100th Anniversary Norfolk Punt Championship at the Norfolk Punt Club

100th Anniversary Norfolk Punt Championship at the Norfolk Punt Club

by Andrew Friend 27 Aug 07:02 BST
22-23 August 2026

The weekend of the 22nd-23rd of August saw sailors from across the country and beyond congregating on Barton Broad in Norfolk to compete in the Norfolk Punt Championship, this year’s competition having added significance and celebratory atmosphere as the Norfolk Punt Club celebrates its 100 year anniversary.

The Norfolk Punt is a restricted development class that has been raced on the broads for over 100 years. Derived from the canoe shaped wild-fowling workboats of the mid to late 19th century initially racing to the best shooting grounds and then home again the history of the class was well represented by competing boats ranging from number 19 Prawn built in 1918, to this years RYA Dinghy Show Concours d’Elegance runner-up number 106 Wahoo, built in 2023. The class rules are relatively simple, the main ones being that the length of the boat must be between 19 and 22ft and pointed at each end, upwind sail area is restricted to 22m (downwind is unlimited), and boats must be named after birds, fish or insects!

With 35 entries this was one of the most well attended and largest gatherings of these special boats in recent memory if not ever, and made for a unique snapshot of almost all of the major innovations and developments in small boat design over the last 100 years. From clinker built gaff rigged boats, through to the introduction of Bermuda rigs, plywood stitch and glue post ww2 ‘hard chines’, glass fibre, and moulded Phil Morrison design boats in the 90s, the introduction of carbon fibre rigs to the more experimental contemporary boats all represented on the water. Everyone competes on a well established handicap system allowing a fair and level playing field for all ages of boat. This year there was a notable presence of recently restored re-found and re-built boats with Tom Scott having restored number 57 ‘Avocet’, originally built by his father in 1970, John Friend saving number 14 ‘Pintail’ (1929) from an almost certain bonfire, Paul Bowen relaunching 21 ‘Flight’ also originally built in 1929 and the welcome return to the water of former championship winning boat number 90 ‘Saker’ built in 1995 that had been hidden away in storage for the last 25 years.

Having made their way out onto the Punt Clubs floating clubhouse situated in the middle of Barton Broad sailors were met with a gusty northerly breeze running straight down the length of the broad. PRO Kath Mason sensibly gauged the memory capacity of the fleet laying an unusually simple (in Broadland terms) windward leeward course running the full length of the broad incorporating static obstacles (the clubhouse and island, not to mention reed-beds flanking the broad) and less static obstacles in the form of holiday makers and recreational traffic on the water! A committee boat start line was set spanning almost the entire navigable width of the broad ready for racing to commence.

Race 1

Responding well to the threat of potentially having to split the fleet if boats were not behaved on the line the 35 starters got away cleanly and suitably filled the broad on their way upwind. Blackbird crewed by Andrew and Robert Friend took an early lead though were closely followed by Richard and John Whitefoot sailing Comet keeping the pressure on the leaders. Strong gusts and (very) sudden shifts called for heads to be outside of the boat in order to get and stay in phase with the breeze, something that to the delight of the spectators on the clubhouse rafts is far easier said than done. Race leaders Blackbird thrilled the crowd with a perfectly positioned windward dunking and capsize meters from the raft allowing the chasing pack of Comet, Razorbill (Richard Parker and Robert Snelling) and Greylag (Ed Clifford and Alex Standley) to catch up, After a conservative downwind the leaders were left with little choice but to really go for it on the final lap, unfortunately for Comet this time they fell foul of the shifting breeze and ended up in the water allowing Blackbird to take the win followed by Greylag and Razorbill.

Race 2

After the success of the first start the second race offered a little more excitement for those on the committee boat with a large number of boats converging on what they thought was the favoured boat end, wisely Simon and Rachel Clayton in Decoy and Mathew and Freddie Scott in Woodpecker saw this all about to happen and left the majority of the fleet floundering on the line leading everyone up to the windward mark. The long run down the broad again allowed a chance for those with the larger spinnakers who could keep their masts in the sky to catch up and fight their way through the pack. Blackbird and Jackdaw (Max Dixey and Adam Hare) took their chances and by the leeward mark were out in the front. The two Morrison design boats traded places up the following beat followed by Woodpecker, Greylag, Decoy and Snowgoose (Charlie Stewart and Lucy Boreham) forming a tight chasing group. On the final upwind Jackdaw frustratingly suffered a snapped mainsheet sending them swimming. Blackbird sailed on for the win followed across the line by Greylag and Decoy.

Race 3

After refuelling with plenty of home made cakes and tea back on the club pontoons the fleet were back on the water with slightly less breeze to contend with. This helped everyone to keep their boats a little bit more upright and allowed the fleet to separate out into distinct groups representing the different designs well. The faster Morrison design boats Blackbird, Jackdaw and Saker sailed by Rich Anderton and Rob Daniels lived up to their handicaps and fought it out at the front of the fleet followed by the Hardchines Snow Goose, Comet, Greylag and Wild Goose 2 (Jane Pye and Curtis Drew). The 3 Morrisons made it across the line first but without a large enough buffer to hold back the Hardchine charge on handicap, with the race win going to Charlie and Lucy in Snow Goose.

As part of the Club’s centenary celebrations following race 3 boats were instructed to remain sailing, then arrange themselves into numerical order for an exhibition sail-by for the spectator crowds and press on the rafts. Much to the surprise of both punt club commodore Alistair Drew (sailing Rushlight 27) and perhaps even more so to the sailors themselves this all worked out rather well, or at least it would have done had John Friend and Murray Corke sailing number 14 Pintail not decided to start leading the procession up the broad before the firing of the loaned traditional punt gun (a very long cannon mounted on an original shooting punt)! With everyone still in order and following the ‘official’ start a second lap was remarkably achieved by everyone, showcasing the entire history of the class in ascending order. The packed clubhouse rafts listed down on one side as viewers gathered to witness this unique spectacle.

Buoyed by this success, teams headed ashore and were kindly hosted by Jackie, Elska and Drew Wilton for drinks, food and a sneak preview of the radical new design ‘Sparrowhawk’, currently taking shape in Drew’s shed.

Sunday dawned with sore heads for some and glassy flat water across the broad. By 10.30 the breeze had started to creep in and PRO Kath Mason headed out to the startline followed by the fleet. Despite the lack of wind Gavin Smith and Jack Holland sailing White Eagle proved to everyone that they were in fact the luckiest sailors in the fleet somehow managing to wrap their spinnaker over a navigation marker, tack it and come away intact and unscathed. The shifting breeze on the startline caused a headache for Kath and her team who admirably fine-tuned the line to allow race 4 to get under way.

Race 4

Race 4 was all about spotting the shifts, and stitching together the gusts. Willum Johnston and Kate Davies in Shoveler timed the start to perfection heading off in clear air to the right of the course whilst the majority of the fleet had hedged on the left hand side and were stuck floundering in light air. Saker were first to escape from this hole and gradually fought through to take the line honours ahead of Ed and Alex in Greylag, who along with Decoy managed to catch the faster boat on corrected time.

Race 5

Race 5 was lead by Josie and Paul Gliddon in Wahoo storming off the line showing the fleet the way around the course for the first lap. As the wind started to fill in the Morrisons Blackbird, Jackdaw and Saker traded blows with Hardchines Snow Goose, Wild Goose 2, Greylag and Pipit (Jack Drew and Poppy Leventon). By the end of the race Saker took line honours proving that 25 years in storage hasn’t slowed her down, followed by Blackbird, Snow Goose and Jackdaw. After the handicaps had been applied Saker took the win followed by Snow Goose and Wild Goose 2.

After the handicaps had been applied and discards taken into account Andrew and Robert Friend sailing Blackbird retained their 2025 title as overall champions and winners of the ‘Progress cup’ for fastest boat over the water, second place overall and winners of the Hard Chine Salver were Ed Clifford and Alex Standley sailing Greylag, followed by Charlie Stewart and Alice Boreham in third place overall sailing Snow Goose. The Broadshaven cup for traditional boats was awarded to Simon and Rachel Clayton sailing Decoy. Competition in the Cuckoo Cup for under 18 helms and crews was tight with the overall trophy being awarded to helm and crew Henry Drew and Finn Elson sailing Goosander, crew John Whitefoot in Comet took second and crews’ (or should that be sirens?) Ella Elson and Emily Drew Took third singing (and sailing) Snark. A special centenary print was also awarded to Jonny Rudd and Wolfie in Flamingo for keeping the safety crews entertained in the breeze on Saturday.

Overall it was a fantastic weekend of racing, camaraderie and celebration of this very special class and club. Next up is the Punt Club open regatta and NBYC Punt open meeting followed by the end of season downriver Athene Cup race in October.

Overall Results: