A fresh breeze on the Norfolk Broads made for an exciting day's sailing for the 20 competitors at the Spash open meeting yesterday

A Splash open meeting was held at Norfolk Broads Yacht Club on Sunday 18 April and the weather, although overcast with slight drizzle, held out the promise of close and exciting racing, with gusts up to Force 6 testing the skills of the 20 competitors.

There were a number of new entries to the fleet, sailing Splashes for the first time, and having come from Optimist and Topper dinghies, there were a number of capsizes during the day as the conditions tested competitors to the extreme.

Three races were held during the day, and, with one discard, the results were not decided until after the last race. Chris Schonhut in 1474 took an early lead in the first race from James Large in 1760 and Tom Barker in 708 and held on to it to take the honours.

The second race was started after lunch in an increasing breeze with some competitors taking advantage of the gusts to gain five or six places on the downwind leg. David Jessop in 1758 got a good start from Louise Clayton in 811 and Chris Schonhut, and pulled out a slight lead which he held to the line.

After a break the third and final race was held with gusts up to Force 6 making conditions evenmore difficult. Tom Marfleet in 2009 took an excellent start, followed closely by Nathan Ackroyd in 822. Experience under difficult conditions showed and David Jessop took over the lead from Tom , with James Large coming in third. Chris Schonhut never properly recovering from a capsize.

Overall Results

1st David Jessop 1758 Quo Nunc

2nd Chris Schonhut 1474 White Shark

3rd James Large 1760 Voodoo

4th Tom Barker 708 Bulwark

5th Jenny Whiting 1897