A day of sunshine, big gusts and occasionally light winds.
With multiple forecasts suggesting gusts around 25 knots only the very keen made the trip to Gorleston. Despite a few days of strong winds sea conditions were surprisingly flat, the sun was shining and the temperature still close to 20 degrees.
After a short discussion five boats took to the water comprising of five different classes. There were a few capsizes on the way out to the start…..with a few more to come!
Racing started just prior to low water and barely any ebb tide. Ian, opting to sail his RS300 rather than his Solution (a brave choice given the conditions!) seemed to have tamed the notoriously twitchy RS300 and led Phantom Nick at the windward mark and all the way to the first gybe which didn’t quite go to plan. Nick took over the lead followed by Solution Paul. Behind Vareo Richard and Ed, sailing a club laser were tussling for the next two places until the top mast section of the laser snapped ending Ed’s day on the water.
Once round the windward mark Richard bravely opted to hoist his spinnaker and depending on conditions normally opted to gybe but a few times opted for a more cautious approach and to wear round. At one point in the race over half the fleet were capsized so the Safety team were keep busy. After three laps Nick, who by now was the only one not to have capsized, crossed the line over three minutes ahead of Paul followed by Richard.
Only three boats decided to stay out for the second and final race. The tide by this time was now slack. Phantom Nick led from start to finish, hotly pursued by Solution Paul and Vareo Richard. Nick looked comfortable in the conditions having had some extra practise during the recent Phantom Nationals and crossed the line over three minutes ahead of Paul.
On corrected time Nick had a clean sweep scoring two bullets with Paul scoring two seconds and Richard third in both races.
Full results http://www.gygsc.org.uk/Results/2026/2026Autumn.htm
More pictures on the club Flickr site – https://www.flickr.com/photos/gygsc/albums/with/72177720333188767
Todays top gun – Nick