It’s so nice to hear that the Old Gaffers Association had a good trip to the Walton Backwaters a couple of weeks back…
(A trip that we had planned to join the Albert Strange Association at the same location [in our plastic fantastic] was called off due to strong winds.)
The Swallows and Amazons sailing event attracted 23 boats from Kent, Suffolk and Norfolk. Their crews camped nearby, survived a spectacular electric storm and heavy downpours overnight on the Friday, but then had a glorious sunny Saturday race with a good fresh breeze.
Some 20 boats completed the course, which circumnavigating Horsey Island, as characters did in Arthur Ransome’s famous children’s sailing books after which the event is named, and finished right outside Walton & Frinton Yacht Club’s clubhouse.
The fleet included 11 East Coast smack boats, and 12 others including an OGA trailer section member from Deal in Kent with Guillemot and Horta, a Tideway 14 came from North Norfolk.
One club member, Eric Perks, who had just relaunched his 1950s lug rigged Swallow called Skylark lent her to a youth crew of Eden and Ruby Lovesee-Clarke and Harry Triffitt (see picture).
Moray McPhail of Classic Marine, Woodbridge, sponsored fun and games in the afternoon, and entertained everyone with quirky prizes and witty race results reporting.
The fleet was divided into a few different classes. Results in order of corrected time were first overall and first ‘new classic’ White Diamond; first smacks boat and second overall Neva,
first ‘spirit of tradition’ and third overall Montmorency, and
fourth overall Hellovathing.
Heavy rain and no wind sent everyone home on the Sunday.
‘Secret Water’ is the Ransome book which is set on the Backwaters and Horsey Island. Spend a lot of time there and its a magical place which definitely evokes the Swallows and Amazons spirit.