There was a much lower turnout than usual for Cantley Regatta, but at least the lack of “outside” boats meant it seemed likely that the club might well get to host the Crystal Ball again next year... At the briefing for the first race, the Officer of the Day even went so far as to suggest which race it might be allocated to!

But back to this year’s race, for which a good long course was set upriver as far as Hassingham Dyke and down to Hardley Cross. This also had the happy side effect of giving the new engine on the club boat a good long run-in when it was used to lay the buoys.

Eleven boats started and enjoyed the varied sail in a good fresh breeze. Apart from Henrietta attaching herself to the bank before the start and Kingfisher losing a quant mid-race (hooray – something for the safety boat to rescue!!) the race seemed uneventful until shortly after Anne had finished, when a heavy squall hit the bulk of the fleet who were still downriver, near the bottom mark. However, the only casualty of this was Shruff, who couldn’t avoid charging up the bank.

A veil will be drawn over the yacht which collected the distance mark on her way downriver and apparently didn’t even realise until they saw the OOD jumping up and down in agitation. Still, something else for the club boat to retrieve. Gave them something to do.

Chris Sales couldn’t quite do enough to retain the Crystal Ball, losing out to Anne, but Kelvin (proving he was awake at the briefing) did the decent thing and nominated our Autumn Regatta next year for the Crystal Ball.

The Reedcutter put on a hot buffet for us in the evening, which must have affected their beer sales, as we were all far too full afterwards to drink anything and it was noticeable that most people sloped off to bed rather earlier than might be expected.

Sunday dawned calm. Very calm. The course was shortened to loops up and down Cantley Reach and the Officers of the Day crossed their fingers that a little bit of breeze would fill in. Well, it sort of did and boats eventually managed to claw their way across the start line – slow boats first – and half way up the reach. Then it died again and almost the whole fleet drifted back down across the start line. Only Shruff had the wit to drop a weight and therefore hold their position – a move which paid off when the breeze came back, giving them an unassailable lead.

Sadism was ruled out and the course was shortened just shy of the first lap to avoid any more backwards tacking. Generally, those with bigger sails did better, as would be expected in the conditions, but at least no-one was timed out.

A decision about the afternoon course was left as late as possible, but Murphy was out and about, applying his law. The top buoy was moved downriver to shorten the course still further, but just before the start the wind freshened and backed, turning the race into a reaching romp. In a hangover from the light conditions, the slower boats went off first, but still they were returning to round the lower mark before the third start had set off. Ah well, it all added to the fun and challenge of the race and at least all 12 boats finished!

Then all that remained was the prize-giving, at which Kelvin received the trophy for overall winner of the weekend, and then the raffle, after which we took our farewells and left, looking forward to the next regatta at Breydon.

Race 1	Regatta	Cantley Open
09/07/2011	Title	Wells tankard - Sun Glory over 15% - Crystal ball
Yacht	Start No	Start Time			Finish time			Elapsed	h/cap	Corrected	Points	Minutes
		hours	mins	seconds	hours	mins	seconds
Anne	1	14	30	0	16	3	41	5621	-7	5227.53		87.13
Kingfisher	3	14	40	0	16	34	9	6849	-20	5479.20		91.32
Pandora 3	2	14	35	0	16	33	52	7132	-19	5776.92		96.28
Henrietta	1	14	30	0	16	18	49	6529	-9	5941.39		99.02
Anna	1	14	30	0	16	16	38	6398	-7	5950.14		99.17
Moonlark	3	14	40	0	16	49	48	7788	-23P	5996.76		99.95
Puck	2	14	35	0	16	35	2	7202	-15	6121.70		102.03
Modwena	2	14	35	0	16	39	41	7481	-18	6134.42		102.24
Lucky breeze	3	14	40	0	17	2	40	8560	-26	6334.40		105.57
White rose	1	14	30	0	16	41	32	7892	-14	6787.12		113.12
Shruff	2	14	35	0	DNF

OVERALL - Jack Hunt Memorial Trophy

1st. Anne  2nd. Shruff  3rd. Kingfisher  4th. Henrietta  5th. Pandora 3  6th. Anna  7th. Brigand  8th. Puck  9th. Farthing  10th. Modwena  11th. White Rose