Aldeburgh ‘virgins’ find it difficult to understand the appeal of racing on the river. However, when it’s blowing straight up the river at 20 knots with an asymmetric fleet, it’s like popcorn in a microwave – they’re bouncing off each other all over the place.

Saturday, during the RSK6 open meeting, competitors experienced the strongest of the breeze of the weekend with new boys Richard Graham-Enock, ‘Dad’ and Charlie Sommerset in Puffa stamping their authority on the fleet and took two wins.

Bill Masterman and Tom in Scooby-Doo were never far from the action with a second in the first race, playing the role of antagonists in a superb broaching / swimming game in the second, and managing to park themselves on the leeward mark in the third race.

Nigel Grogan and Daniel Cripps used race one to find their stride but posted a second and first in the following races.

Sunday started altogether a quieter affair with slightly less than 10 knots. This suited the usual Aldeburgh front-runners – Ian Robson and Sandy Johnson – who claimed the first two bullets.

The final race saw the breeze back-up to 15 knots and massively shifty – three K6s ‘tea-bagged’ is not something you see very often, but then 90 degree windshifts aren’t two a penny either.

No-one was clear who had won overall as the fleet came ashore – a good indication of how close the racing was. One point separated the first three boats and it was Peter Kirkby and Will Elson in Pippi who claimed the top spot through consistency with a string of seconds and thirds.

Overall Results
1st Pippi – Peter Kirkby, Will Elson (Queen Mary Sailing Club)
2nd Puffa – Richard Graham-Enock, Charlie Somerset, ‘Mum’ and ‘Dad’ (Aldeburgh Yacht Club)
3rd Scooby Doo – Bill Masterman, Tom Steppings (Hayling Island Sailing Club)
4th Nigel Grogan, Daniel Cripps (Royal Corinthian Yacht Club)
5th Cloud Nine – Ian Robson, Sandy Johnson (Aldeburgh Yacht Club)
6th Cru Classe – Nick Jones, Mike Butler (Aldeburgh Yacht Club)