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North West Norfolk Week – from the back of the fleet!


Paul Turner, TVSC N3157 “Perfect Kiss”


You will have all no doubt already read Med’s report of the GILL meeting on the 26 and 27th July at Hunstanton (being the first two days of the NWNW) and Graham’s notes on the sailing for the whole week on the NTOA website – but this is what happened at the other end of the fleet – and off the water!


Friday 25th July – we set out from darkest Breaston, “we” being myself, Christine Marshall and Tricia Wood, at 2.30 with a car and boat loaded to the gunwales with double rations of catering (both had brought enough to feed 5,000 with rather more than 10 loaves, 4 fishes and lots of fruit and veg) plus various suits of sails (including Graham’s new Alverbank’s and an aged fully battened mainsail for me to wave about at Hunstanton) in addition to the usual sailing gear and suitcases. Having been used to only breakfast at the cottage with every other meal out, it looked like being a different sort of week from the very start – and it was! We had arranged to meet up with the Up River crew at the Jolly Sailor in Brancaster but Dave Peacock, who was driving direct from Malvern, arrived very late – so Gerry arranged for our beers to be consumed in our absence!


Saturday 26th July – dawned sunny with a gentle breeze and we made our way to Hunstanton after a serious breakfast. Parking loads of boats and accompanying motors proved to be entertaining with the local council mini Hitlers (sorry, car park attendants) proving to be serious “jobs worth’s”.


Race 1 – the local money was on a general recall for the N12s – and they were right with over enthusiasm and the tide taking many boats over on the start. We were re-cycled to start after all the other classes. We had an (innocent) incident on the start line and were last at the windward mark, recovering one place by the finish. The joy of being at the back of the fleet is that you actually get more sailing time and don’t have to wait around so long for the next start! You also get to meet the happy souls in the other classes who haven’t yet discovered the joys of N12 sailing.


Race 2 - saw us getting a much better start, and, now getting used to the sea, we were actually up with the fast boys at the first mark. But then the rot set in again with everyone planing away from us – we did have easily the oldest and heaviest boat (and a few from Up River had cheated this year by upgrading their yots from Design 8s!)


Meds and family plus Gavin and Sabrina joined us at the Cottage for overnight accommodation or camping and it was off to the Jolly Sailor (when DP finally got back from the shrine of the wibberly wobberly rudder where everyone seemed to be consulting about these new fangled finned foils – there’ll never get off the ground!) Lots of N12 yotters were there and I seemed to end up in Paradigm Corner hearing plans to produce new ready to sail DB yots with carbon rigs for £6,000 complete with sensible rudders – what a fantastic boost this could be for the class.


Sunday 27th July – not a cloud in the sky but it seemed that there was some confusion about who was sailing which boats with what sail numbers. I hadn’t helped by using the fully battened sails with N3363 on yesterday for N3157, but it seems that the committee were using LAST year’s entry forms! Decided to use the new “legal” sails to avoid more confusion (and to hopefully go faster)!
Race 1 – good breeze and a bit of a chop saw a few capsizes (but not us!) and we beat a few.


Race 2 - saw us getting a good start and were mid fleet at the windward mark; again, we were left behind in the downhill planing. We had arranged to meet up with Graham and Zoe at the Jockey in Burnham Mark-up, but hunger took over and it seems that we had eaten and gone before they arrived.


Monday 28th July – we decided to have a rest day! We had all overslept, knees were aching and hands were not functioning so the King’s Lynn mud did not seem too appealing (although I am reliably informed that one crew actually wanted to go and sail there!) A call to Gerry confirmed our decision – apparently the chef at the club had broken her arm and there seemed little possibly of the usual fabulous all day breakfasts – so we went to Holkham and walked (slowly) around the coast to Wells where we had lunch and caught the bus back to the car. I rang Barry Judge, former TVSC member from the dark ages, and had a very pleasant hour or two in the Ship PH at Brancaster reminiscing about the good old days at TVSC and the assorted characters. The purpose of the meeting was (honestly!) to inspect his Mark8 which has been in his garage for many years; N1733 Christi seemed sound from a very brief inspection and I may just have found a new and caring home for her at TVSC.


Monday night we ate in (a gastronomic experience!) and there was a serious thunderstorm overnight – the only rain that we saw until Saturday lunchtime at Snett.


Tuesday 29th July – saw us off to Wells next the Sea. David and I took the boats down early to get a space in the boat park next to the club house well before the briefing at 2.30. DP spent many happy hours “bimbling” with string, and other assorted bits and bobs. The hands had recovered but the knees were complaining – and Tricia was holding forth about her bruised bottom! Although the wind seemed quite gentle in the lee of the town it was fairly hairy during the dead run out to the start line with Lasers falling in around us. We had several steady gybes as we navigated the twists of the channel but managed to totally lose the foredeck under water in one of the squalls – miraculously we didn’t capsize! Rule 2* was invoked before Rule 1* kicked in and we beat a hasty retreat to the safety of the club house to be joined very soon afterwards by Messrs Copsey, Pelling and Elcombe. Graham confessed later that he had been “cacking it” in the start line – so it must have been a bit windy! And the day finished with an invitation to all from Gerry and the Up River crew to join them for a BBQ – great evening – many thanks guys!


Wednesday 30th July – DP departed back home very early in the morning – without waking anyone! The day dawned sunny and breezy. We had a lazy day, drove to Blakeney for the race start at 5.00pm, had a fab sail and didn’t come last (only because Tim Harris retired!) A few fell in – but again, not us. The start was quite interesting with a reef right in the middle of the line, plus there was another shallow bit only feet from the windward mark – but that’s NWNW for you! It was getting a bit late by the time we had got the boats off the water (North Norfolk closes at 9.00pm!) and we only just got to the Ship for a meal and then adjourned to the Jolly Sailor for the N12 convention being held there.


Thursday 31st July – another lazy day, late lunch and a late sail at Blakeney. Tricia, after a day off for good behaviour, was now crewing for Gerry. Decent breeze to start but it died off – and we beat Patrick Elcombe! Had been reading Robin Stevenson’s book “The story of the National Twelves”, kindly lent to me by Mike Nokes – 91 clubs are listed as having N12s fleets in 1965. It was worrying to note how many Midlands clubs have stopped sailing N12s, or have disappeared totally, in the last 40 years.


Friday 1st August – overslept, lazy late breakfast and off to Snettisham. It was quite breezy when we got there, but no water (although we were assured by the locals that it had been ordered). The keen yotters rushed about preparing boats as Gerry and I wandered about, went down to the beach and looked north to the gathering black clouds over Lincolnshire. After some skull scratching we decided that discretion and all that, and so didn’t bother to rig the boats – the crews seemed quite relieved! And the wind got up, the squalls arrived, boats got broken and the race was abandoned. Gerry and Liz joined us at the Cottage for the last evening including walk across Burnham Market to the Jockey for a meal. The only time the telly was switched on was that evening to see what the weather forecast was going to tell us about Saturday morning; I had also rung the “Old Dragon” at home for her to surf the interweb for updates. The committee decided that, much as we would liked to get up at 4.00am to be on the water for a 6.15am start, the weather looked too dodgy – and we decided on a lie in instead!
Saturday 2nd August – breakfast – and Gerry was keen to get to Snettisham to see how much business was waiting for him!  Prize giving (results elsewhere in Graham’s report, but I think that he forgot to mention that this was his first NWNW and that Christine and I got cups for “meritorious conduct i.e. last!), collect the boats and off home promising to return next year!


Serious thanks must go to Adrian & Joan Tebbutt and all the assorted clubs and helpers for making this year another superb week’s yotting. Overall 40 boats entered for the week with 75 on the water at Hunstanton (30 were N12s) so they had a lot of work to do – and they did it very well!


So Chaps (and Chapesses) – book your accommodation now and send off your entry form for NWNW 2009 (being the 60th anniversary )! I have!
 
*Turner’s Five Rules of Fun N12 Yotting available on request if accompanied with suitable alcoholic bribery!