Lowestoft Race 17th June 2007

The Annual Lowestoft Race is one of the highlights of the racing season for the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Sailing Club. The race course stretches from a start close to the club house at Gorleston beach and continues along the coast to Lowestoft harbour; it finishes with a return leg back to the club house. The distance is approximately 5 miles and at this time of year a strong tide ensures that competitors have to consider tidal as well as wind conditions in deciding the quickest racing course to sail.

Although the forecast predicted strong winds only a light breeze from the south west was present in the morning. This race is traditionally timed to start at high water so that the strong tide flooding south takes the boats down to Lowestoft; on the return leg the tide then switches to ebb north assisting the fleet back to Yarmouth . With the light wind conditions the slower boats would not have been able to complete the course unless the tide conditions were favourable.

A total of 20 boats entered for the race including several guest entries from the nearby Rollesby and Hickling Broad Sailing Clubs. The fleet contained many different classes of boats with the asymmetric classes well represented including RS 800s, RS 400s, a B14 and an RS 500, the catamarans included Hobie F18s and a Dart single hander; the remaining boats consisted of Javelins, 505s, Fireballs, a Laser, a Contender, a Wayfarer and a Albacore. OOD for the race was Richard Fryer who ensured the start was as simple as possible with all the different competing classes of boats.

At the start of the race the lead was taken by Dick Roe in his B14 as the fleet set off for Lowestoft, eventually towards the end of the outgoing leg the B14 was caught by the F18 Hobie catamarans with Mark Quale first to round the Lowestoft buoy. The faster boats including the F18’s of both Daffy Holmes and Dave Abbott were next to round the mark followed by the B14 and the RS 800 of Chris Sallis. However a significant lull in the wind at the Lowestoft buoy enabled the remainder of the fleet to catch up and give an advantage to the slower boats.

Although the race was started 20 minutes after high water, when the fleet reached the Lowestoft mark after approximately an hour’s sailing, the tide was still flooding south and it was clear that the return leg would be against the current. The majority of the faster boats opted to go offshore to pick up more wind, with the slower boats deciding to hug the shore line back to Gorleston to get out of the tide. The result was a widely separated fleet for the return leg with some boats sailing up to a mile offshore to find favourable wind.

Ultimately it was one of those rare days that favoured the slower boats and for the first time in many years the race was not won by a club sailor. In first and second places were the guest boats of Robert Sparrow and Dennis Manning in a Wayfarer and an Albacore respectively; Darell Tupper-Carey was third in his Laser. 

Result of the Annual Lowestoft Race-

1. Wayfarer 10213 (Sparrow/Parsons) 2. Albacore 8066 (Manning/Saddington) 3. Laser 75139 (Tupper-Carey)  4. Fireball 14182 (Riley)  5. Fireball 14867 ( Falat/Falat)  6. RS500 523 (Pilling/Pilling).