13/07/2019
Oulton Broad open meeting Waveney And Oulton Broad Yacht Club

9 Streakers and 3 K1s were treated to some tricky sailing at Oulton Broad, Suffolk on Saturday 13^th July when Waveney & Oulton Broad Yacht Club hosted open meetings for both classes. Northerly winds always make racing difficult on the Broad as the trees and houses on the northern bank cast a wind shadow and create very shifty conditions.

In the Streaker fleet, Veronica Falat of the home club had a very good day, winning all three races. Local knowledge certainly helped, such as knowing to dive low on the downwind legs to get away from the north bank as quickly as possible. Another local sailor, Pete Matthews, made extremely good starts in the first two races but couldn’t hold on to the lead for more than a lap or so. Ian Bradley was the visitor who was best able to cope with the shifts and patchy wind and he and Veronica had some close battles. At times the breeze was strong enough for planing on the reaches – but it was just luck whether you were in the right place at the right time to take advantage of this. Veronica struck it lucky in race 3 and was able to sail away from the rest of the fleet on the first lap and was not challenged again while several boats were in the mix for 2^nd place, which eventually went to Ian followed by Mark Langston and Chris Smith.

The Streaker open counts towards two travellers’ series - the P&B Southern Paddle and the East Anglian series.