Regatta A Resounding Success

Gunfleet Sailing Club held its 2025 Regatta on Sunday 13 July in almost iddylic conditions although a little more wind would have been well received.  The breeze had originally been offshore but subsequently veered north-easterly and then continued to go east.

The first race, for the RNLI Charity Shield, saw Ella Langfeldt holding her RS Aero perfectly on the line for pole position at the start but, unfortunately, she hadn’t planned for many of the other helms going full bore as the class flag dropped, so flying past.  Adam Kedge in his Laser then took the lead but soon found Brian Allen passing him in his RS Aero.  With all the craft starting by the Outer Distance Mark it proved a close-knit beat up the coast to the Kingscliff buoy, with John and Sarah Heath first round the mark in their RS 200, followed by Allen, then Derroll Pedder, Tim Dye and John Tappenden, all in RS Aeros.  It was then out to the Preston Park buoy, before returning down to AWS with the flood tide under the competitors. The fourth leg was a beat out to Seaward and whilst the Heaths still held the lead, it was now Dye and Allen second and third.  A rather long run down to the St. Michael’s buoy saw Allan just cut in front of Dye as they rounded the mark but Pedder grabbed the opportunity to take the buoy extremely tight and momentarily take the lead. Dye was having none of this and as the first lap was completed he managed to pull ahead by just two seconds; the second lap seeing Dye pulling away from everyone else and so claiming victory.

RNLI Charity Shield:
1.    RS Aero – Tim Dye
2.    RS Aero – John Tappenden
3.    RS Aero – Brian Allen
1st under 18:  RS Aero – Ella Langfeldt

Following an excellent lunch, served by the Galley Crew, it was time for the race for the Diamond Jubilee Trophy.  Langfeldt, once again, took up her stationery position, sitting on the line but as the seconds ticked away she found herself the wrong side and although the individual recall flag was hoisted, she failed to return to correct her error and had to be disqualified.  Meanwhile Mark and George Venables in their Dart 18 catamaran went into an early lead on the beat to Kingscliff, but sailing slightly freer had a greater distance to travel.  Tappenden was first round Kingscliff, followed by Allen, Dye, and then the RS Aero of Martin Chivers.  The course took the fleet out to the offshore buoy, into AWS, back out to Seaward, before heading down to Eastcliff and then through the line.  During the race the wind veered south-easterly and the freshly ebbing tide caught a few helms out on the beat from AWS to Seaward.  However, Tappenden worked hard to keep his early lead and ended up with a solid win.

Diamond Jubilee Trophy:
1.    RS Aero – John Tappenden 
2.    RS Aero – Tim Dye
3.    Laser – Paul Stanton

Finally the Club held Class Racing with separate starts, courses, and trophies.  By now the wind had backed to Easterly and also started to fall away.  First to go were the Toppers but with both Finley Taylor and Charlie Heath over the line, the individual recall flag was immediately hoisted and both returned to correct their error.

Five minutes later and it was the turn of the Solos and Paul Jackson was first to the Kingscliff buoy, followed by Michael Gutteridge, in what turned out to be a two horse race; Jackson opening the gap and taking the honours.  

Next itr was the Laser fleet and Simon Kedge got a cracking start, Paul Stanton hot on his heels, then Gary Hollis.  By the time the Lasers reached the Kingscliff buoy it was Stanton in the lead, and Adam Kedge had overtaken Hollis; Stanton going on to a clean win.

The ever enthusiastic RS Aero sailors were just a bit too enthusiastic to start and all seven jumped the line requiring a general recall.  Ten minutes later the race got underway although Allen had to return as he was the wrong side of the line.  Dye lead the way, followed by Tappenden and then Chivers.  The course gave several opportunities to do battle but at the end of the day it was a win for Tappenden.

The final races, for the catamarans and the menagerie fleet, became a bit of a slow motion affair with now just a light breeze, but saw the Venables take the Cat Trophy, and the Heaths lead the menagerie fleet.

Class Race Winners:
Topper – Charlie Heath 
Solo – Paul Jackson
Laser – Paul Stanton
RS Aero – John Tappenden
Catamaran – Mark and George Venables
Menagerie – RS 200: John and Sarah Heath 

The prizegiving then followed, with the Chairman of the Directors of Gunfleet Sailing Club Ltd., Malcolm Jolly, presenting the trophies.