Two Welland Yacht Club members took part in the Three Rivers race in Norfolk last weekend – which is the longest inland sailing race in Europe.
Alan Cox and Alistair Mitchell took part in the 61st annual staging of the race, which is held by Horning Sailing Club on the Norfolk Broads, and came home with a coveted prize.
They were invited to crew for Boston’s Witham Sailing Club commodore Patrick Cork on his Gem Micra 19ft fast cruising sail boat.
The race is held over a distance of 50 miles and has to be completed in 24 hours.
There were 101 boat entries, with Cork, Cox and Mitchell’s being in the production boat class.
Boats in their class groups were started at ten-minute intervals, with theirs being 11.25am from Horning Sailing Club.
They completed the course in 13 hours and were the 41st boat over the finishing line position.
That was improved to 35th after adjustments, which made them the leading production boat in their class and won them the Green Ginger Cup trophy, to be presented in September.
They raced very hard, taking in and out several sail reefs due to the blustery conditions and lowering and raising the mast four times for Potter Heigham and Acle Bridge.
On completion, Horning SC gave everyone a full English as they arrived – with the trio eating theirs at 2am before going to bed at 3am.
They managing a few hours’ sleep before returning to Horning to take the boat back to Hunters Boat Yard at Womack.
There, they witnessed boats still coming in with only two hours before the finishing time – with others not quite making the finish line.
Welland YC’s Cox said: “The Horning Sailing Club who organises this great spectacular event certainly deserve a pat on the back.
“It really is an amazing race and a great experience to see and take part in”.
A Wayfarer won the event overall, with Stewart Rix – who has won the Wayfarer Worlds more than once – at the helm.
- There was no sailing at Welland YC on Sunday due to the heavy rain in South Holland. They hope to return to action this Sunday.
Anyone wanting to find out more about sailing should contact the club via email [email protected] and somebody will get back to you.
