Gunfleet Sailing Club

Gunfleet Sailing Club held the first race in its Autumn Series last Sunday morning 13 August when fourteen boats took part.  Grey skies, with heavy cloud and a gusting offshore wind that veered between north and north west, made conditions fairly uninviting and certainly kept helms on their toes.  Simon Clarke in his Solution lead on the first leg to the Kingscliff buoy although all the boats, be it the Vortex of Simon Mathewson or the Comet Zero of Roy Wyatt, stayed surprisingly close together.  There then followed a speedy run to the Seaward mark before a beat back to the K

Gunfleet Sailing Club has just completed its annual Cadet Week and it was declared an overwhelming success by all those taking part.  Some 40 Cadets and Otters spent a full and varied week both on and off the water.  When the winds were suitable for sailing there was a large fleet of Toppers and Topazes flying around, and on one day there were some record breaking attempts, including how many people you could get on a Topaz and who could climb highest up the mast on the water.  With some very strong winds the Cadets and Otter spent some time on shore and had an organised tour

The highlight of the Gunfleet Sailing Club calendar took place last weekend 29/30 August when the annual Regatta was held.  On the Saturday it was Cadet Day and some forty youngsters took part in a A Tug of War that's all at seaday of fun and games on and off the water.  It all started with “Numbers-Up” when a fleet of Topazes and Toppers, carrying four people on each, chased after plastic bottles containing various numbers in order to gain the largest score.  There then followed a Treasure

Gunfleet Sailing Club held its race for the London Trophy last Sunday 23 August, an event exclusively for the faster boats, and twelve craft took part.  Before the start the wind was onshore force five and this suggested it would be a lively sail, but as the time got nearer so the wind abated a little and dropped to a force four, remaining in a south easterly direction.

Gunfleet Sailing Club played host to he 2009 National Championship of the Solution dinghy class last weekend 15 & 16 August 2009 with 15 boats taking part from as far a field as Manchester, Cheshire, Hampshire and Leicestershire.

Gunfleet Sailing Club held a race for its oldest trophy last Sunday 9 August, The Tee Dee Challenge Cup, with 20 boats taking part.  Under blue skies, unbroken sunshine and a light easterly breeze the craft all bunched together by the Outer Distance Mark ready for the off.  As the class flag fell from the yardarm, signalling the start, the boats all beat up to the Kingscliff buoy.  The slower handicapped craft all stayed close to the shore in order to minimise the impact of the flood tide and several lost time as they found themselves unable to quite make the mark at the firs

Once again the members of the Gunfleet Sailing Club had a very busy weekend that started on Saturday 1 August with a picnic cruise.  Ten Boats plus a Club Rescue Boat headed up the coast to Frinton, enjoying a pleasant reach as the craft took the last of the ebb tide.  As the crews all relaxed and took refreshment so the dark clouds began to gather and the breeze freshen.  The wind then swung south westerly and as the boats beat back it picked up further, resulting in a lively but speedy return to the Club.

It was the turn of the slow handicapped boats at Gunfleet Sailing Club last Sunday 26 July when the race was held for the Potterers’ Pot.  A southerly force 4 to 5 wind and large seas greeted the nine boats that took part, and once the competitors got on the water so the conditions seemed to freshen still further.  Derroll Pedder in his Qba looked as though he was going to get a flying start but capsized just seconds before the “off”.  This resulted in Club Commodore Richard Walker leading the way in his Sea Ranger but it wasn’t long before the slightl

Gunfleet Sailing Club played host to the East Coast Laser Challenge last Saturday 18 July with visiting helms from Clubs around the eastern region.  The competitors were greeted with a force four gusting six westerly wind and a rolling sea complimented by white horses.  As the boats rigged so the wind dropped a little, although gusts of 27 knots were still being recorded; and with these rather unsettling John Tappenden, centre, wins the 2009 Laser Challengeconditions a number of helms decided to sit the fir

Very mixed weather conditions greeted the members of the Gunfleet Sailing Club last Sunday 12 July when fifteen boats took part in the single-handed race for the Toppo Trophy.  Six of those taking part were Club Cadets or Otters as the first young person home won the Cadet Single helm.  Under a somewhat overcast sky and a stiff westerly wind it was Andy Dunnett in his Laser that got away to a good start on port tack, with half the fleet following him, whilst on the starboard tack it was Simon Clarke who lead the way in his Solution.  Kelvin Morton was the first to capsize in