the Mirror II campaign Milo Phillips just kept Harry Shipley at bay to take first place but had to settle for fourth in the second race as he, along with the other front-runners, had to be recalled at the start for being over the line on the horn, allowing Saskia Baylis, Jemma Smalls and Katie Roll to slip ahead.