ThurneMouthOpenRegatta
2023
Friday Evening 26th - Monday 29th May
PHOTO: Sue Hines
SEE FOR MORE OF SUE HINES' PHOTOS
TMOR is one of the only non-negotiable dates in my calendar. Not only is it a Mecca for the Norfolk sailing gang, but it is also an epic social event. 3 days and nights of full-on sailing, socialising and partying will leave you totally regatta’d (yes, it’s going into the OED soon as a verb) but it’s totally worth it.
As a seasoned TMOR aficionado, I can honestly say that the 2023 regatta was right up there as one of the best in a long time. That really says a lot - I reckon that I may have maybe missed 2 in the past 21 years and boy have there been some memorable ones. Here are just a few of my TMOR highlights over the years:
2001 - I stole my cousin’s 6 week old twins and practically refused to give them back. They’re now 21 and looking after the next generation of TMOR children!
2003 - Mum’s 50th, Moonshadow (Cruiser 369) was launched and had her maiden sail at TMOR. It’s safe to say that I don’t remember much of that evening (IYKYK)!
2009 - Oscar Tatum being fed beer at less than a month old by (Dr!) TomMoore (Dad)whilst listening to one of the epic bands in the marquee.
2011 - Josh’s (my son) first TMOR
Somewhere in between - the wettest TMOR ever….
2016 - 2nd in the Cock of the Broads with Matt& JoFord and Kath Mason on Lycaena (YBOD 5) finishing in the last few seconds of the cut off time - a very emotional year for many of us.
2023 - 4th in the Cock of the Broads with James (Duggers) Dugdaleon Ghost (YBOD 118)
There are too many memories to mention from over the years (and some best left unwritten), but as I say, 2023 surpassed itself. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. It wasn’t too hot, nor too cold, it was dry and there was enough wind for great sailing. Congratulations to all of the competitors and trophy winners this year.
Add to that some excellent bands keeping us entertained in the evenings and getting the bank rocking, fuelled by a little alcohol here and there, what more could you want?
I’d like to send a big thank you to the TMOR committee and the awesome team of volunteers for bringing the regatta together; collating the results, crewing the safety boats, running the bar, providing all of the teas, coffees, cakes, breakfasts and dinners and setting up and breaking the site down, without all of you none of this could have happened.
Living in Hampshire, I struggle to describe TMOR to anyone who hasn’t experienced a pop-up regatta on a riverbank, they think I’m mad. I might be, but I know that I’ll be back for more next year, so see you there!
Heather Moore
We built a village
By Jo Edye
There’s nothing quite like TMOR on the Sunday afternoon. The warmth of the day still lingering as the wind eases, kids pulling dinghies over the pontoon onto their launching trolleys and parking them haphazardly by the gate while mums proudly present Coke and Kit-Kats and dads offer tactical hints for the morrow.
And now the last river-cruisers are mooring up, motoring past the tent with the crews busily furling sails and getting fenders out, and the hire boats pass by loaded with the loaded, enviously gazing at this idyllic little village by the river with its pub and council, its West End preparing for the night ahead and its suburbs stretching down the bank, its rivalries and friendships, its characters, its old, old stories and all the new ones in the making, its buzzing restless life that is both of and on the river - the vibrant people with the wind and the water in their hearts and souls.
And in the marquee skippers check results and crews get the beers in while the crackle of the VHF heralds the arrival of the OOD’s, ferried back from the Point, sheets of mystical hieroglyphs clutched in their all-powerful hands, followed by intense, heads bent together, conference with the Race Control. Protest? What protest? And minutes later for some it’s drinks and backslaps, while one or two slip away licking wounds to be avenged one windy day later in the season that is now, officially, underway.
And we built this. Not just the infrastructure of power and cables, food and water, beer and skittles, bands and amps and radios and Wi-Fi and safety boats and signage, but the society, the camaraderie, the competition with all its intensity and anxiety and triumph and disaster. And the knowledge, which unites the denizens of this temporary waterside place, that who comes first or last or retires or misses their start or has a rig failure or ends up halfway up the bank on the lee shore, are all winners in the here and now, for in this moment of effort and skill the memories are what live on and all else is ephemeral. And the citizens of this realm of wind and water smile because next week it’s the three rivers and it all starts again.
And now the tent fills, the grills smoke, the catering team dish up burgers and salads, the band lug their gear to the stage, the recently ashore step into their new role behind the now busy bar, pulling pints and pouring G & T’s and wine and cokes for the kids yet to find their bunks, and the OOD’s and Race Control breathe a sigh of relief as another race day passes and all is well and they look forward to the Cock of the Broads in the morning. And spectators and villagers and holidaymakers from the camp-site wander in amazed at the little settlement on the river, the palpable sense of a community which is not only fully engaged with its creation but revelling in it, and everyone owning just a little bit of this perfect day, night, weekend, this regatta, this TMOR.
And then the band starts, and the dance goes on.
TMOR TROPHY WINNERS 2023
|
Lady Caroline Cup |
RCC |
Sabrina II/ |
J Holmes/ |
|
Ollerenshaw Cup |
RCC |
India |
T Frary |
|
Perpetual Cup |
RCC |
Breeze |
M Ellis |
|
Dunkirk Trophy |
Crews |
Fox |
M Frary |
|
Tunbridge Cup |
YBOD |
Dingy Skipper |
M Thompson |
|
Grapes Cup |
Allcomers |
Folly Too |
C Bolton |
|
East Anglian Charity Cup |
Allcomers B |
Grayling |
C Rudd |
|
Pat Atkins Cup |
Allcomers B U15 |
Allen |
H Drew |
|
Whitbread Lacon Trophy |
Allcomers |
Not presented |
|
|
Frosty Cup |
RCC |
India |
T Frary |
|
Ames Cup |
RCC |
India |
T Frary |
|
Herbert Woods Trophy |
Local Boats |
Alchemy |
R Smith |
|
Arrow Cup |
Mixed ODs |
Ghost |
J Dugdale |
|
Berry Cup |
YBOD |
Fox |
C Bunn |
|
Curtis Cup |
BOD |
Mallard |
S Woodcock |
|
Pritchard Trophy |
Allcomers A |
Folly Too |
C Bolton |
|
Siren Trophy |
Allcomers B |
Not Presented |
|
|
Jeckells Trophy |
Allcomers C |
Pink Topper |
J Herring |
|
Cock of the Broads |
Passage Race |
Fox |
C Bunn |
|
Catriona Cup |
RCC excl COB |
Mischief |
S Seeney |
|
Ladybird Trophy |
Fastest passage |
Starlight Lady |
N Matthews |
|
Fantome Barometer |
Pre 1950 |
Sabrina II |
J Holmes |
|
Eastwood Trophy |
1stLady Helm |
Martlet |
H Franzen |
|
Heller Cup |
1stnon RCC |
Folly Too |
C Bolton |
|
Peacock Trophy |
1stYBOD |
Fox |
C Bunn |
|
Pennant |
1st BOD |
Not presented |
|
|
Vanessa Cup |
Best YBOD |
Fox |
C Bunn |
|
Overall Time Cup (EACC) |
Alchemy |
R.Smith |
|
|
Godwin Cup |
Best Topper |
Pink Topper |
J Herring |
|
Best Dressed Boat |
Lily |
R Everett |
