The first Saturday morning in December and a few hardy souls can be seen down on the river at Reedham scraping frozen snow off their decks. Yes, it’s that weekend again – time for the Turkey Race. This year the race made a return to its original base of Reedham Street, with the Lord Nelson kindly hosting the meal afterwards. However, with a strong ebb tide and precious little wind, sailing upriver was impractical, not to say impossible. Time for Plan B, which was for the fleet of eight to motor to Cantley and begin the race from there.

It was decided to have a 45 minute gate for the start, which was probably as well, given that staying above the line while waiting for the gun would have been tricky. What this did mean was that some crews decided to slip in a quick pint at the Reedcutter before sailing, even thinking (deluded souls) that the wind had risen by the time they emerged to begin the race.

The west south-westerly wind direction at least gave a race with varied points of sailing, there being one or two tacking reaches as well as opportunities to run with a free wind. Rebecca led the way downriver and predictably was fastest over the course back down to the Street. The rest of the fleet followed her in an orderly procession, apart from Brigand overtaking Wisp.

This year the prize bird and Turkey Race cup went to Rebecca, with Brigand and Shruff coming in second and third respectively to win the ducks and pheasant. Everyone else got tins of soup, including Modwena, who had done no more than just turn up.

The meal was a rather noisier affair than usual, thanks to the pub giving everyone small boxes of noisy toys – the flying balloons proved particularly popular. Terry, doing his usual sterling work with the raffle, had to shout even louder than usual. Mark Cassidy won the hamper and everyone seemed to go home happy.

Another successful season over.

Results:
1. Rebecca (Philip Scott)
2. Brigand (Colin Brown)
3. Shruff (Simon Miles)
4. Dryad (David M. Walker)
5. Lucky Breeze (David "R" Walker)
6. The Only Girl (Joe Kilner)
7. Wisp (Denis Kilner)
8. White Rose (Mark Wells)
DNC - Modwena (Mark Cassidy)

As usual, there are photographs in the Gallery, but also see here for more pictures, which are on the Club Facebook page. You do not have to be a member of Facebook to see them.