Clinker Weekend at Overy Staithe Sailing Club
by Jenny Clark 12 Aug 20:17 NZST
10-11 August 2024
The weekend of 10th and 11th August saw the graceful 'old ladies' of the club come out on the water. The club has many 'clinker' built boats and this is the chance for them to race together without interruption from more modern craft.
Saturday was a bright sunny day with a pretty steady 15 knot breeze, and the fleet were set a course which left many baffled and bemused - triangles and sausages are not favoured by the clinkers it seems! Wagtail sailed her socks off, helmed by Mark Beck and crewed by Peter Beck. She took the honours on handicap in both races.
Paul Goakes and Natasha Dow sailed their Twinkle 12 into second place in race 1, with Will Worsley and Ben Johnson sailing the Worsley Family 14 into second place in race 2. Julie Carroll and Catherine Goodley were 3rd in both races, in the wonderfully named Twinkle 12 'Honey Bun'.
The wind was lighter on Sunday and it was questioned whether there would be enough to race, but a course was set using club marks with the sailing area constrained by the depth of the tide and the wind direction. The wind was a steady 8 to 10 knots and the sun shone throughout. Race 1 was sailed over 2 laps, with all the boats finishing very close together. Julie and Catherine were first in this race, followed by Paul and Natasha. Wagtail had to settle for 3rd.
The final race saw the fleet take a trip round the lagoon with a run/reach all the way back to the finish line set off the quay. Wagtail claimed the race and the trophy, with the two Family 14's fighting for second place with just seconds splitting them. When the handicaps were applied those few seconds really counted as it allowed the 2 Twinkle 12's to split the Family 14's.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Name | Helm & Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | Wagtail | Mark & Peter Beck | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| 2nd | Twinkle | Julie Carroll & Catherine Goodley | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 3rd | Twinkle | Paul Goakes & Natasha Dow | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| 4th | Family 14 | Paul & Sian Beck | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 10 |
| 5th | Family 14 | Will Worsley & Ben Johnson | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 12 |
| 6th | Morston 14 | Rob Archer & Dan Sayer | dns | dns | dnf | dns | 15 |