Splash Nationals at the Norfolk Punt Club

Most competitors and watchers were drenched to the skin by the time they’d unhitched the trailer.

With a NorthEasterly force three to four with some vicious gusts the first race got underway on a course which enabled the full use of the broad with Guy Pelling making the early running on the left hand side with Andy Jarvis favouring the middle of the course. At the windward mark the fleet was very bunched and remained so until the first reach when Andy Jarvis pulled out a good lead. At the finish it was Andy who won from Josephine More followed by Rosie Johnson who slipped past Guy Pelling at the line.

The second race saw Andy once again assert his dominance, Rosie blasted her way to second by virtue of devastating off wind speed and Bart Sawyer narrowly pipped Guy for third.

In the third race Rosie slipped away to an early lead but was chased down on the run. With numerous position changes down to the River Ant mark the race was nicely poised and at the beginning of the next beat the leading five boats were close. Andy and Rosie pulled away never far apart whilst Guy, Jo and Bart scrapped it out for third with Bart once again sneaking past Guy.

The fourth race was cancelled due to the conditions.

Like all events it wasn’t just about the leaders, most unfortunate sailor of the day was Alice Dring who suffered main halyard failure just as she found her speed. Coldest person had to go to Camilla Craker and the best capsize to Bea Craker. In only her third time out in a Splash a tenacious Freya Newton battled her way round never letting the gusty shifty conditions get the better of her.

At Barton, as many will know, sailing takes place from a pontoon in the middle of the broad. On wet windy days this is a spot for the intrepid but the tea hut brought welcome warmth soup and most important huge slabs of chocolate cake.

A huge thank you must go to the club for running the event especially in view of the hideous conditions. Everyone likes the wind but next time we’ll make do without the horizontal rain, would you believe it the sun came out as we packed the boats away! Thanks for an excellent event.

Overall Results: (top five)