Nod Race 2024 at Overy Staithe Sailing Club
by Jennie Clark 29 Aug 22:13 UTC
26 August 2024
Bank Holiday Monday is normally associated with queues of traffic but the members of Overy Staithe SC stayed well away from the roads, and the parking tickets being handed out in the village by the little seen Traffic Warden, as the club held its Nod Race.
This longer distance race sees the fleet race through from Overy harbour to the Nod Mark, which is the most easterly of the buoys in Brancaster Harbour. It provides challenging conditions as the creek is not particularly wide in place, and can result in a long beat one way and a long run back. Sailors generally pray for a southerly wind to allow them to reach as much as possible!
The wind for this year's Nod Race was a south westerly and a relatively pleasant 10 to 15mph. The race was a fund raiser, with the RNLI chosen as the recipients for the donations made by sailors and supporters.
Mark Beck was Race Officer and set a course with a start line at the eastern extremity of the harbour, with Nod mark to port and a quay finish. The Juniors were set a shorter course with their own 'Junior Nod Mark' as their turning point.
Nod Races can be judged by the speed at which the fleet return, and it's fair to say that this was a relatively speedy race with the fleet coming back over the finish line just minutes over the hour. Reports of some lovely planing conditions and the smiles of the sailors as they came ashore said it all! What a lovely way to spend a Bank Holiday.
Top 10 results for the adult fleet were:
1st Ashley Deakin (Laser)
2nd Lucy Lamont (Laser 4.7)
3rd Alex Scoles (Europe)
4th Rodney Tidd (OK)
5th George Smith (Laser Radial)
6th Bernard Clark (OK)
7th Alex and Charlie Smith (Sharpie)
8th Sophia Hodges (Laser 4.7)
9th Spike Turner (OK)
10th Andrew Storer (Laser)
Top 3 Juniors (only 3 competed):
1st Theo Adams (Topper)
2nd Georgia Toosey (Pico)
3rd James Lamont/Hugo Hodges (Topper)