Royal Harwich Yacht Club in Suffolk hosted a Firefly open meeting on 29-30 June. Twenty two boats arrived from all corners of England including Herefordshire, Cheshire and the south-west. The host club provided the oldest boat in the fleet, the recently restored “Hilary” F13 built in 1946 sailed by Nick and Cathy Dickinson. She was joined on the water by the newest Firefly in existence “Growler” F3747, the 147th boat to come out of the Rondar Boats factory in the last four years.

The racing took the format of a five-race series sailed in strong spring tides on the River Orwell. Over the weekend the breeze built from light conditions on Saturday afternoon to exhilarating planning conditions by the end of Sunday. Racing was close with Jono Pank/Sarah Small (The Band) taking the open with a consistently fast display of Firefly sailing. Nigel Wakefield/Claire Upton-Brown (Spinnaker Club) proved the best of the rest, and as at all Firefly events, racing was tight throughout the fleet. Socially the fleet had an excellent time, with all competitors camping on the Royal Harwich lawn and enjoying great hospitality combined with some aggressive games of croquet on Saturday night.

The National Firefly Association Open meeting series now moves onto Rotherham on 20 July. This one-day meeting is followed by the final two indicators for the national championship at Hamble River on 27-28 July and West Kirby on 10-11 August, before the fleet reconvenes in Hamble for the 56th national championship during the August Bank Holiday week.

Overall Results

1st F1954 “Pogie” Jono Pank/Sarah Small The Band 5pts

2nd F3674 “Florence” Nigel Wakefield/Claire Upton Brown Spinnaker Club 11pts

3rd F2649 “Mustard” Alex Davey/Elaine Goodman Rickmansworth SC 14pts

4th F3690 “Waynetta” Ian Sanderson/Linda Eadie Royal Lymington YC 16pts

5th F3023 “Fourwood Thinking” Barney Smith/Jess Brown Rickmansworth SC 21pts

First Lady Helmsman “L’Enfant” Susan Winter/Jane Collyer Rickmansworth SC