Great Yarmouth & Gorleston Sailing Club Beach Regatta

Great Yarmouth & Gorleston SC Beach Regatta © Kevin Davidson

GYGSC hosted their Beach Regatta over the weekend of the 23rd and 24th June. Locals were joined by visitors from WOBYC and RBSC to make an interesting mix of dinghies with eleven different classes competing, ranging from a Solo to an RS800.

Saturday proved to be a day of attrition. As sailors launched it was sunshine and a NE F2-3, however the conditions got tougher as the day proceeded becoming overcast with winds up to F5. The Race team set a large Windward Leeward course and with racing starting around low water with the first two races were sailed in little tide. Chris Sallis and Matt Frary sailing a Tasar were early pacemakers showing great upwind speed and comfortably won the first two races. Nick Favell sailing a D-One led the pack of asymmetrics to record two seconds.

As the sky clouded over the wind steadily increased to provide some challenging conditions. There were a number of capsizes with some deciding to head for shore by the end of the second race. With the wind a F4-5 and some big waves there was a reduced number of starters for the final race. With few competitors choosing to fly spinnakers there were no capsizes despite the tougher conditions. Nick Favell led from start to finish to claim race honours with Phil and Dennis Manning, sailing a Wayfarer finishing a close second.

Great Yarmouth & Gorleston SC Beach Regatta - photo © Kevin Davidson

The forecast on Sunday proved partially correct as we enjoyed a day of unbroken sunshine. However, the wind for the first race of the day was stronger than forecast, with a good F4 from the NE. With the tide still ebbing it made for an easy beat to the windward mark for the hiking boats. The Tasar once again set the pace up the first beat, only being pasted by Jamie Freeman and Tamsin Highfield in an RS800 halfway up the beat. With a long run against the tide back to the leeward gate conditions were perfect for the asymmetric dinghies with the added bonus of some rolling waves providing some exhilarating sailing. Jamie and Tamsin opened up a large lead, lapping some of the boats to record their first win with the Wayfarer of Phil and Dennis Manning just pipping Nick Favell for second.

The wind had eased by the time race five started and now a F3. Once again Jamie and Tamsin did a horizon job on the rest of the fleet, this time lapping nearly half the fleet. Behind them was a close battle between the D-One's of Nick Favell and Steve Gray plus the RS400 of Dave Houghton and John Symonds with only a few seconds between them throughout the race. Jamie and Tamsin recorded their second bullet and the ever consistent team of Phil and Dennis Manning another second. The battle for third was close with Steve Gray finishing a few seconds ahead of the next two boats.

The wind had eased to a F2 for the final race. With the lighter conditions the faster boats struggled to plane downwind and with the Wayfarer never far behind they claimed their first victory of the event. Nick Crickmore sailing a D-One managed the downwind legs better than most to record a second, his best result of the event.

Overall Results: