Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Sailing Club action at Gorleston beach consisted of four back-to-back windward leeward sausage races for the Open Sprint Series Programme.

Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Sailing Club action at Gorleston beach consisted of four back-to-back windward leeward sausage races for the Open Sprint Series Programme.

There were a total of 14 boats which competed during the day with the catamarans again well represented. There were three Hobie Tigers and an FX1. The remainder of the fleet included two Fireballs, four RS 400s and three Lasers,

The club also welcomed back the Seddon twins as day visitors sailing an RS 800. In contrast to their previous visit to the club when bad weather prevented them from getting onto the water, on this occasion they were able to participate in a full day's racing.

Although the weather was wet with heavy downpours during the day, there was a good Force 3 breeze from the south west that made for good sailing conditions.

One notable feature during the day was the strong tide with its high point during the morning. As it ebbed during the latter part of the day the strong current flowing north meant that all the boats struggled to make headway into the tide during the windward leg-even the catamarans were complaining. Chris Sallis was OOD for the day and the sausage course was set running almost parallel to the beach over a distance of a mile.

During the morning races the tide was flowing south which helped the boats during the windward leg. The wind increased in strength during the first race enabling the faster boats to get onto the plane. There were a few capsizes and the rescue boat was kept busy during the morning.

Richard Fryer and Carol Smalls in an RS 400 took first place in the first race with Dave Houghton and John Symonds in a Fireball taking first in the second race.

After lunch the wind at first dropped in strength and several boats decided not to compete during the afternoon. However, shortly after boats got out on the water again the wind strengthened.

The afternoon races were held when the tide was at its strongest, many of the slower boats struggled to make headway against the current.

Richard Fryer was able to take full advantage of these testing conditions and he took first place in both afternoon races.

The Fireball of Dave Houghton was second in both races. With three wins from the four races the day belonged to Richard Fryer.

Results. Race One (11): 1 RS 400 721 (Fryer/Smalls), 2 Fireball 14867 (Falat/Falat), 3 Fireball 14753 (Houghton/Symonds), 4 Laser 75139 (Tupper-Carey).

Race Two (12): 1 Fireball 14753 (Houghton/Symonds), 2 Fireball14867 (Falat/Falat), 3 RS 400 721 (Fryer/Smalls), 4 Laser 75139 (Tupper-Carey).

Race Three (7): 1 RS 400 721 (Fryer/Smalls), 2 Fireball 14753 (Houghton/Symonds), 3 F18 (Abbott/Faulkner), 4 RS 400 1137 (Brown).

Race Four (4): 1 RS 400 721 (Fryer/Smalls), 2 Fireball 14753 (Houghton/Symonds), 3 RS 800 (Seddon/Seddon).