Cruising and Racing at Aldeburgh – 12/13 June 2010

The start of this event coincided with the start of the Aldeburgh Music festival so we approached the town with some trepidation but in the event it was not especially busy.  The weather on Friday was cloudy with a strong breeze so we were happy to park up the boat and head for a comfortable b&b in nearby Leiston.  Despite the festival everyone had found accommodation so no campers this time.

Slaughden Sailing Club who hosted the meeting has a beautiful tidal location on the River Alde.  Five boats assembled on the Saturday morning and were made very welcome by the officers and members of the club.  David Pegg our Wanderer rep in the Slaughden club planned to sail up river with the tide and have a picnic lunch at Ikencliff before doing the last km up to Snape Maltings.

Despite a good breeze from the south-west most of us managed to launch with main up and by around 1130 am we were enjoying a reaching course most of the way up the river with only the occasional beat to allow the crew to feel a bit of spray on any exposed parts.

Ikencliff has enough of a sandy beach to allow most of us to pull our boats out of the water although Gavin keen to protect the shiny hull of his new Hartley Wanderer did the proper thing and cast his anchor far enough out for Surprise to stay afloat on what was a bit of a lee shore.  We enjoyed our lunch – including in our case a delicious pork pie from the delicatessen on the east side of Aldeburgh high street.

Having got a bit damp on the way up Chris and I headed back to Aldeburgh with a couple of others whilst Dave led the enthusiasts on the final leg up to Snape.  We were all safely back at Slaughden by about 3.30 pm.  With the tide running out quite strongly getting on to the jetty needed a bit of judgement but we all seemed to cope.

The club invited us to join them for a BBQ but in the event the majority of us elected to have someone cook for us and enjoyed a meal at the Mill Inn opposite Aldeburgh’s ancient guild hall – lamb shanks highly recommended.

Sunday morning dawned fine but still with a strong breeze so there were only 5 starters for the first race.  David won this convincingly in Tactic being one of the few to navigate their way around all the marks and spot the shortened course signal.  The second race saw David and Gavin crossing the start line together with Mike Hamilton in Orinoco a long way behind. 

The club provided a good lunch for the competitors which set them up for the final race.

As always the company was excellent and many thanks must go to David for organising the weekend. 

Attendees:

David Pegg and Harry Abbot (Sat), Lucy (Sun) - Tactic

Gavin and Caroline Barr – Surprise

Mike Hamilton and David Oats – Orinoco

Philip and Jill Meadowcroft – Black Mischief

Colin, Sally and Ellen Gilbert  - W1163 Dotterel

Richard and Chris Bend - W70

Report by Richard & Chris Bend W70 Photos by Mike Hamilton