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After a year of anticipation, Horning Sailing Club’s Regatta Weekend began with racing on Hoveton Little Broad at the weekend. Thankfully, the problems encountered earlier in the season with weed had abated, and racing was able to take place unaffected.
However, the wind still proved challenging, with gusty conditions on both days. This did somewhat affect the turnout, although numbers were expected to pick up for racing on the river from Monday onwards. As a result, several boats opted to reef or use reduced rigs.
With four races over the weekend and several trophies up for grabs, it was all to sail for, and the dinghy fleet were particularly competitive – in the Allcomers B fleet (Splashes and Lasers) both Anya Gittins and Hamish Harmer were very evenly matched, sitting equal on two first places and two seconds, the remaining race won by James Street. The overall winner was Anya on countback (having won the final race of the weekend), despite tough competition from the remainder of the fleet. After Jasmine Herring’s two wins in the Topper on Saturday, Abbey Penny won Sunday’s races.
The Yeomans were also competitive, with just seconds separating the finishers, Toby Fields in Tanskey winning both races on Saturday afternoon, Paul Clarke second in Two C Sons on both occasions. The Rebels saw Amanda Barnes/Gary Wright take an early lead in Rebel Jade, with Kim West (Rebel) second, and these positions reversed in the second race, whilst the Yare & Bures saw Alastair Fields (Rosy Wave) win over Ron Jackson (Holly Blue) in both races.
Sunday’s racing got underway after the traditional Horning Week Church Service, and sailors returned to the Broad. In the Yeomans, Toby finished ahead of Paul Clarke in the first series, before Paul went on to win the afternoon races. Rebel Rothay (Peter Brown) had joined the Rebels and took line honours in the first race, whilst the afternoon races saw the majority of the fleet retire, just Kim in Rebel making it to the finish.
Dominic Copping (Scarce Copping) had also joined the Yare & Bures, winning the morning race, with Alastair Fields second, the latter going on to win the afternoon race. By the final series, the fleet was very much depleted, but a few hardy sailors continued to battle it out – mainly the dinghies, but also some Yeomans - who enjoyed the conditions. Overall, it was a challenging but enjoyable start to the Regatta.
