A blustery north-easterly made sailors work hard last Saturday as the icy chill kept spectators tucked up in the Beccles ASC clubhouse.

But some very close racing prevailed, especially between the Commodore Richard Deller and Rory Kelsey – both in Enterprises.

Kelsey and Georgie Roll in Evil Edna managed to gnaw their way through the fleet from an appalling start to finish just seconds behind the Commodore’s Enterprise Cuddles in race one, both taking first and second places on handicap as Jake Shipley crossed the line first in borrowed Laser Floater.

Race two again had the two Enterprises at it with both changing positions throughout.

And when Deller and Shirley Roll were forced to do turns at the basin mark, letting Evil Edna through, only some expert helming from the Commodore managed to get Cuddles past before the bell.

But by then, son Matthew in his Laser Hellraiser had stormed round the course to secure first convincingly.

Charlie Folkard certainly pulled out all the stops to give BASC eastern zone squad member Hugh Braidwood a good race with two great efforts in the Tann Trophy for Toppers, although Braidwood’s experience in the difficult conditions ultimately proved favourable with two wins on the day.

In the Optimists Cup, yet again two very competitive races ensued between the front runners.

Elena Edwards in Cinnabar powered through the traffic after a bad start in the first race to win by a good margin. And after chasing George Curtis for one lap round the long course, Rachael Folkard and Edwards passed before the finishing bell for another second race one-two respectively.

Results

Winter Tankard Race One (11): 1 Cuddles (R Deller/S Roll), 2 Evil Edna (R Kelsey/G Roll), 3 Floater (J Shipley).

Tann Trophy Race One (3): 1 Tic Tac (H Braidwood), 2 Charlie 2 (C Folkard), 3 Mambo Jambo (R Curtis).

Cinnabar Cup Race One (5): 1 Cinnabar (E Edwards), 2 Rachael (R Folkard), 3 Robin Hood (G Curtis).

Winter Tankard Race Two (11): 1 Hellraiser (M Deller), 2 Radical Posture (M Langston), 3 Shanderlee (R and C Salisbury).

Tann Trophy Race Two (3): 1 Tic Tac, 2 Charlie 2, 3 Mambo Jambo.

Cinnabar Cup (5): 1 Rachael, 2 Cinnabar, 3 Robin Hood.