Horning Sailing Club Regatta Week 2014
by Holly Hancock 11 Aug 2014 14:24 UTC
4-8 August 2014
Horning Sailing Club's Regatta week began on Monday, 4th August, with warm sunshine and light breezes that built throughout the day to provide pleasant sailing conditions. With over thirty dinghies including Optimists, Toppers, Lasers, Splashes and Enterprises taking part in the morning race, the river was a colourful spectacle, although racing was little more than a drift. By the morning series the winds had increased but were still fluky, which resulted in large splits between finishers in the fleets.
In the eleven-strong Cruiser race, Paul Howes convincingly won both races, whilst James Galloway in the Allcomers B, Will Penny in the Allcomers C, Stuart Bailey in the Reedlings and Peter Brown in the Rebels all took at least two wins each to take early leads in their respective fleets. By the evening races for the Junior Allcomers and Officers' Trophies, the sea breeze had kicked in. They were sailed for by the usual mix of craft, from Toppers to Reedlings, with Charlotte Hammond sailing an Enterprise winning the Delves Challenge Cup for under-18 helm, and Kim West, sailing Rebel Queen, the Officers' Trophy.
Tuesday's racing, run by Snowflake Sailing Club, began in a similar way to Monday with brilliant sunshine and light breezes. Again the morning dinghy races attracted over thirty entrants, providing a wall of colour across the river.
The morning Yare & Bure One Design race was closely contended, and although Paul Howes sailing Purple Emperor got away to take first place, around ten seconds separated the next ten finishers, all running back down the river to cross the line in quick succession. In the light and fluky airs there was no shortage of penalties, with at one point almost all the boats attempting to round buoy number one. The breeze became even lighter during the lunchtime cruiser race when, as their start sounded, nearly all the entrants were travelling backwards away from the start line!
The evening scratch race for the Mira Tankards sailed for in Reedlings and Lasers provided some entertainment when Commodore Bob Hancock was gaining ground on race leader Stuart Bailey, both sailing Reedlings, when a sudden gust prevented him gybing round the final buoy seconds before the finish and he was forced to tack to weather to avoid the moored sailing cruisers. However, he quickly recovered to take second place ahead of Lucy Drew sailing a Laser. Thea Keller sailing Yeoman Tiger Moth took the First Trophy just a few seconds ahead of Izzy Barham-Brown also sailing a Yeoman.
There was a dull and wet start to Wednesday's racing, but this did not dampen spirits and turnouts across the fleets were still good. With the line run by Norfolk Broads Yacht Club, the day began with a little more breeze than the previous two days, but by lunchtime the rain eased, sun shone and the wind dropped. Competitors demonstrated immense patience as the lunchtime races extended into lengthy drifts, with the cruisers being shortened upriver, it being almost impossible to make progress against the tide, with only three finishing within the time limit. All fleets were affected, with some boats stationary for so long that a pigeon landed on the mast of a racing Yeoman, creating a new type of burgee - a "bird"gee! After a short postponement the afternoon series was sailed for in slightly more consistent winds, leading up to the evening races for the Junior Trophy and Braithwaite Cup for Services and Ex-Services. The Junior race was sailed for in craft from Toppers to Lasers, Enterprises to Reedlings, Rebels and Yeomans. With helms ranging from 8-year-old Leo Pearce sailing a Rebel to 16-year-old Ezra Bailey sailing his Laser, it was won by Joe Brown sailing Rebel Rothay, closely followed by Edward Wildman and Jack Barnham sailing their Toppers. The Braithwaite Cup was won by Chris Shallcross sailing Grizzled Skipper.
Thursday's sailing marked the Horning Open Town Regatta, and saw the biggest turnouts across the week, over 70 boats participating in the morning series alone, and over half of these dinghies. Beginning yet again with light winds, during the day these swung 180 degrees and picked up to provide a pleasant breeze, at times proving a little too much, with numerous capsizes during the early afternoon race. With plenty of trophies to be sailed for competition was intense. During the afternoon Mixed One Designs race, all but one of the Rebels returned flying a green flag, having taken a penalty for rule infringements. Meanwhile, the Yare & Bures were again the strongest Keelboat fleet, with fourteen entrants, the Bath White Trophy being won by Clive Gardner sailing Hairstreak. The lunchtime Waterman's race for the Yacht Builders Challenge Cup was a battle of youth, with two Oyster employees participating, both sailing Reedlings. It was eventually 16-year-old Ezra Bailey, an apprentice at the firm, who pulled away to win.
The evening race for the Second Water Babies Challenge Cup for helm under-18 and crew under-21 is a highlight of the week for many, and this year did not disappoint, with ten entrants in a range of keelboats including Reedlings, Yeomans, Rebels and Yare & Bure One Designs. First over the line and first on handicap was Joe Brown sailing Rebel Rothay who also picked up the Richard Page Trophy, followed closely by Ezra Bailey, again sailing the Reedling, who was second on handicap. Third was Lucy Drew sailing Rebel Queen.
The Horning Challenge Cup, awarded for outstanding performance on the day in the judgment of the Regatta President, was given to Roger Hannant of the Laser fleet, while the Second Horning Challenge Cup for best overall performance in the afternoon series on handicap went to Doug Noble sailing Rebel H.
In contrast to the rest of the week, Friday, the final day, began cloudy and overcast with a moderate wind that remained throughout the day, and some boats opting to reef during the morning's racing. Turnouts were still good across the fleets, despite the adverse forecast, which thankfully did not materialise until after racing finished. Although many of the series trophies had already been decided, there were a few where the competition was still open. One of the most competitive fleets during the week was the Rebels, which saw an impressive turnout of seven boats, with only 15 in existence and specific to Horning Sailing Club, including the recently renovated 'Rebel' number 1.
Stuart Bailey sailing his Reedling, another class sailed only at Horning, took two more wins to secure the overall trophy for the week, while crew Andy Barnham took the helm in the evening Novices race, coming third to Thea Keller sailing a Yeoman (second), and 11-year-old Josh Palmer sailing Rebel Rascal (first). Paul Howes had a clean sweep in the Cruiser fleet with another two wins during the day, and a further first place in the Yare & Bure morning race. Will Penny also reinforced his position at the front of the Topper fleet with a further three wins despite tough competition. One of the most amusing moments of the day was when Jack Copping missed his footing, fell off the boat and ended up with his boat starting the race without him! However, he recovered from this and completed the race in fourth place. The Allcomers B and Yeoman fleets were possibly those with the most mixed results during the week, no one sailor dominating in any series.
The final races included an under-18 helm, which saw juniors take to the water in Optimists, Teras, Toppers and Enterprises. It was won by the Enterprise of Joel Bailey and Sarah Clarke, just seconds ahead of Will Penny and Jack Copping.
In traditional manner, Friday ended with the juniors' water frolics, followed on Sunday with Commodore's Day of family fun, which included a Grand Scavenger Treasure Hunt, BBQ and Model Boat Racing competition, the perfect ending to an unforgettable week.
More photos are available at www.norfolkeventsphotography.co.uk/galleries/horning-regatta-week-2014
Trophies:
Single Race Trophies:
The Shields White Admiral – Purple Emperor (Paul Howes)
Officers Trophy – Rebel Queen (Kim West)
Delves Challenge Cup – Club Enterprise (Charlotte Hammond)
First Trophy – Tiger Moth (Thea Keller)
Bosun Trophy – Comma (Malcolm Pritchard)
Junior Trophy – Rebel Rothay (Joe Brown)
Braithwaite Cup – Grizzled Skipper (C Shallcross)
Fleet Trophy – Club Enterprise (Charlotte Hammond)
Landamore Open Regatta Trophy – Maybe 2 (Bernard Mann)
Rebel Lion Trophy – Rebel Jade (Ken Davies)
Bath White Trophy – Hairstreak (Clive Gardner)
Onyx Trophy – Jaws (Stuart Bailey)
Ranworth Salver – Laser 119289 (James Galloway)
Cockshoot Salver – Bluebird (Will Penny)
Yacht Builders Challenge Cup – Jaws (Ezra Bailey)
Crystal Salver – Melinda (Paul Howes)
Second Horning Challenge Cup – Rebel H (Doug Noble)
Second Water Babies Challenge Cup – Rebel Rothay (Joe Brown)
Rebel Junior Trophy – Rebel Rothay (Joe Brown)
Meadow Brown Trophy – Purple Emperor (Paul Howes)
Benson Trophy – Melinda (Paul Howes)
Phiz Trophy – Rebel Rascal (Phil Storey)
Bullard Cup – Apache (Joel Bailey)
Mary Cup – Rebel Rascal (Josh Palmer)
Series Trophies:
Ernest Oakes Challenge Tankard – Laser 119289 (James Galloway)
Top Hat Trophy –Apache (Joel Bailey)
Cadet Trophy – Juniors –Bluebird (Will Penny)
Ernest Woods Memorial Trophy – Blue Wings (Mark Harris)
Robert Moore Memorial Trophy – Rebel Rothay (Peter Brown)
Original Horning Challenge Cup – Laser 119289 (James Galloway)
The Yeoman Trophy – Tanskey (Toby Fields)
Flight Trophy – Jaws (Stuart Bailey)
Fisher Trophy – Juniors – Bluebird (Will Penny)
Ramuz Challenge Jug – Melinda (Paul Howes)
Hermes Trophy – Rebel Rothay (Peter Brown)
Longmynd Trophy – Wet Feet (Roger Hannant)
St. Benets Tankards – Apache (Joel Bailey)
Visitors Tankard B – Laser 19730 (Henry Whipp)
Judith Paris Trophy – Tara (Geoff Stubbs)
Partridge Trophy – Bluebird (Will Penny)
Badger Trophy – Shiwana (Chris Thomson)
Mike Evans Regatta Medal – Bluebird (Will Penny)
Yare & Bure OD Centenary Trophy – Blue Wings (Mark Harris)
Cruiser Captains – Melinda (Paul Howes)