08/05/2022
Snettisham Open Snettisham Beach Sailing Club

Unfortunately only one race could be sailed at the Snettisham open meeting because the tide was so slow in coming in. We hoped to be afloat by 10 am but had to wait the best part of an hour for the water to be deep enough to launch. The breeze was light and very shifty but the race team sent us of as soon as they could get the committee boat afloat and it was just after 11 when we got racing. 

Veronica Falat was the early leader of the 7-boat Streaker fleet but, on the second lap of the windward-leeward course, Jasper Barnham caught up but it was still very close and they took turns in the lead until the final run when Jasper led to the finish with Veronica just a few seconds behind. 

Meanwhile the rest of the fleet also enjoyed close racing. Chris Smith had sailed a good first beat, rounding just behind Jasper, but then got stuck in a calm patch while Veronica and Jasper pulled clear and the others caught Chris up. After 2 laps Chris was still in 3rd place but he didn't realise that the race team was shortening the race; Veronica and Jasper were already well into their 3rd lap so Chris assumed there was still another lap for him to do, so set off upwind again, only to find that others headed for the finishing line and, by the time he had realised what was going on, he had dropped to 4th behind Chris Foster. Lyndon Bird was a very close 5th.  

The race team tried to get another race started but we all knew it was a forlorn hope, especially after a young Topper sailor climbed out of his boat and stood only waist-deep in the water near the committee boat. So the abandonment flag was flown and everyone hurried ashore to avoid the indignity of being marooned out on the mud flats on a falling tide!

Many thanks to Snettisham Beach SC for attempting to give us a good event. It was still a very pleasant day!