National 12 events 2005

The Ganymede Trophy at Aldeburgh YC

A high quality National Twelve fleet assembled at Aldeburgh for the annual open meeting on 9th & 10th of April to be greeted by winter temperatures and a strong Westerly wind. Saturday turned into swimming practice for all, with nobody making it through the day without a capsize of some sort. Frances Gifford and Sophie Mackley could not even wait for the first race, and swam before the start.

Antony and Jo Gifford won the first race, helped by the swimming of Jon Ibbotson and Helen Hunt, with Jon Brown and Rachel Williamson recovering fast from their own swim to claim second. The Giffords retired from the 2nd race (and swam on the way home) leaving Gifford/Mackley to open a comfortable lead and take race 2 from Harry Pynn and Alan Krailing.

Saturday night saw the traditional club dinner, this year in the company of a noisy crowd who claimed to represent the local Dragon fleet. The more family orientated Twelve sailors failed to compete in either the port and cigars consumption, or indeed the crude joke telling.

Three races on Sunday were held in less challenging winds with more boats (even the Pellings eventually made it on to and into the water), with Antony and Jo Gifford taking the first two races, in both cases from Brown/Wiliamson. The final race was a close three way tussle between Ibbotson/Hunt, Gifford/Gifford and Brown/Williamson with the intervention of an arriving sea breeze effect to throw the race up in the air again late in the day. In the end it was Ibbotson and Hunt who led the event winning Giffords home.

1st Antony & Jo Gifford, AYC, N3484

2nd Jon Brown & Rachel Williamson, RHYC, N3483

3rd Jon Ibbotson & Helen Hunt, RHYC, N3445