Asymmetrics at Great Yarmouth & Gorleston Sailing Club

Action from the Great Yarmouth & Gorleston B14 & Asymetric Open © Dick Roe

Action from the Great Yarmouth & Gorleston B14 & Asymetric Open © Dick Roe

Great Yarmouth & Gorleston SC hosted an opem meeting for Asymmetric dinghies with seperate starts for B14 & handicap competitors, the B14 event being part of the UK series. The open event was attended by 19 boats with visitors from Hickling Broad, Oulton Broad, South Shields, Brightlingsea and Whitstable. There were nine B14s with the allcomers fleet consisting of one RS200, two RS800's and seven RS400's.

Three back to back windward/leeward races were planned for each day, with the handicap fleet using elapsed time handicapping.

Saturdays racing saw light variable winds which proved challenging to both race officers and competitors! Two races were completed with much place changing taking place before the wind died and both fleets had to return to the beach.

Overnight leaders in the B14 fleet were Dan Willett/Stu philips with a first and a second followed by Chris Bines/Dave Gibbons with a seccond and a third. Mark Barnes/Tom Pygall won the second race but did not start the first so Simon Hadley/Pete Nicholson filled third spot with a third and a fourth.

In the handdicap fleet Richard Fryer sailing with Di Holmes in an RS400 had a consistant day with two firsts, closely followed by Chris and Tash Pilling in a RS200 with a second and a third. Tieing for third spot sailing in RS400's were Richard Brown/Hamish Grice with a third and a fourth and Jim and Robyn Rosser with a fifth and a second.

Sundays dawned with bright sunshine but hardly any wind so racing was delayed until the predicted sea breeze set in. This arrived on que and built to a solid force as racing started to provide perfect blasting conditions.

Bets of the bunch in the B14 class were Barnes/Pygall with two firsts and a second to win the event with runners up Bines/Gibbons scoring a second, a third and a first. Tieing for third spot were Willett/Philips with a fifth, a fourth, an OCS and Hadley/Nicholson with a fourth, a second and a third, Willett/Philips taking third on the count back.

In the allcomers fleet Veronica and Ben Falat with three firsts in their RS800 tied on point with Fryer now crewed by Carol Smalls with a fifth, a second and a third, the Falats taking the evnt on the count back. There was another tie for third spot between the Pillings with a fourth and two sixth's and the Rosser's with a sxth and two fourths, the Pillings winning the count back. The other notable performance of the day was by Di holmes now crewing Martin Brown who only sailed on the Sunday scoring two thirs and a second.

B14 results:
1st 768, Readycrest, Mark Barnes, Tom Pygall, Whitstable YC, 5pts
2nd 741, CSC, Chris Bines, Dave Gibbons, Brightlingsea SC, 8pts
3rd 757, Turkey Sub, Dan Willett, Stu Philips, Brightlingsea SC, 12pts
4th 770, ----, Simon Hadley, Pete Nicholson, Brightlingsea SC, 12pts
5th 767, Pain In The RS, Chris Sallis, Matt Frary, Great Yarmouth & Gorleston SC, 17pts

Asymmetric Handicap results:
1st RS800, Bitter Blue, 870, Verinca Falat, Ben Falat, Great Yarmouth & Gorleston SC, 7pts
2nd RS400, Custard, 721, Richard fryer, Di Holmes/Carol Smalls, Great Yarmouth & Gorleston SC, 7pts
3rd RS200, Harry, 369, Chris Pilling, Tash pilling, Hickling Broad SC, 15pts
4th RS400, ----, 951, Jim Rosser, Robyn Rosser, Hickling Broad SC, 15pts
5th RS400, Hang On, 1137, Richard Brown, Hamish Grice, Great Yarmouth & Gorleston SC, 19pts