Junior Race Day a hit at Hickling Broad

Action from Hickling Broad SC Picture: Ian Symonds (Image: Archant)

Malcolm Mellor, club sailing secretary, led the first junior race day by introducing 20 of the club's youngest sailors to the mysteries of start sequences, flags raised and lowered by the race officer and the art of not getting in front of the start line at the wrong time.

This, with the excellent winds and increasing sunshine, made Hickling an extremely attractive proposition for new racing sailors and families new to sailing.

The juniors enjoyed four short course races in the morning and two in the afternoon with committee boat starts.

Four Lasers, eight Toppers and a mix of Wayfarers, a Mirror and a mix of other single class boats had a clearly enjoyable time and relished the competition.

In one- and two-lap races the Toppers leant heavily on their handicap, but this only served to galvanise the Lasers into some impressive sailing.

Sunday was the second weekend of the summer points series and it was noticeable that the sunshine and warmth had attracted the fair-weather sailors as well as the diehards.

More than 20 boats entered the first race - Punts, Lasers, Wayfarers, a small fleet of mixed dinghies and the club's Solo group.

Racing was brisk in an excellent breeze from a committee boat start just off Jarvis Point.

This became one of those days much loved by the Punts and the Solos with the usual super Wayfarer in good form.

Race one, with most wind, went to a Laser standard with a Solo second and a Solution third. Race two, with the wind decreasing, slightly saw the pattern for the day - Wayfarer one, Solos second and third. Race three summarised the day - Peter Dearnley's Wayfarer first, Mac Powell's Solo second and the Haslam Punt third while race four saw Dearnley finish first again, with Malcolm Mellor's Solo second and that Haslam Punt third again.