IT was a busy weekend for Gunfleet Sailing Club as they held their annual Regatta.

The event attracted visiting sailors from Clacton, Brightlingsea, North Herts and East Beds and Grafham Water Sailing Clubs.

Saturday was Cadet Day and, in the morning, it was the race for the Cadet Day Trophy.

Lively conditions greeted the young helms and crews as they contended with a force four to five wind, occasionally gusting six, and, after a slightly confused start, it was Tom and Ed Philpot that led the pack in their Hobie 405.

As they headed out to sea, on a beat to the Eastcliff buoy, they found Harry Swinbourne hard on their heels in his Laser.

Jude Aylen capsized his Topaz and, as a result, retired.

Korben Symmonds was next to capsize, in his Topper, but soon had the boat upright and continued on his way.

On the second leg, out to sea, Swinbourne took the lead, while the Philpot brothers were being chased by Ross and Caleb Aylen in their Hobie 405.

Slightly further back, in the Topaz fleet, it was Finlay Williams and Lily Kearns-Kennedy that gained a commanding lead over nearest rival Thomas Aiken, sailing single-handed, with Harrison Smith and Shona Goodchild a little further back.

The course took them on a number of other legs and, as they all beat back to the line, so completing their first lap, it was Swinbourne leading.

The second lap proved really exciting, as the wind increased, but the top three places remained unchanged.

The Cadets and Otters then enjoyed a free meal before teaming-up to play games, both on and off the water.

Results: Cadet Day Trophy: 1 Laser – Harry Swinbourne, 2 Hobie 405 – Tom and Ed Philpot, 3 Hobie 405 – Ross and Caleb Aylen.

On Sunday, Gunfleet held its open race day in lively conditions, with the wind blowing force four to five and building steadily during the day.

The morning race was an all-in handicap for the RNLI Charity Shield.

Twenty-four craft bunched at the line and, as the start horn echoed across the water, Derroll Pedder found himself on the wrong side in his Solution, as did Liam and Ian Wright on their Dart 18.

The individual recall flag was duly hoisted and Pedder returned to correct his error. The Wrights continued and so were disqualified.

The Spitfire Catamaran, sailed by James Stacey and Cat Elson from Brightlingsea, made an impressive sight with its spinnaker hoisted.

The wind continued to increase, resulting in several capsizes and retirements.

One particular casualty was Steve and Daisy Swinbourne, who turtled their RS200 while reaching out to sea.

By the end of the first lap the lead, on handicap, was taken by Gunfleet’s Ken Potts, with visitor Andy Everitt second, both sailing Lasers.

Results: RNLI Charity Shield: 1 Laser – Ken Potts (Gunfleet), 2 Laser – Andy Everitt (North Herts and East Beds), 3 Dart 16 – Robert Mitchell and Mark Butchers (Clacton).

First Cadet home: James Stacey (Brightlingsea).

In the afternoon the club held class racing and first away were the catamarans, which simply lapped-up the conditions.

The next class to start was the Topper fleet but such were the conditions that all entries retired after making little headway against a now strong ebbing tide.

There was certainly some exciting sailing in the Topaz fleet, with all entries capsizing as they completed the course.

However, no-one retired and it was a credit to cadets Harrison Smith, Mac Symmonds and Thomas Aiken that they battled on through fairly atrocious conditions.

The next fleet was planned to be the Comets but when Peter Downer launched, and subsequently ripped the rudder pintle off his boat, the helms decided to sit this one out.

Meanwhile, the Hobie 405s were storming up and down the start line, clearly champing at the bit. Charlie and Harry Spence had a very good start.

Ross and Caleb Aylen hoisted their asymmetric spinnaker on the reach out to Seaward and just took off, but the exhilaration was shortlived when the boat capsized.

Not deterred, they righted it and, still flying the kite, proceeded until the next capsize, at which time they were forced to retire.

Finally, the Laser fleet got underway, led by Everitt.

Capsizes were not infrequent with Rob Lockett definitely claiming the prize for the most that day. Robert Gutteridge retired on the second lap, by which time John Tappenden had taken the lead.

Class racing winners: David Foster Catamaran Challenge Trophy: Dart 18 – Liam and Ian Wright (Clacton).

Dave Fowell Trophy for Topazes - Harrison Smith and Mac Symmonds.

Helmsdale Trophy for Hobie 405s - Conor and Finlay Williams.

Paxton Trophy for Lasers - John Tappenden.