It was an early morning C course race with a 10:10am start.
Grey skies and a soft breeze, that seemed dangerously light, blowing from east/north east.
Four boats set off, Ben, John, and Keith on the Lasers and Lev solo in his Enterprise. Ian and David were on safety boat duty and I had the honour of taking my first round as OOD.
The race started with John in the lead with the others following very close by.
A combination of a steady breeze and the up river current kept the boats travelling at speed reaching the buoy in Isleworth, pretty much all together, in just about 25 minutes.
Keith, Lev, Ben and John rounded the buoy and here is where the wind proved to be just fine. It was a lovely sail! Tacking against an unusual steady wind, and with the current just turning, the boats sailed gracefully criss-crossing the river from bank to bank.
Ben took the lead for most of the return leg, until overtaken by Lev on a dead wind spot by the Syon House banks.
Lev was the first to cross the finish line in 1:01h followed by Ben 1:04h, Keith 1:06h and John 1:08h
There was a cheerful mood back at the Arch over a cup of tea and biscuits. Race worth sailing!
Hopping to see more of the Strand crowd joining us next Sunday, A course, 3:35pm start.
Cheers!
Felicia
