A Busy Bank Holiday For The Gunfleet

A fresh south westerly breeze provided some great sailing conditions for members of the Gunfleet Sailing Club when they took part in the Fleet Championships Race on Sunday 30 August 2026.  There was an added dimension to the event for, as well as determining who the best sailor was, it was a challenge between the Lasers and the RS Aeros as to the which team proved to get the best results.

Unfortunately, such was the eagerness of the competitors that, at the start, there were so many over the line that the general recall flag was broken out.  The helms returned to line for a rerun of the start sequence but, yet again, such were the numbers over the line that up went the general recall flag for the second time.  In order to prevent further repeats, the black flag replaced the Blue Peter which meant the race would go ahead whatever the situation but those the wrong side of the line would automatically be disqualified; the need to use the black flag being a very rare occurrence.

Maybe not surprisingly, the helms behaved themselves at the third start with a number of boats reaching down the line on starboard, whilst a similar number got underway on port before immediately tacking onto starboard; the whole fleet then heading out to sea and so gaining the assistance of the flood tide as they beat down the coast to the St. Michael’s buoy.  Tim Dye and Andy Cornforth, in their RS Aeros, along with Jono Dunnett in his Laser, lead the fleet but there was little to choose between the dinghies as they stayed tightly bunched.  Chris Maloney, having started close to the Inner Distance Mark, was pointing particularly high in his Comet and being windward of his rivals was experiencing a clean wind.  First to round St. Michael’s was Cornforth, followed by Dye and then Jono Dunnett; next were John and Charlie Heath in their RS 200 and immediately the asymmetric spinnaker was hoisted and they began to overhaul the Laser.  Then came Brian Allen and Derroll Pedder in their RS Aeros with Andy Dunnett sandwiched in-between in his Laser.  After a broad reach out to the Seaward mark it was a gybe before heading into the AWS buoy and back out to Seaward.  Following a second gybe, which was cleanly executed by everyone in the steady force four wind, there was a reach to the Kingscliff mark before beating back to the line.  At the end of the first lap, on handicap, it was Jono Dunnett leading, then Cornforth, and Jono’s father Andy third.  Unfortunately Andy then capsized which dropped him back a few places but otherwise the second lap was uneventful.

Fleet Championships:
1.    Laser – Jono Dunnett
2.    RS Aero – Andy Cornforth
3.    Laser – Paul Stanton
Winning Team – The Laser Fleet

The next day, Bank Holiday Monday 31 August 2026, the fifth and final race in the Class Points Series was held in a force 5 west/south-westerly wind; this being an important contest for a number of helms as the winning spot still remained open.  

Class Points – Overall Results:
RS Aero:  
1.    Tim Dye
2.    Ken Potts
3.    Brian Allen
Laser:  
1.    Paul Stanton
2.    Jono Dunnett
3.    Gary Hollis
Comet:  
1.    Keith Lamdin
2.    Chris Maloney
3.    Peter Downer
Topper:  
1.    Finley Taylor
2.    George Smith
3.    Debbie Chivers
Menagerie:  
1.    Michael Gutteridge