Horning Sailing Club had a busy weekend with three events taking place.
On Saturday they were host to a Topper Traveller event, attracting a strong turnout of 22 entrants including 11 visitors from both local clubs and those further afield, including sailors from Cambridgeshire (Grafham Water Sailing Club, Hunts SC), Essex (Harwich Town SC), Suffolk (Alton Water SC) and Norfolk (Snettisham Beach SC, Norfolk Broads Yacht Club and Hickling Broad SC).
Racing began on the River Bure outside the Clubhouse in a gentle breeze, proving just enough to get competitors around the course.
As the fleet converged in a calmer patch close to the Broad entrance, Tom Thwaites (NBYC) managed to break away and retained this lead for the remainder of the race. Second was Charles Alston and third Charlotte Knight (both NBYC). The second race followed shortly after, Tom winning again, with Timothy Evans (Grafham Water SC) second and Charles third.
After lunch racing moved to Hoveton Little Broad where a more consistent breeze was found. Two further races took place, Tom winning both to make it a clean sweep of four wins out of four. Timothy finished second in these two races, with Charles and Noah Fitzgerald (Alton Water) each taking a third position.
For many of Horning's young sailors it was their first time taking part in such an event and all persevered, showing great sportsmanship.
It was particularly encouraging to see the young sailors working their way up the fleet, with notable performances in individual races from Abigail Penny (4th), Jasper Richardson (8th), James Street (9th), Charlie Broadbent (9th), Jamie Logsdon (10th) and Noah Smith (11th).
Despite a few capsizes, and unseasonably cool weather, all returned to the Clubhouse with a smile having enjoyed the racing - Horning Sailing Club looks forward to welcoming back the young sailors soon.
On the conclusion of racing it was straight into the Sundown series with several sailors continuing to race, joined by a number of Yeoman and a Rebel.
Sunday saw a split programme of racing on the Broad in the morning and River in the afternoon, providing the best of both conditions.
The morning's racing saw a particularly good turnout of Rebels, with six taking part – although confusion ensued on the first race where all but one boat (including the race leader) took the wrong course, allowing Alex Humphries sailing Lucky Rebel to go from last to finishing first.
The second race was won by Toby Pearce helming Rebel, and the third and fourth by Kevin Edwards sailing Rebel Maid. There was a similarly strong turnout in the Yeomans with seven taking part.
Roger Hannant sailing Firefly won three out of four races, with Geoff Stubbs in Tara also winning a race in the fleet. The remainder of boats on the water included Reedlings, Yare, Bures and Dinghies enjoying the sunshine and breeze.
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