Summer has officially arrived at Gorleston with the start of the Summer series. Despite some very grey clouds above they stayed clear of Gorleston so we enjoyed a warm, occasionally sunny and rain free day.
There was an eclectic mix of classes ranging from a Minisail to an A-Classs catamaran. 12 boats joined the days racing with the Contenders and Solutions the ‘biggest fleets’, with two boats a piece!
An offshore wind provided plenty of variation throughout the day with the occasional complication of a competing sea breeze. With HW at 12.30 there was a good flood tide flowing.
The start of ‘Summer’ sailing
Race one – a reasonably consistent F3. A-Class Ed and Jordan & Nathan in the RS400 quickly pulled away from the rest of the fleet to lead by over a minute after lap one. Behind Solution Paul led Streaker Roger by one second.
Where’s Ed ?
On lap two the RS400 was still out in front with Vareo Dave now in second, closely followed by Paul and Roger. At the finish Jordan and Nathan claimed line honours, Ed recovered from an eventful second lap to finish second with Dave third.
Start 2
Race two- and many snakes and ladders with the sea breeze attempting to make its presence felt. RS700 Adam found his form to lead with the RS400 after lap one, two minutes ahead of the A-Class and three minutes ahead of the rest led by Dave, Roger and Solution Richard. Lap two and the A-Class now ahead with the RS400 just in front of the RS700.
Race 2 – approaching the finish line
Behind, Dave was fending off the Streaker and the two Solutions who were enjoying a close battle. The A-Class took line honours, the RS400 had a difficult final lap with Adam managing to pass to finish second. The two Solutions were neck and neck all the way down the final run with Paul managing to hold off Richard by two seconds.
Race 3 start
Race three- Wind now around a F2. One of the local seals made a brief appearance, popping its head up just before the start. A-Class Ed opened up a large lead on the whole fleet and managed to lap a couple of boats. Behind Vareo Dave led the rest after lap one, closely followed by the RS400 and RS700. Nearly a minute behind was Phantom Phil with the two Solutions one second apart. As the fleet approached the windward mark on lap two, the wind died. The leading boats struggled to make way between the windward and spacer marks resulting in the rest of the fleet gradually catching up. Eventually a light breeze picked up and the fleet slowly made their way down the run to the finish line. The RS700 took line honours (although the cat was on an extra lap) followed by the RS400. The race team were kept busy with recording race times as all bar one boat finished within minute.
The Gorleston trolly dolly’s await the arrival of the OOD
Carl, sailing his vintage Minisail was never far behind in all three races and on corrected time managed to record three race wins, although race two was tied with Dave. Streaker Roger put in a consistent set of results with three thirds.
Many thanks to the Race team, Tamsin, Anna and Jamie for a lovely and at times testing days sailing.
Full results on the club website http://www.gygsc.org.uk/Results/2025/2025Summer.htm
More pictures on the club Flickr site
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gygsc/albums/
Carl sailing his Minisail