LAYING UP SUPPER
Took place on Saturday 15th November 2025
The Lion at Thurne has been an unofficial clubhouse for EACC for a number of years now, hosting all sorts of events for us. I love the contrast between the buzzing, bustling and noisy atmosphere of the summer when the pub is busy with visitors, many of whom are experiencing the Broads for the first time, and the quiet of winter when the pub settles into a slower, calmer mood, just like the landscape and the rivers around it. This is the season when it's not hard to imagine how the pub, the village, the Broads would have looked one hundred years ago, quite possibly with one or two future EACC boats moored up on the staithe. Imagining this was probably easy for those hardy few who stayed overnight on their boats, bobbing in their bunks listening to the rain, the wind and the tail end of Storm Claudia.
As usual we had the restaurant for the evening; the pub had already decorated it with strings of twinkling lights which we supplemented with code flags, bunting and as much EACC regalia as we could find spaces for until there was no doubting whose event this was! Forty seven members attended and after the sociable pre-meal mingling over drinks we all sat down to enjoy a cheerful meal.
After the meal, the real business of the evening got underway as we handed over to the Skipper, Jamie Bennett-Martin, to talk us through the year. He started us off with a stand-up game of port&starboard to engage us all (proving that whilst you can take the boy out of Butlins, etc etc), which was won by Rose Angel, before an engaging summary of the year. We were all reminded of what an amazing amount of events we crowd into the season, from the fantastic, self-catered Rigging Out Supper, the spring cruise, the gentle Spring Regatta, through the best regatta on the Broads that is TMOR, on to the River Cruiser Class Open, the Southern Rivers' Cruise, the summer cruise, the Skippers Challenge Day, the autumn cruise and the Autumn Regatta and all the great nights and days in between. We really are lucky to be part of such a great club.
We then moved on to the prize giving for the club events. The first to be awarded was the famous Ribs of Beef challenge trophy, which was devised in 2018 for the winner of a somewhat hilarious and chaotic race between Whitefriars Bridge and Fye Bridge in central Norwich. Not sailed for since, regrettably, these days it is presented as an informal recognition of someone who has excelled themselves, either through selflessness, great skill or - more usually - brilliant incompetence, and is chosen and awarded by the previous year's winner. This year it was Jo Edye's turn to choose, and the winner was former skipper, previous TMOR coordinator, Wherry helm, qualified sailing instructor and all-round club stalwart Jimmy James, for a full-on rope-around-the prop, boat-out-of-the-water-to-clear-it incident. If Jimmy can win it, anyone can win it and the round of applause he received was by far the loudest of the night.
The presentation of the remaining trophies, for the various club events, was unusual in that a different boat won each of the seven events and it made a nice change to have a parade of faces for the photos. Jamie rounded the event off with the raffle, which saw Sally-Ann Bennett walking off with the bottle of rum first prize and a big grin!
Hope you all winter well and we hope to see you at one of the out-of-season socials.
Cally Smith, Sunglory 2
EACC Second Mate
TROPHY WINNERS
Ribs of Beef Trophy - Jimmy James - Moon Daisy Spring Regatta Morning Trophy - Mischief - Steve Seeney
Spring Regatta Afternoon Trophy - Skylark - Will Pank (not at the event) Summer Regatta Cooke Cup - Pickle - Phil Montague (presented in his absence)
Summer Regatta - Roy Pike Trophy - Mystery - Matt Ford Summer Regatta - Fillibuster Cup - Pippinjack - Paul Stevens
Autumn Regatta - Jubilee Cup - Evergreen - David Thompson Autumn Regatta - Joe Delf Cup - Sabrina II - John Holmes
Season's Points - Bradnock Trophy - Pippinjack - Paul Stevens Crews Trophy - Jane Stevens - Pippinjack
|
Spring Regatta |
||
|
Trophy |
Boat |
Winner |
|
RCC - Morning Tankard |
Mischief |
Steve Seeney |
|
Allcomers - Spring Regatta Trophy (combined am & pm results) |
Not presented |
|
|
RCC - Afternoon Tankard |
Alchemy |
Will Pank |
|
Summer Regatta |
||
|
RCC - Cooke Cup |
Pickle |
Phil Montague |
|
Allcomers - Ebbage Cup |
Not presented |
|
|
RCC - Roy Pike Trophy |
Mystery |
Matt Ford |
|
Allcomers - Greyhound Cup |
Not presented |
|
|
RCC - Filibuster Cup |
Pippinjack |
Paul Stevens |
|
Allcomers - International 14 Trophy |
Not presented |
|
|
Autumn Regatta |
||
|
Combined RCC & Allcomers - Jubilee Cup |
Evergreen |
David Thompson |
|
Combined RCC & Allcomers - Joe Delf Trophy |
Sabrina II |
John Holmes |
|
Season's Points - John Bradnock Trophy |
Pippinjack |
Paul Stevens |
|
Crew's Trophy |
Pippinjack |
Jane Stevens |
|
Ribs of Beef Trophy (presented by last year's winner Jo Edye) |
Moon Daisy |
Jimmy James |
Photos below: Carolyn James
