Craftinsure Wayfarer Easterns National Circuit Event at Aldeburgh Yacht Club

Prize-winners at the Craftinsure Wayfarer Easterns National Circuit Event at Aldeburgh © Sam Pygall

After a great weekend of Wayfarer sea sailing at Arun Yacht Club the previous week, the Craftinsure National Circuit for the Wayfarers, kindly supported by the title sponsor alongside Hartley Boats, McNamara Sails and Allen Brothers, headed to the picturesque Suffolk town of Aldeburgh for the prospect of some classic river racing on the River Alde. The event also represented the Class's prestigious Eastern Area Championship that has been won by several Wayfarer legends over the years.

The five strong home fleet led by fourth place nationals placed team Rupert and Simon Sydenham was supplemented with two teams from the recently crowned Club team from the Nationals at Paignton, Bough Beech, in form of Guy Marks and Sam Boniface and Ian Foxwell and Sam Pygall and a visiting team from the neighbouring Slaughden sailing club (Shaun Burland and Andy Knappett).

Despite a traffic incident on the A12 in the morning, all the competitors arrived in time for an early briefing on the Saturday. Three races were scheduled for the day and the race team led by race officer Robert Mulcahy smartly used the sail in the direction of Orford as a passage race to kick off proceedings for the weekend. In a 10-15 knot breeze from a vaguely southerly direction, a congested start saw a split in the fleet - Marks and Boniface took an opportunity to get clear air and required fewer tacks on the left bank of the river against the tide and took a lead at the first mark.

Demonstrating high quality race management for the remainder of the proceedings, they held off the local challenges of the Sydenham brothers and Luke and Alison Andrews to take the bullet and lay down a marker for the event overall.

Now set up for a more traditional open meeting race configuration of windward-leeward, the fleet got away cleanly at the start of the second race of the day. With the tide now turned and the beat with it, the critical element of the race was which side of the river to go to avoid the tide downwind. Despite their usual pond sailing environment, the Bough Beech teams got this right on the first lap and pulled through to take a 1-2 for the visiting teams, with Marks/Boniface winning the internal Bough Beech battle from Foxwell/Pygall. The Sydenhams took a third to lead the home club boats home from Jamie and Wendy Wheatley.

The tide was in full flow for the final race of the day which made the beat fast and the downward even more a case of decision making to avoid the tide and sneak a win. The wind was up a few notches as well. Foxwell/Pygall managed to narrowly avoid at OCS at the start but this proved to be a critical moment as they led from the first mark and never looked back, showing some particular speed downwind. Flawless in the previous two races, Marks and Boniface had to settle for a third in this one behind the Sydenhams but still posted a handy 1-1-3 score line to lead at the halfway point of the Easterns. The Sydenhams consistent day saw them lie second overall with a 2-3-2 and Foxwell/Pygall lay third with a 5-2-1.

The fleet enjoyed a very pleasant Saturday evening by the River Alde, with beautiful August sunshine and an excellent BBQ laid on by the Club and the prospect of lighter winds on the Sunday.

The forecast proved to be broadly accurate on the Sunday morning with 3-5 knots from the southwest but with the prospect of a shift to the north during the day. Again as a great demonstration of laying on a local showcase of the river, the first race was a passage race, this time in the direction of Snape. A significant amount of place changing early on as teams rolled the dice on left- or right-hand side of the river eventually settled down at the designated first mark "B".

Marks and Boniface wriggled around the mark and kept clear to win their second passage race of the weekend, third win overall and take a grip on the event overall. The ever consistent Sydenhams took another second and Foxwell/Pygall had a better passage race by finishing third.

As forecast, the wind died completely but then came back on from the north with a reasonable 8-10 knots. The racing reverted to windward-leeward but with additional factor of compulsory club marks to avoid shallow parts of the river. This element proved critical as Marks and Boniface showed innovative upward tactics which unfortunately involved going inside these compulsory club marks and needing to double back on themselves to correct the error.

This left the local teams of the Sydenhams and the Wheatleys battling it out with Foxwell/Pygall and it was nip and tuck all the way round until the final run where again the compulsory club marks again came into play, allowing Foxwell/Pygall to sneak through on the final run to the finish and take a second win of the weekend with the Sydenhams in second yet again.

Although dominant to this point, the Marks/Boniface error in race 5 left the regatta wide open for the final race - a passage race back to a mark beyond the club and then a race back to the club line. With the tide ripping underneath the fleet at the start, Foxwell and Pygall were unfortunately OCS at the start which allowed Marks and Boniface to lead the charge at the first mark with the local teams once again giving chase. The places remained largely changed as the fleet weaved back around the river but the Sydenhams managed to get the better of a tacking duel to get ahead at the final mark.

However, Marks and Boniface skillfully blanketed and then overtook downwind to take line honours for a fourth victory out of six races, a robust demonstration of consistency and all weather boat-speed. The Sydenhams took second in the race and achieved the consolation of second overall. The Wheatleys closed out their regatta with a nice third place which secured them fourth overall plus the prize for first female helm at the Easterns (awarded to the first female crew on this occasion).

Guy Marks and Sam Boniface win the Craftinsure Wayfarer Easterns National Circuit Event at Aldeburgh - photo © Sam Pygall

Congratulations to Guy and Sam, with Guy reclaiming a title he last held in 2019 at the Easterns at Medway, sailing with Mel Titmus. A great demonstration of river sailing across both scenic passage races in both medium and light airs and tidal windward-leewards. A big thank you from the Wayfarers to Aldeburgh for hosting a great event, including Shaun Seear with support from Ellie, Andy the Chief Boatman and Rebecca and her team for excellent catering. Aldeburgh really is a venue not to be missed to demonstrate the "river-worthiness" of the Wayfarer as both a long distance racer/cruiser on tidal rivers.

The Craftinsure National Circuit continues with a first trip to Leigh and Lowton Sailing Club at the end of August before a long-awaited trip to Blackwater on the 5/6th October before concluding with the Finale at Bough Beech on the 9/10 November. This year, this Bough Beech event will also incorporate the "classic" Wayfarer nationals, where the Nipegigi trophy will be on offer for the first non-Mark IV Wayfarer. If you are interested in attending any of these events, please do get in touch via

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