Barton Regatta 2025
- Broads Society
- Sep 15
- 4 min read
A festival of sailing on Barton Broad
By Edward Clifford
A near-empty broad on Friday quickly turned into a floating village as boats of all
shapes and sizes congregated on Barton Broad for the last big Norfolk regatta of the
season: the Norfolk Punt Club’s Barton Regatta.
Saturday dawned bright, with a light breeze from the North. Racing was kicked off by
Norfolk Punts, the region’s foremost development class. Over a hundred years of
development has turned them into the ultimate craft for flat water, with masthead
asymmetrics, carbon rigs and square-top sails, set on 22-foot-long double-ended
hulls, ranging from brand new to over a century-old works of art.
Next to race were the keelboats, with class starts for YBODs and BODs, both local
gaff rigged One Design keelboats designed in the 1900s, still going strong over 115
years later, albeit with newer boats using fiberglass hulls, still sailing fairly against
their ancient wooden counterparts.
At lunchtime the River Cruisers transformed from sleeping quarters to sailing yachts.
These are yachts up to 45 feet long designed purposely for sailing on the Broads
and Rivers of Norfolk and Suffolk, and vary widely in hull and rig design.
The latest addition to the class, the home-built pocket rocket no.433 “Shark”, turned
everyones’ heads with its futuristic design and carbon rig, while the older ‘Classic’
boats, some over 120 years of age, sailed gracefully around the course in the wake
of the earlier ‘Racer’ Cruisers’ start.
After more Punt, keel, dinghy and Cruiser races in the afternoon, over 320 sailors
headed to Barton Turf for a hog roast and dancing to a funk band in Cox’s boatshed,
surrounded by beautiful wooden boats in boat hospital for a spruce up.
Sunday’s programme was much the same as the previous day’s, thanks to Barton
Regatta Committee’s work in simplifying the racing schedule, so it no longer required
a Phd in data analysis to work out which combination of craft you will be able to race
in – I sailed 4 different classes of boat over the long weekend!
The first race of the day, with an earlier start than Saturday, was exclusively for those
that don’t usually hold the steering stick. For people that could pull themselves out of
bed, I’m told this was a thoroughly enjoyable and hotly contested series, from which
both boats and helms survived unscathed.
The Southerly wind looked promising, until the afternoon’s sea breeze (Barton Broad
being only a few miles from the coast) arrived from the North and cancelled it out,
giving the Cruisers and then Norfolk Punts a frustrating drifter in the early afternoon.
At least it was sunny and warm…
By the late afternoon once the sea breeze effect had dropped, a gentle wind
returned from the South for the annual pursuit race. 48 boats took part, everything
from lugsail tenders to towering River Cruisers to Norfolk Punts. Some take this race
less seriously than others. Kate Dulieu, last year’s NPC commodore, won. Not the
race, but the trophy for best dressed boat, by covering her lugsail’s rig in turbulence-
inducing bunting. Many of the larger boats were filled with excess crew, speakers
and Stella, yet still sailed surprisingly speedily. The first few boats after an hour were
Norfolk Punts, relishing the light but steady wind that they sail best in.
The sailors retired to the clubhouse, a floating pontoon with a tea hut for a bring-
your-own-burgers barbeque expertly cooked by Jamie Oliver… not really, but he
does own a boat on the “absolutely beautiful” Norfolk Broads.
Monday started with fresher wind, again from the South, and bright sunshine. Over
the course of the morning the wind built, giving the Norfolk Punts a fully-powered-up
final race at lunchtime. For the last race of the Regatta the wind increased even
further, with a fresh breeze blasting the River Cruisers, none of whom reefed, around
the Broad in bright sunshine, making for picturesque sailing and a spectacular end to
this spectacular regatta.
In the strong wind the giant rafts of support boats began dragging their mudweights
(anchors) and started drifting towards the reedbeds lining the Broad, resulting in
emergency breakups and hurried re-setting of weights. Once disaster had been
averted, the sailors returned to the NPC pontoon for rowing races and prizegiving,
before heading off on their boats leaving the Broad empty for another year.
142 boats raced over the course of the weekend, with 638 cumulative race starters,
the highest on record. None of this would be possible without the hard work of the
Barton Regatta Committee and all the volunteers so thank you all, it’s a highlight of
my and many other competitors’ years.
The Norfolk Punt Club was founded in 1926, for sailing Norfolk punts on Barton broad.
Today, the Norfolk Punt Club organises racing for a wide variety of craft and has some 550 members. It tries to maintain its original ethos of informal, economical and gentlemanly sailing, combined with the love of the beauty of the local environment.
In addition to weekly racing on Sundays and Tuesday evenings from May to September,
there are number of Open Events held throughout the season, and each August, the club holds its Open Regatta.
Next year is the Norfolk Punt Club’s Centenary anniversary, so hopefully the regatta is just as vibrant and fun next year, and continues in the same vein for a hundred years into
the future.
About the author Edward Clifford.
I'm a 19 year old soon-to-be fresher at Oxford University to study Materials Science.
I co-own and sail Norfolk Punt No 50 "Greylag", with my friend Alex. I also helm a laser, YBOD, and crew on Alex's family's River Cruiser No 1 "White Wings".
Although I don't live in Norfolk, I have visited every year from very young, and since Covid, I have raced every weekend throughout the year with NBYC and FPSC.
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