Radio 6 Metre Nationals at the Broads Radio Yacht Club

Where better to race these elegant boats, based on the design of their full size counterparts, than the beautiful Norfolk Broads, an area of outstanding natural beauty and steeped in the history and tradition of sailing all manner of different boats. The event was staged on water frontage to Ormesby Broad owned by the proprietors of Filby Restaurant and home to the Broads Radio Yacht club over the week end of the 9th and 10th June. Unfortunately the weather decided to be more like March than June so a cool, misty morning greeted the entrants and a light but chilly breeze was blowing from the North West making me wish that I had donned an extra layer that morning. Race Officer, Clive Burrell – ably assisted by David Grint - set an interesting and challenging course giving a long beat to the windward mark, some nice off the wind legs and a leeward mark close to the control area which gave a good view of these graceful yachts to the small band of spectators present for most of the week end. The small entry meant that it was possible to sail only one fleet so everyone was able to enjoy lots of racing over the course of the event.

Local skipper, Terry Burton, made his presence felt by winning the first race of the day, sailing his wooden RoCoCo. Bournville’s Mick Shillington, sailing another RoCoCo, was second whilst another local skipper – David Brindal – sailed his Octavia into third place. In the second race, John Taylor – who had travelled all the way from Fleetwood – took first place, sailing his Nokia - another wooden boat. Shillington notched up another second and Broads skipper Rick Buxton took third place.

Race three gave us yet another winner as Mark Holt another Broads member sailed his own design Tias into first place, second place was filled by Brindal and Burton slotted into third, giving us a Broads 1- 2 – 3. Can it last I wondered? Race four saw Buxton, Brindal and Shillington fill the first three places and in race five it was Burton, followed by Buxton and Mark Holt with Taylor slotting into fourth whilst Shillington slipped to sixth.

A good race saw Taylor finish first in race six, followed by Mark Holt and Burton whilst Shillington again finished sixth. In race seven Shillington claimed first place, Vernon Appleton, sailing a Renaissance, was second and Buxton third; whilst Taylor slipped to sixth. Race eight saw Shillington take first place, with Mark Holt second and Brindal third. Burton scored a DNF because of an electrical problem.

Race nine saw Brindal finish first, Buxton second and Burton - now back on the water - was third. Taylor filled fourth spot whilst Shillington managed only seventh. Things were now very close as race ten – the last before lunch – was started.

Shillington showed his determination to make a fight of it as he sailed into first place with Appleton and Brindal filling second and third respectively. John Taylor was again in fourth place whilst Burton slipped down to fill seventh spot. At the break the first five places were filled by Burton, Shillington, Taylor, Brindal and Buxton, a good showing so far for the local lads. I wondered how they would fair in the afternoon?

Following an excellent lunch in the Filby Restaurant sailing started again at 2.00pm and Taylor immediately showed his intent by claiming first place followed by Appleton and Burton. The afternoon continued to provide close racing with first places being filled at various times by Shillington, Mark Holt, Buxton and Taylor.

The second day started in much the same way as the first with a light north westerly moving more towards north east as the day progressed. This necessitated a slight course change but nothing very dramatic. Broads’s club commodore, Peter Holt, retired from further racing which reduced the field to nine.

The first four races produced four different winners as Shillington, Taylor, Brindal and Buxton each claimed a first. Shillington won the fifth, Taylor the sixth and Shillington the seventh. Burton took first in the next two races and Shillington consolidated his position by winning the next two. The final race before lunch was won by mark Holt.

After another nice lunch in the restaurant the sun decided to come out for a little while, as did the full size boats so spectators were able to enjoy the site of both Wayfarers and Bitterns sailing at the top end of the broad. Shillington and Taylor consolidated their positions with a first and second each in races thirty-five and thirty-six with Buxton and Appleton leading the chasing pack. Races thirty-seven and thirty-eight were both won by Mark Holt whilst Buxton and Shillington each took a second and third spot. Brindal unfortunately had to retire at this point because of winch failure which further reduced the size of the already small field.

The penultimate race was won by Mick Shillington from Damian Ackroyd in second and Mark Holt in third. Buxton was fourth and Appleton fifth with Taylor sixth. It was a close fought contest for first place overall without a clear winner at this stage and it was all down to the last race of the week end. Mark Holt took the win in race forty, Buxton was second and Taylor was third but Shillington’s fourth place was good enough to secure him overall victory from Taylor by two points with Buxton in third, a further thirty-five points behind, Appleton in fourth only three more points adrift with Brindal in fifth, by one more point – very creditable in view of his enforced early retirement – and a further single point away was Burton in sixth.

The week end had provided very close, exciting and enjoyable racing with many different skippers and boats filling the first three places at different times during the two days and only one protest which went to committee.

The presentation of prizes was made by Peter Holt, Commodore of the Broads Radio Yacht Club.

It was interesting to see that boats built from wood appeared to be fully competitive with those made from more modern materials so it would seem that the R6M class is a good one for enthusiasts of this traditional material. There is no doubt that the R6M is an elegant and graceful boat on the water and that it has the advantage of a very shallow draft which means that it can be sailed in waters of very little depth. It also provides a somewhat different sailing experience to the ubiquitous IOM’s and it therefore, seemed to me as a comparative newcomer to radio sailing, a shame that the number of boats entered was so small. Surely a viable future for this unique class is dependent almost entirely on the support of those skippers owning and sailing them and I know that it is the intention to organise a national championships again next year – hopefully more centrally located to where the R6M fleets exist – and I would urge all R6M skippers to give serious consideration to supporting this event.

Overall Results: