The strong gales might have blown through, but it was still gusting to well over 30mph as Waveney & Oulton Broad Yacht Club prepared for Sunday's racing.
The safety team knew they were going to be busy, and did a superb job rescuing dinghies and towing the Squibs back safely to their moorings after the racing.
With the wind gusting from the south west a decent length beat was possible, allowing the fleets to put in a long starboard tack from the start.
The Fast Handicap managed to have at least three capsizes before the start and even more during the race, including George Madin who ended up with a very muddy sail in his Aero.
The Phantom of Nick Favell handled the gusts superbly to win, followed by Jonathan Jones in his Laser and Richard Fryer and Rosie Madin in their RS400.
The Squib Fleet greeted Jim Tubby and David Gale for their first race of the series in Silver Fox, and they showed they hadn’t forgotten how to make the boat go fast by breaking out at the start and slipping round the first mark just clear of the rest of the fleet.
The other five boats all piled into the first mark together, with Brimstone (Bryan and Jenny Riley) rounding just ahead of Croc (Chris and Gill Jordan).
The runs with spinnakers up were very quick, with an awkward decision as to when to put in the required gybe – wait for a lull or just go for it and hope the dinghies were not going to get in the way!
Pot Black and Paramour edged too close to each other on the rolling run, so Pot Black retired.
Paramour (Chris Schonhut and Laurence Read) chased Croc and managed to overtake them around the final mark after Croc’s crew had taken the decision that it was too windy to fly a spinnaker down the last run.
With the wind refusing to drop, all the boats decided - much to the safety team's relief - that one race was enough, and retiring to the bar to discuss the various acts of bravery or foolhardy was a better option.
Results
1st Fast Handicap
1 Phantom Phanfone Nick Favell
2 Laser Jonathan Jones
3 RS400 Custard Richard Fryer and Rosie Madin
1st Squibs
1 Silver Fox Jimmy Tubby and David Gale
2 Brimstone Bryan and Jenny Riley
3 Paramour Chris Schonhut and Laurence Read
1st Slow Handicap
1 Topper Doh-Nut Nathan Clark.
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