Category: 2018 Reports

Last night saw the running of the rescheduled Thursday Beach Regatta with the tide mostly in but still flooding strongly till the end of the racing.  Richard Fryer and Matt Chives set a W/L course with the fleet beating into a shifty Northerly F3, Race 1 way got underway with 6 boats on the line. To set the theme for the Evening the returning Richard Brown (RS 400) with Tamsin as guest crew headed inshore followed about ½ the fleet, Harlow and Sykes searching for more wind offshore, Richard and Tamsin rounded first with a clear lead and continued to stretch their lead over the rest of the fleet until the line to take an easy win.  Race 2 start saw Brown weave through the Fleet on Port just finding room with Dave Houghton clearing the line on Starboard with everyone else tacking to avoid the committee boat.  The boats were much closer this time at the windward mark as Houghton remembered how to sail his Rs300 but Brown just ahead, by the Leeward gate, it was Brown, Houghton and Sykes not far behind, Sykes leaving the kite drop far too late and by the time it was down well past the gate allowing the whole fleet to pass  by the time they returned to the course.   Brown taking line honours, Houghton not far behind with Buck taking 3^rd on handicap in his laser, Adrian (D-one) taking a short swim on the last Gybe.  Race 3 a quick 1 lapper in the fading light saw a repeat as Brown kept in shore all the way to round in the lead and take the line, with Buck taking 2^nd this time in his Laser.  The fleet returned to shore for pasties and to congratulate Richard and Tamsin 3 bullets and the regatta.

Full results on website………

Thanks to Richard and Matt for a great evening.

With the various forecasting sites predicting light winds varying between the North to South East we were grateful on arriving at the club to be greeted with a relatively stable F2 ESE – SE wind. With the added bonus of blue skies and temperatures in the mid 20’s it made for a glorious days sailing. With racing starting on the last of the ebb tide and finishing as the flood tide started to pick up there was little tide to contend with for the nine boats that ventured onto the water.

Ed picked the perfect day to swap two hulls for one exchanging the Hobie for the club 400 and quickly getting to grips with Wing-wangs!
Phil (700) took on the role of Akela for the day leading the fleet around the course in every race. In race one the key upwind was judging when to venture out to the windward mark. Tom & Will (505) and Dave & John (400) timed it best to follow Phil around the course. Race two saw Phil and Lorna (400) judging the beat to perfection to head the 400’s around the windward mark. In the final race Richard & Robyn (400) and Dave & John (400) led the chasing pack, although Phil’s(700) superior downwind speed enabled him to open up a considerable lead almost lapping some.
Full results on the club site.

Top marks to the race team, Anna, Keith & Nick for three good races and a quick turnaround between races. The only downside of the day was the fact that the great weather conditions meant Gorleston beach more resembled the Costa Brava making finding a route back to the prom quite a challenge.

GYGSC hosted their Beach Regatta on the 23rd and 24 th June.
Locals were joined by visitors from WOBYC and RBSC with eleven different classes competing, ranging from a Solo to an RS800.
Despite the day starting in sunshine and a NE F2-3, the conditions got tougher as the day proceeded. The Race team set a large Windward / Leeward course and with racing starting around low water the first race was sailed in slack water.
Chris Sallis, swapping his usual vessel, a D-One for his Tasar and sailing with Matt Frary were a class apart and led the fleet in the first two races to record two comfortable wins. Nick Favell sailing his D-one was consistently quick upwind and led the chasing pack to record two seconds. As the sky clouded over the wind steadily increased to provide some challenging conditions. There were a number of capsizes with some deciding to head for shore by the end of the second race.
The wind had increased to a F4-5 by the start of the final race with saw a reduced number of starters. With most competitor choosing the play safe and not fly spinnakers they were no capsizes despite the tougher conditions. Nick Favell led from start to finish to claim line honours with Phil and Dennis Manning, sailing a Wayfarer finishing second.
The forecast on Sunday proved partially correct as we enjoyed a day of unbroken sunshine. However, the wind for race four was stronger than forecast, with a good F4 from the NE. With the tide still ebbing it made for an easier beat to the windward mark for the hiking boats. The Tasar once again set the pace early up the first beat, only being pasted by Jamie Freeman and Tamsin Highfield in an RS800 halfway up the beat. With a long run against the tide back to the leeward gate the boats with spinnakers made some big gains over the others throughout the race. Jamie and Tamsin opened up a large lead, lapping some of the boats to record a first with the Wayfarer of Phil and Dennis Manning just pipping Nick Favell for second.
The wind had eased by the time race five started and now a F3. Once again Jamie and Tamsin did a horizon job on the rest of the fleet, this time lapping nearly half the fleet. Behind them was a close battle between the D-One’s of Nick Favell and Steve Gray plus the RS400 of Dave Houghton and John Symonds with only a few seconds between them throughout the race. Jamie and Tamsin recorded their second bullet and the ever consistent team of Phil and Dennis another second. The battle for third was close with Steve Gray finishing a few seconds ahead of the next two boats.
The wind had eased to a F2 for the final race. With the lighter conditions the faster boats struggled to plane downwind and with the Wayfarer never far behind they claimed their first victory of the event. Nick Crickmore sailing a D-One managed the downwind legs better than most to record a second, his best result of the event.
It was close overall with just two points in it. The Wayfarer of Phil and Dennis overall victors with 10 pts, Nick Favell second on 12 pts and David and John third on 20 pts.

Full results on the club website here….

A big thanks to David Brief who was OOD on both days and all the other helpers who manned the rescue boats and galley on either Saturday or Sunday.

There was a lot of activity in Gorleston today with many people there to watch the Gt Yarmouth Air Show. Parking places were at a premium and the sensible ones arrived early. It was a cloudy day with the wind generally coming from the SW and ranging from F5 to F1. Race one was the most testing with some big shifts and gusts which did see a few sailors testing the water. Phil Highfield (RS700) sailed consistently well opening up sizable leads in all races to claim three comfortable wins, only being pressed by Chris Sallis (D-One) in race one. In the second race the wind settled to a relatively steady F2-3 providing some close racing amongst the D-Ones and RS400’s, with Nick Favell(D-One) claiming second. By the time the final race started the wind had eased to a F1-2 and shifting between SW and WSW. With Phil sailing his own race the others enjoyed another close battle with only a few seconds between them. This time Dave Houghton, with guest crew for the day Tom Carr (RS400) claiming second. Thanks to Jamie, Nick and Lea for providing a good days sailing and looking after those who needed assistance. Results now on club website

The forecast proved accurate on Thursday with the wind, which had been quite strong all day easing to 10 mph from the West just before the start of the racing to provide a pleasant, if testing evenings sail. However,  the wind decided to test the fleet dropping at first and eventually  doing a U-turn ! The Race team sensibly shortened the race with the single handers coping best in the conditions with Mark Porter in a club Laser winning both line honours and on handicap. Phil Alison in  his Contender was just behind to claim second.

With the wind now a steady 12mph from the East the race team moved to the ‘new’ leeward mark to start the second race. Phil Alison led the fleet for the first two laps until he decided to ‘moor up’ to one of the marks, leaving Keith and Anna in their 500 to take line honours. Mark however, was close enough behind to claim the race win on corrected time with Keith and Anna second.  Mark  proved very consistent throughout the evening putting in laps times of 7.31, 7.35, 7.32 and a late spurt on the last lap of 7.27.  Thanks to the race team of Phil and Lorna for an enjoyable evening sail and for providing supper in the club afterwards. Results are on the club website

There was quite a mixture of boats for the Britainnia Pier race, ranging from a Shadow X to a Wayfarer plus the usual batch of D-Ones and RS’s. There was a F2-3 NE-erly and with the tide ebbing it meant an easier beat to the mark just of the Britiannia Pier. The race team set the start just off the café so most ventured straight offshore into the tide. Considering the wind direction it was surprisingly shifty so there was plenty of tacks required as we headed up North. Unsurprisingly David Brief in his Shadow X was first to round followed some time later by Tom & Will in (505), Chris (D-0ne) and Dave & John(400), with the later two heading straight inshore to escape the tide and Tom & Will heading directly back south. A little way back the remaining boats rounded the mark relatively close with Steve (D-One) catching some good pressure as he headed inshore catching the others ahead. The run back to the finish was slow although David (Shadow) did a disappearing job opening up a huge lead. Chris (D-One) did a good job hugging the shore to open a gap on the others. Phil, back over from Oz and swapping foiling Wazp for a Wayfarer for the day with dad Dennis steered a beeline along the coast which for them proved the best option holding their position on the water in a fleet of faster boats. Suspect Phil would have preferred the Wazp! With Lorna swapping ships and sailing with Keith (500) as Phil was sailing with brother Paul, back here from New Zealand there may have been a little rivalry between the club top couple. At the finish it was Lorna earning bragging rights as their crossed the line just 20 second ahead of Phil. Once the times were inputted into sailwave it was David who emerged top dog with Phil & Dennis claiming second. Full results are on the website. Thanks to the race team for a pleasant day on the water.

Results are on the GYGSC site –  http://www.gygsc.org.uk/Results/2018/2018Thursday.htm

Results are on the GYGSC site –  Spring Series 2018 Results

Report kindly provided by Dave Houghton

Report kindly provided by Dave Houghton

May 10th

Photos kindly provided by Phil Harlow