Splash Travellers at Waveney & Oulton Broad Yacht Club
by Gavin Johnson 4 Oct 2006 08:56 BST
1 October 2006
Heavy rain for the Splash open on Oulton Broad © Gavin Johnson
An intrepid group of Splash sailors were treated to every conceivable variation of weather for the WOBYC open.
The club managed admirably to run a five race series, the first race of which got under way in torrential rain. Results Simon Barker followed by Tom Barker with Will Johnson in third.
A second and very short race was shoehorned in before a well deserved mid morning break results with a similar order except it was Tom who triumphed over brother Simon.
The late morning session saw a slight improvement in the weather and for an instant there was some sunshine. Jack Sheldrake sailed an excellent race to win from Simon and Tom.
Lunchtime and typical Splash fleet post mortem provided plenty of amusement all round. After lunch two further races were sailed.
With clouds gathering and wind strength increasing we were obviously to be treated to some form of finale for the day. Simon took the fourth race in a closely fought battle from Jack and Tom.
The final race of the day had it all Jack Sheldrake sailed into an early while Tom, Simon, Will, Victoria Marfleet and Ian Richardson were never more than yards apart for much of the first two laps. Simon eventually pulled away from the pack. A tremendous crash of thunder signalled a huge down pour. As the fleet emerged from the storm, Will escaped to take third.
For the spectators ashore, the Splash fleet lived up to its reputation for noisy good natured banter complementing the close and fair racing.
Overall Results:
1st 1576 Simon Barker 6pts
2nd 2123 Jack Sheldrake 9pts
3rd 1066 Tom Barker 9pts