Saturday 27th August saw 17 Merlin Rockets gather early on a sunny morning at the picturesque Waveney and Oulton Broad Yacht Club on the Norfolk Broads for their first Craftinsure Silver Tiller in a number of years. The water was glassy calm during the race briefing, but right on queue the prevailing breeze came through at 10am with a steady 8-10kt North Easterly, which remained for the rest of the day’s racing.
The first race was started well by Caroline Croft and Tim Harms, who rounded the windward mark first, followed closely by Matt Biggs and Beka Jones. The course included a shifty run lengthways down the broad on which Matt and Beka managed to make the most of the fickle wind and overtake Caroline and Tim for first place on the second lap, a lead which they didn't relinquish. Chris Martin and John Tailby worked hard all race to pass Dan Alsop and Pete Nicholson, managing to do so on the final beat of the race to take a hard-fought third place by only two seconds on the water. Colin Anderson and Anna Aylward showed good pace to see off the close-knit pack in the middle of the fleet and claim fifth, with Steve and Gill Leney only four seconds behind.
The second race had more of the same, but with a two-sailed tight reach across the width of the Broad breaking up the upwind leg of the race. This time it was Chris and John who made the most of the shifts up the first beat, then stayed out of reach of Matt and Beka for the remainder of the race to claim first. Racing was again tight in the middle of the pack, with Duncan Salmon and Ruth Hanstater showing good pace to work their way up through the fleet and claim fourth on the water.
Race three saw a congested committee sided-start, with Caroline and Tim recovering well from the back to round the windward mark second. Matt and Beka again proved too difficult to catch in first place, with great pace all weekend, sealing their open meeting win in the last race. Duncan and Ruth, now on top of the tricky conditions, sailed well to hold off a close-behind Mark Barwell and Lou Johnson by just seven seconds for third place in the last race. Chris and John had to sail in early, recording a DNF, but their first place in the previous race secured them second place overall on countback over Caroline and Tim, who counted two second place finishes.
Many thanks to the kind staff at W&OBYC for their hospitality. We had a wonderful day of close racing in a beautiful location. We hope to see you again!
Report by Tim Harms
