Author: David Houghton

The fine summer weather was still with us for Act 2 of the autumn series. 23 degrees and a warm F3-4 from the SSE providing perfect conditions and another great day on the water for the 12 crews competing.

The race team set a good sized windward leeward course. Whilst the sea was relatively flat inshore there was a noticeable swell offshore. The flood tide assisting the upwind legs and providing more time ‘surfing’ downwind back to the leeward gate.

Race one – Ed & Will, sailing the Spitfire soon raced away from the fleet completing five laps in just over forty three minutes. Mid fleet, the 400’s, 700 and D-One managed four laps and not being lapped by the Spitfire. The slower singlehanders, comprising of Lasers, Vareo’s and a Europe managed three laps and the view of the Spitfire sailing past. However, on corrected time the singlehanders took all the podium places with Steve  (Europe) beating Carl (Laser) by six seconds for first place and Richard  (RS Vareo) third.

Race two – the wind had increased by the start of the race and the sea offshore quite ‘lumpy’. This provided some exciting off wind legs, particularly for the asymmetrics, and also provided a few capsizes too!  Ed & Will again raced away but appeared to have problems on lap two which put them back with the chasing pack led by Dave & John (400).  Behind, Steve and Carl were having a close battle with just a few seconds between them throughout the race.   On corrected time it was another win for Steve, Dave & John second and Carl third.

Race three – both sea and wind abated during the race which saw Ed & Will back on form and lapping all bar Phil in his 700 and impressively managing to hold their time by thirty seconds on handicap to win the race. Quite an achievement for a catamaran sailing a ‘round the cans’ course.

Phil (700) led the chasing pack with Dave & John holding off Nick (D-One) for the first two laps but succumbed to his superior downwind speed on lap three. The battle between Steve and Carl resumed but this time they were joined by Richard (Vareo), after lap one, two seconds separated the first two, lap two just two seconds separated all three of them and on the final lap Richard managed to ‘pull ahead’ finishing seven seconds ahead of Carl! However Steve was not too far behind and on corrected time beat Nick by four seconds for second place, with Phil just two seconds behind Nick.

 Heading back to shore there was not so much excitement this week as last week as the tide was high and sea flat!

Thought(s) of the day

Never chuckle at someone else capsizing, it can happen to you – just ask Dave & John

Make sure the wheels on your trolley are secure – just ask Phil

Thanks to the race team for a great day on the water, they were kept busy at times with a several ‘customers’. They were also busy taking photos of the racing with over a hundred now on the club Flickr site.  

Chef Brown was back on form providing ‘roasties’ to accompany the pies and veg, consumed sitting outside on the prom –  long may this fine weather continue!

Pictures – GYGSC’s albums | Flickr

Full results – http://www.gygsc.org.uk/Results/2022/2022Autumn

It was the start of the Autumn series at Gorleston today. Now it normally feels like the season at Gorleston is coming to a conclusion when we are sailing the Autumn series however, today it was more like summer with sunshine and the temperature still around 20 degrees with most people still wearing’ shorties’.

The wind was around a F2 from the NE which became shifty and variable in strength between F1 and F3 at times. With HW just before the start of racing there was still a gentle flood tide flowing. This made for interesting days racing with different strength and eventually direction of tide on each round of the course.

Race one saw an unusual event at Gorleston, an individual recall. Although only one boat was considered over by the OOD,  three boats went back. obviously the other two felt guilty.

The RS400’s and D-One led the fleet round the course with Dave & John ahead at the finish line. At the other end  two Solutions, RS Vareo and Europe were separated by a few seconds after lap one with Richard (Solution) just ahead. By the third lap Richard had managed to ‘wiggle’ clear of the group finishing over three minutes ahead.

On corrected time Dave & John held their time to win, Richard second and third was Steve (Europe) just beating the other Solution sailed by David.

There was very little tide during race two so deciding whether to go offshore or stay inshore really depended on the shifty wind and hooking onto a lift.  The wind had also dropped a little and at times around a F1. The two RS400’s led the fleet with Don & Ed rounding the windward mark first, which and soon after become a busy spot with the rest of the fleet tightly packed.

On the second beat Phil’s trapeze line failed resulting in an unplanned and expected swim….and apparently some laughter from those nearby !

After three laps Dave & John had edged ahead to cross the line first and managed to hold their time. There was only a few seconds between the next three boats with Steve 14 seconds ahead of Richard who was just 11 seconds ahead of Harry in a Laser Radial.

Race three started with a hint of ebb tide.  Dave & John led from the start to the finish. Behind Don & Ed were ahead of Nick who was being pursued by Keith in the RS Vareo. The wind picked up a little during the race and by the final lap Nick was closing in on Don & Ed at the finish. On corrected time it was very close between the first three boats with Steve beating Dave & John by 3 seconds with Richard a further 12 seconds behind.

 

Thought(s) of the day

If there is an individual recall, if your name is ‘yelled’, check there’s not another person with same name who was over – just ask Dave

Hitting a mark is not good, but hitting the Committee boat and capsizing on it is really bad – just ask Nick

Solutions may be tricky to tack…but they surf really well – just ask Richard

Many thanks to the race team. A great course and inch perfect line made for a most enjoyable day, made even more complete when finishing off with a bit of surfing when arriving back at the beach!

Pictures – GYGSC’s albums | Flickr

Full results – http://www.gygsc.org.uk/Results/2022/2022Autumn

Blink and before you know it the Thursday evening series is over. Yes it was the final night and if you hadn’t realised the weather gave a clear reminder, really overcast skies making for a gloomy evening on the water. So much so, it seemed almost dark when we launched at 18.30!

Thankfully the forecasted thundery showers never happened and it had kept almost dry at Gorleston.  Nine boats launched onto a very flat North Sea, the wind a F2-3 from the NW making for a pleasant sail. With HW at 21.00 the tide was still flooding making for a long beat.

The club boats were in demand again with four of the five in use, with just the second Laser not being used.

Phil, back in his favoured and trusted Contender had a very good first beat, picking his line to the windward mark to perfection whilst several others headed too far inshore hoping to evade the tide and ending up reaching to the mark. After the first lap Phil had a good lead on the fleet which was fairly close together.

On the second lap, Team Ed, sailing the club 400, Richard (Solution) and Dave (Laser) closed the gap on Phil, helped by opting for the pin end of the gate rather than the committee boat which was down tide.

On the final lap Phil managed to hook the windward mark with his rudder. This not only allowed the rest to catch up but also helped them to see where the windward mark was as the light at this point was getting poor and spotting the marks getting quite difficult!

On corrected time Harry, swapping his Topper for a club Laser Radial emerged as winner of the final race of the season, with Dave second and Richard third.

Observations of the night :-

1. Solutions can be hard to tack, just ask Chris
2. Hitting a mark isn’t good, but hooking one with your rudder is really bad, just ask Phil
3. If your kicker is going to break during a race, its best if it does as you cross the finishing line, just ask Harry. (although he did a very seamanlike repair on it in order to get back ashore unassisted!)

Big thanks go to Julia and Jamie for offering to do OOD duty. As it turned out it was probably the busiest night of the year for the race team so considering it was their first time they did a splendid job.

Once ashore the boats were packed away quicker than usual as the promise of a Pizza feast beckoned! A few weeks ago discussions were going on as to what to do on the final night of the Thursday evening series and the ‘Pizza on the Prom’ was the clear winner.

Thankfully is was still warm enough to sit outside with just shorts and tee shirts so tables and pizza area were set up on the Prom.

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The pizza team of Keith, Ed and Dave set up Pizza HQ comprising of two pizza ovens and the pizza preparation area.  Keith had been busy during the day creating some super pizza toppings and with Keith and Ed making dough balls, pizzas were soon being cooked in the ovens. The team could teach Domino’s a few lessons with Pizzas being produced every couple of minutes, with close on twenty being cooked during the evening. Keith’s Goat cheese and caramelised onion pizza proved extremely popular while his Nutella and banana was clear winner in the sweet pizza category.

The evening proved to be extremely popular with much talk that we ought to do it again.  It’s fair to say nobody left hungry. Big thanks must go to Keith and his able assistants for a great evening.

Whilst it was the final official Thursday evening sail several talked about continuing, much depends on the weather but watch out for news on the Thursday ‘Finale’.

Full results – http://www.gygsc.org.uk/Results/2022/2022Thursday.htm

Costa del Gorleston – this is becoming the norm of late and something we could easily get use to…. another glorious day at the club made more pleasant by the cool onshore breeze keeping the temperature around 25 degrees. I was informed it was 33 inland!

The lovely weather attracted a few more boats with 15 launching onto a calm north sea. It also attracted several visitors to the beach, thankfully there was plenty of room for everyone.

We were joined by a visiting yacht which moored close to the starting area, it would have made a very nice committee boat!

With low water just before the start of racing the tide flow was different for every race making course choice upwind and downwind difficult with everyone keeping an eye on the tide state as they rounded every mark as the flood tide was evident during the latter stage of race two.

The start line was hotly contested in all three races with some finding themselves over the line with an individual recall signal sounded, something rare for Gorleston!

The wind remained reasonably steady all day with a F2-3 from the NE, although it did get a little ‘soft’ at times during race two which prompted the race team to move the windward mark a tad for race three. Needless to say the wind picked up again for the final race!

The RS400 ‘s had a good day with Richard & Rosie and Dave & John sharing the top two places in the first two races, with Steve G (D-One) third in race one and Gary (Phantom) third in race two.

In the final race of the day Steve W managed to separate the two 400’s claiming a second.

The three phantoms enjoyed some close racing in all three races, with Nick F finishing ahead of Nick C in the first. Gary finishing just ahead of Nick C in the second and Nick F returning to form in the last race just managing to fend of Gary during a race long tussle.

With the relatively light winds Phil opted to swap his usual weapon of choice (Contender) for Nick’s ‘spare’ Vareo. Considering his limited experience with the spinnaker he soon looked at home in the boat and gave the other Vareo, sailed by Richard a shock when he rounded the windward mark just ahead of him in race two. However, Richard’s experience offwind soon saw him back in front.

 

It was the last day of the Summer series with the RS400’s claiming the top two spots,  Dave & John emerging overall winners, Richard, crewed by Rosie and Angus second and Steve W, sailing his pocket rocket third.

Next week is the Late Summer Regatta, first race starting no sooner than 10.30!  visitors most welcome.

Once again many thanks to the race team for a splendid day’s sailing, long may it continue

Chef Brown was back in the kitchen and normal service was resumed, serving up his splendid ‘butchers’ pies and cool drinks.

Results and pictures available via the club website.

Pictures – GYGSC’s albums | Flickr

Full results – http://www.gygsc.org.uk/Results/2022/2022Summer.htm

Chef Browns idea to use up the remaining BBQ stock on Thursday evening with an impromptu BBQ proved so popular that he had to visit the butcher for more supplies! The weather obviously helped with sunshine and temperatures in the twenties….again. The evening proved a great success with many helping out with the food prep and cooking. We also discovered Don is a talented BBQ-er who spent some time overseeing the cooking, resulting in delicious burgers, sausages, chicken and lamb.

The evening proved so popular that discussions are underway for a Pizza and Pimms night on the last Thursday evening of the series in two weeks time. We will keep an eye on the weather and if favourable we have two pizza ovens lined up for some freshly cooked pizzas after sailing.

And talking about sailing yes we did some, we had a good turn out with fourteen boats venturing out, a warm F2 from the NE. Four of the five club boats were in action which is probably a record. A mixture of RS’s (400. 500 & Vareo’s), four Lasers, two Solutions, D-One, Contender Phil and Harry in his Topper. The tide was strong which rather dictated the beat. Timing the tack out to sea to round the windward mark proved crucial, some were too earlier resulting in extra time in the tide, some over cautious and fetching to the mark, which was the safer and faster option.

In the first race the two 400’s led the fleet round the two lap course. Team Ed crossing the line first but not far enough ahead of Dave (Laser) and Richard (Solution) to hold their time.

Race two saw some close racing with boats appearing to meet at every mark rounding. Team Ed were again first over the line closely followed by Dave and Phil & Lorna. Once sailwave had done its magic Dave was first, Richard second and Don, sailing the club Solution third. Credit must go to Harry for completing the course, making way over the strong tide in the Topper took some concentration and patience!

Many thanks to Nick and Sarah for running the racing and to Chef Brown’s suggestion of the BBQ, a most enjoyable evening of sailing, eating and mardling was had by all.

Full results – http://www.gygsc.org.uk/Results/2022/2022Thursday.htm

It was Costa del Gorleston on Sunday serving up a glorious day’s sailing for the penultimate day of the summer series. Plus 20 degrees, sunny, a F2-3 breeze and the race team setting a great course.

Conditions tempted some members to go for an early morning, pre-sailing paddle on their SUP’s. No doubt this may become more common as the club now has a ‘club’ board for members to use.

Nine boats made ready on the beach for three races in near perfect conditions, well prefect for the lighter weight crews, some of the heavier crews thought a little more wind would have been nice.

Racing got underway with the wind settling from a NE direction and the last of the ebb tide. Three boats opened up a gap on the fleet with Dave & John (400) leading Nick (D-One) and Phil & Lorna (400). Most headed offshore to pick up the last remains of the tide. After three laps Dave & John had opened up a good lead and saving their place on corrected time with Steve W (Europe) picking up second just ahead of Nick who beat Richard (Vareo) by twelve seconds.

The tide was almost slack at the start of race two but started to flood by the end of the race.  This time four boats sailed away from the others with Steve G (D-One) joining the previous three. The wind eased slightly during the race and after two laps the leading four were quite a long way ahead so the race team let them through to sail a third lap but finished the others after their second lap. On corrected time Dave & John won, Steve W was second and Steve G third, just ten seconds ahead of David Brief (Solution).

 

Race three and the flood tide set in. The wind had moved slightly to the East which allowed boats lee bow the tide, something many did to good effect. The race team did an excellent job moving the leeward gate halfway through the race which perfectly reset the course.

Dave & John took their third win of the day, with Richard second and David third.

 Many thanks to the race team for a lovely day’s sailing and to the weather gods for supplying such perfect conditions. Also to young Ed for his assistance in the dinner preparations, the stand in chefs failed to remember to turn off the oven before they left shore, fortunately Ed did….so no burnt pies!

Results and pictures available via the club website.

Pictures – GYGSC’s albums | Flickr

Full results – http://www.gygsc.org.uk/Results/2022/2022Summer.htm

Sailors had to content themselves with a warm gentle easterly breeze. With low water less than an hour away the shore line was well down with some small ‘wavelets’ rolling in as we launched the boats.

It was an uncharacteristic start for Gorleston as the first race started a few minutes early! All credit to the Race team  for encouraging everyone to get on the beach and launched and thus allowing for a short third race.

The tide dictated the beats, resulting in only one sensible route without risking over standing the windward mark and having to combat the last of the ebb tide, which was still quite strong.

The downwind legs where a leisurely affair in the light winds making them seem to last for ages.

Richard Fryer hogged the lead in all three races, out pacing everyone in his RS300.

In race one Dave learnt that being over the line at the start isn’t the fastest way to start and had to return. Richard 300 opened up a big lead earning an extra lap and managing to lap a few boats in the process.  Adrian, sailing his D-One was a comfortable second over the water but not quite fast enough to hold his handicap. Ed won the battle of the Vareo’s as Richard Foster paid heavily for overstanding the windward mark on the first beat.

In race two the fleet were a lot closer together. Richard 300 led, followed by Phil & Lorna in their 400. The two Vareo’s had a race long tussle with Richard leading Ed by 5 seconds after the first lap, opening up a gap of over 20 seconds after the second lap. However, Ed found some speed on the final lap and it was a photo finish on the line with Richard given the nod by a whisker.

 

The final race was a one lap sprint. Sprint may be the wrong term as the wind had eased by this time making it a very sedate lap.  Richard 300 led the fleet crossing the line ahead of Dave, closely followed by Adrian with all the other boats finishing within 17 seconds of each other.

Many thanks to Phil for standing in as race officer for the evening.  It was quite noticeably how much the nights were already drawing in as we headed for shore, could it be the last of the three race evenings this year?

Full results – http://www.gygsc.org.uk/Results/2022/2022Thursday.htm

Pictures – GYGSC’s albums | Flickr

It was a bag of mixed weather for Act 5 of the Summer series. There was an offshore wind which shifted between SW and W, thankfully it eventually settled for W-ish, give or take 10 degrees ! The skies were overcast most of the day, resulting in short periods of sunshine but most of the time it was 50 shades of grey cloud, some of which looked fully loaded but we luckily escaped any downpours

The D-One’s were well represented with three boats plus a mixture of others from ‘Team Ed’ in a Spitfire to Don, opting to sail the club Solution.

The wind swung to the SW for race one making for a slightly one sided beat. There were some big gusts which, coupled with the big shifts caught a few people out resulting in a few capsizes. The two 400’s led the fleet eventually opening up a good lead at the finish. Don had a good first lap almost keeping pace with the D-One’s and splitting the 400’s on corrected time with Dave & John first, Don second and Richard & Robyn third.

The wind had settled to a west-ish direction for race two although it had become lighter. Team Ed soon led the fleet, steady opening up a good lead by the finish line. After lap one Dave & John held a three second lead over Nick (D-One) , the gap remained close for the next four laps with the former crossing the line just ahead. On corrected time Nick won with the two 400’s second and third.

 

The wind picked up a tad for the final race of the day. With Team Ed speeding ahead and Dave & John and Nick battling for second place, it was a similar scenario as race two, although Dave & John managed to open up a small gap by the finish. On corrected time 4 seconds separated the first two boats with Nick winning another race, Dave & John second and Richard & Robyn third.

Thanks to the race team for a testing days sailing with variety of conditions and to Chef Brown, fresh back from Italy who was back in control of the ‘galley’ serving up a variety of pies (but no pizza !)

Results and pictures available via the club website.

Pictures – GYGSC’s albums | Flickr

Full results – http://www.gygsc.org.uk/Results/2022/2022Summer.htm

The weather was looking good for the trek to Hopton and back with a F3-4 from the south. Nine boats were rigged and ready to go and the beach was slowly filling up with people which is sometimes a consequence of the good weather. By the time we launched the wind had picked up a tad and as boats were sailing around the start line there was at least one capsize as the sea was becoming quite lively.  By the start some had decided to venture back ashore leaving a small, select few to take on the challenge.

Unsurprisingly Ed & Humphrey, sailing a Spitfire were soon leading and with the tide flooding the beat didn’t take too long and soon the boats were enjoying the long run back to the leeward gate. Phil A, sailing his Contender was clearly enjoying the conditions after Thursday evening’s light weather, and was second round the gate. Phil H, sailing his 700 sailed a cautious downwind leg and decided to head for shore followed by Richard F, sailing his Vareo, who probably enjoyed the fastest sail in the Vareo to date.

After two laps the Spitfire had a nine minute lead on the Contender which wasn’t quite enough to hold their time. Congratulations to Phil, winning the Hopton race in quite challenging conditions.

Thanks to the race team who had to endure the long wait in the choppy conditions and ensuring everyone was safe.

Once back ashore we all engaged in the now almost compulsory beer and pie on the prom with some following this up with some puddings from ‘next door’.

Results – http://www.gygsc.org.uk/Results/20http://www.gygsc.org.uk/Results/2022/2022Hopton.htm22/2022Hopton.htm

There was a solid F3 blowing from the north welcoming the early arrivals at the club. Conditions looked promising for a lively sail however, by the time racing had started it had eased and continued to do so to a weak F2 by the end of the evening.

Keith judged the conditions well in race one, heading inshore first to avoid the tide while others remained offshore for a while in what appeared to be more wind. By the windward mark Keith had a good lead on all bar the RS400 of Phil & Lorna.  With the fleet well spread out the race officer decided to finish after one lap and attempt to get two more races scheduled. Keith crossed the line first, five seconds ahead of the 400. The rest of the fleet crossed a few minutes later and on corrected time nine seconds separated the next three boats with Phil sailing his Contender crossing the line third (despite adopting a very relaxed attitude to the evenings sailing!), ahead of Richard (Vareo) and Don, sailing a club Laser Radial.

Things were a lot closer in race two with Keith again leading the fleet at the windward mark, closely followed by Richard, sailing his Vareo and Phil & Lorna. Whilst the boats headed upwind the race officer did a sneaky shift of the leeward gate as the wind had moved to the NW/NNW!  On lap two Phil & Lorna worked their way into second place and by the third lap they were leading, crossing the line first ahead of Keith and Richard. Behind Phil’s relaxation was interrupted as he needed to concentrate as he had Ed, who was sailing Nick’s ‘spare’ Vareo hot on his heels and was now getting the Vareo going well and eventually crossing the line at the same time as Phil.

By the time race three was underway the wind had eased to a gentle F2. Phil & Lorna made good use of the RS400’s extra speed to combat the tide to arrive at the windward mark first with a good lead. Behind, Phil was locked in another tussle, this time with an in-form Keith, followed by Ed, now leading the battle of the Vareo’s. Don was finding the Radial under powered in the light winds and probably wishing he had a full rig (or even a Rooster 8.1!). On corrected time Keith made it three out of three with another win. Ed, clearly enjoying the Vareo finished second, with Phil & Lorna third.

 Overall a very pleasant evenings sail with a surprisingly shifty northerly which oscillated between NNE and NW. We managed to get back ashore in the last of the evening sun. Once the boats were packed some stayed for a little beer and a Chinese takeaway in the clubhouse……don’t tell Chef Brown!

Full results – http://www.gygsc.org.uk/Results/2022/2022Thursday.htm

Pictures – GYGSC’s albums | Flickr