RANKING 1
Saturday 11th March saw the 1st 10R Ranking event of 2023 take place at Norwich Model Yacht Club. Considering the weather conditions 24 hours earlier. it was great to see double figures make the effort hoping the previous day’s blizzard conditions will have passed!
And sure enough the sailors were not disappointed. Although cold, the sun was making an effort to come out, and the light SW breeze was slightly stronger than forecast of even less.
Vinnie Zammit and his race team got 14 races completed in total. A pretty impressive effort considering the conditions!
Graham Bantock showed yet again why he is a multiple champion but he was not allowed to have things all his own way with wins recorded by Austin Guerrier(2), Phil Holliday(2), Colin Harper(1), and Barrie Martin(1).
RANKING 2
Sunday morning dawned, once again no rain, nearly blue skies, but most importantly a fresh breeze was blowing from the West straight down the lake. The seven skippers that had entered the event proceeded to get their boats ready, whilst the seven members of the race team prepared for the event. PRO Vinnie Zammit and his team set a windward leeward course covering some 200 metres and at 0930 hrs the first race was off.
From the start Graham Bantock and Austin Guerrier showed that they were to be the main contenders for first place with Hugh Mac snapping at their heels.
Lunchtime came and as predicted the three of them were out in front with Graham leading followed by Austin and Hugh.
After lunch the wind speed increased causing all to change down rigs this made for some hairy runs downwind which made it very entertaining for the public that were watching. Unfortunately, Colin Harper was having electronic problems all morning which eventually caused him to retire after race 7. Then in race 8 Roy Stevens noticed that his bumper had fallen off causing him to miss a couple of races. Then again after race 8 Barrie Martin noticed a large crack in his hull and despite trying to repair it, he also had to retire. This left 5 boats competing in the event.
The event was completed after 16 races with the top 3, Graham, Austin and Hugh all having won at least 1 race.
Congratulations to all who took part for their sporting manner in a light hearted friendly event and a big thanks to the Race Team for all their work.
Ten Rater Sailing in the UK 