It was another fantastic Spring Day for Horning Sailing Club’s fourth week of Sunday racing in the 2022 season, for the first time this year on Hoveton Little Broad. After a short postponement due to variable and fluky winds, racing got underway with a good number of boats, including a number of sailing cruisers. Although the winds started light, these became gustier during the morning. First start were the Reedlings, with the first race won by Robert Hancock sailing Siskin, who managed to get to the windward mark first, to lead for the remainder of the race. After Robert retired in the second race, it was won by Roger Pettit sailing Osiris, who would then go on to win the third, despite close competition from Kevin Saunders in Cockatrice.
The Yeomans saw a win for Geoff Stubbs sailing Blue Yeonder, ahead of Chris Bolton (Folly) and Izzy Barham-Brown (Amethyst) in the first race, a pattern that was repeated for the next race, with Geoff going on to take a third win too. Kim West (Rebel Queen) took two wins in the Rebels as opposed to Kevin Edwards’ one win (Rebel Maid). Mark Harris (Blue Wings) won two Yare & Bure races, whilst the other went to Jack Copping in Scarce Copper.
The dinghies were once again the largest fleet of the day, with several capsizes as the winds picked up. First in the Allcomers B was Edward Wildman sailing his Laser, with William Woolston second (Laser Radial) and Harrison Ryder third (Splash). Later in the morning Edward won another two races, with Harrison taking two seconds and James Street (Laser Radial) a third before his mast broke in the next race. First Topper was Anya Gittins, fresh from her experiences sailing in the East British Youth Sailing Regional Junior Training Group, with Jasper Richardson second, and Ella Middleton third. Anya and Jasper then went on to retain these positions during the next two races, with Hamish Harmer taking a third, and Ella another third in the last race.
The Cruiser races were won by George Brewis sailing Amantani on handicap, ahead of Peter Goshawk sailing Grayling.
Easter Monday saw a great turnout for the Club’s traditional Down River race to Thurne and, although light winds saw challenging sailing on the down river leg, it was well enjoyed by the 16 boats that entered, from River Cruisers to dinghies. With the cruisers first away, these included a visiting boat, and first on both downward and return legs was Phil Montague’s Pickle, with Steve Burton’s Wandering Rose second on reaching Thurne, while George Brewis’s Amantani was second on the return leg. With ten keelboats, the start was split into Yeomans and mixed Keelboats, with a few boats managing to go aground or becoming becalmed in the light winds. Despite this, racing was close, particularly towards the finishes. Overall, first on handicap to Thurne was Jack Copping’s Yare & Bure Scarce Copper, with Clive Gardner’s Yare & Bure Hairstreak second. Third was Kevin Edwards’s Rebel Maid. First on the return passage was Kim West’s Rebel Queen, followed by Chris Bolton’s Yeoman Folly in second, and Hairstreak third. The fleet also included Jeremy Tusting, sailing with his son, taking a trip down memory lane sailing Reedling Osiris, the first time sailing this class since 1963(!) and achieving a fourth place.
