Once again the Norfolklines Icebreaker Series has taken off with a fantastic turnout of dinghies. The Laser fleet sports the top names on the Irish circuit battling it out for top slot amongst Olympians – both past, present and aspiring.
Here’s Roaring Forties Flannigan’s great report –
Sunday 18th October was the second race of the Ice breakers event and boy was it cold. (Not as cold as the middle of last winter though....brrrrr.)
The wind was not particularly strong and was blowing from the south western direction. Race Officer??? That would have been Mr. Robin Gray NJ NRO. May I take the opportunity to say how wonderful it is to see our Battery hooters back, you know who you are! The course was course three and all fleets where present on the course.
The Toppers had a great race. Many of our Topper sailors have made it onto the Rya NI Topper Squad and even one of our Topper Sailors has made it onto the ISA Topper Squad Fleet; so well done to you guys. The Toppers excelled in the light conditions and had good buoy turnings and excellent beat and runs. The Topper Fleet has grown in size this year and I really do hope it continues to excel and grow. Holly Campbell won this race.
The Laser fleet. I hope the Laser Lads have noticed that the Race Officer has just given up on your starts and black flags every race. I find it quite amusing. The Laser fleet is the 'heart' of our sailing fleet as a whole and they really do show this on the water. The difference in sailing techniques is astounding and no matter what stage you are at there is always a place for you in this fleet. Chris Eames and his father Niall Eames have just joined our Laser Fleet. Chris is the Topper British and Irish Champion as well as being the 4.7 RYA Champion and RYA Young Sailor of the year, it’s great to have you aboard. Bapsey secured first place this Sunday. I believe there is some sort of Laser training weekend this weekend so Laser Sailors please enjoy.
The 'Big' dinghies. They are enjoying a rather larger fleet than normal which is great to see. Robin Flannigan stole 1st place with great handling and buoy turning.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, this was possibly the noise that would describe the Hurricanes on Sunday. The hurricanes are quick, agile and terribly hard for a Rescue Boat to avoid. It is always nice to see Adrian’s or Elaine’s smiling face come really fast towards you at about 20 knots as you try to start the engine. The Hurricanes enjoyed the nice gentle breezes and did their usual mark rounding’s, i.e. the big wide ones.
