Sunday was a sunny day with a light breeze from NNE. From the immaculate results sheet prepared by
Inna Kolobov the race worked out something like this. Seven boats took to the water but Tim Young retired
before the start. The remaining six fell
into a leading group of Alex Pape (Lugger), Lev Kolobov (solo in his
Enterprise) and Ian Nethersell (Vibe), who led from the first lap, swapping
first place between them until on their fifth and final lap Alex crossed the
line a mere 2 seconds ahead of Lev, with Ian under 6 minutes behind. Chris and Mary (Leader) followed Lev, having been
lapped once, and both Sam Shemtob (Wayfarer) and Jane Watkins (Gull) were a lap
behind on 3 laps.
After the sums were done Alex was first in three of the Series
(Handicap, Little Boats and Polly); Lev was first in the Big Boats and second
in the Handicap and Polly; and Ian was second in the Little Boats and third in
the Handicap and Polly.
Thanks again to Inna for keeping a clean score sheet, and to
David Jones for doing safety boat duty and allowing Lev to sail.
There’s nothing on the calendar for next week but it could
be an A/B-course at 1810 or a downstream D/B-course at 1445 (or later). We’ll let you know as soon as possible.
Seven boats competed on a 2-buoy A course, the light breezes
being deemed inadequate for the scheduled B course.
Ian, James and Alex all managed the first lap in just
over 10 minutes, the rest of the field being slightly detained in
the vicinity of the downstream mark.
Ian and James each achieved a total of four laps, the latter
taking Ian’s lead on the second; Alex and Chris managed three laps. The
other two boats retired in the face of too little wind or/or sail area.
The award for perseverance went to Chris who, surprising the
race officers, determined to finish his third lap and, despite an almost
complete lack of wind, managed to do so, setting the day’s
endurance record.
The Gentleman of the Day award went to Ian for graciously
letting Alex go ahead of him to cross the finishing line, only to have the wind
fail a boat-length’s short of it, a piece of gallantry that cost him a
further 6 minutes’ sailing.
Seven sailors arrived, eager to
rig their dinghies on this breezy Sunday afternoon. After launching
three more sailors joined, Chris & Mary, Distant Thunder and Sam SY2.
A long “A” course was
set with the buoys being laid up stream of the Bell and Crown and just off the City
Barge by Chris Jones in the safety boat.
The scheduled Start of 14.15 was
delayed for Chris & Mary and Sam to get to the start line. Chris &
Mary managed to make the start line but Sam joined after the start on lap 2.
With the
wind gusting 3-4 in a general WSW direction, a good start was made by all with the fleet
bunching at the first buoy. James with his crew Ayanda rounded first, followed
by Rob and Lev. Not far behind the others all rounded the buoy successfully.
The second
lap showed the same leadership pattern, with the gusting wind causing a great
deal of
uncontrolled listing and Lev in his Enterprise capsized off Oliver’s Island.
Lev being Lev quickly righting and continuing to sail plus
bailing with his trusty bailer.
Tim had the misfortune to be swept onto the buoy at the Bell and Crown.
The leading dinghies were now
lapping at about 10 minutes per lap and generally keeping to the Strand
side of the trot. However, others tried crossing over to the Kew side of the
trot to have a fast reach to the Bell and Crown buoy. On some laps this appeared
to gain ground on the leading dinghies.
The race
continued with James and Rob lapping at about 8 minutes and eventually
finishing 7 LAPS. Lev, Alex and Ian finishing within 28 seconds of each other at 6
LAPS and Henry & Mary and Chris & Mary 4 minutes behind, also
on 6 LAPS.
Tim and Sam completed 5 LAPS.
Many thanks to Chris for manning the safety
boat single handed, not easy. This was a testing race, with strong gusts
of variable wind typically “STRAND”.
Sunday was a sunny day with a good F3 wind coming straight
up the river from Chiswick Bridge, against the river flow. A high-water race being out of the question a
D-course had been programmed (downstream to Hammersmith and back), , but Rob
Adams, who was in charge of the safety boat, wisely decided that we should sail
as many laps as possible of our B-course, between the Railway Bridge and
Chiswick Bridge, so that he could keep all the fleet in sight. The Covid-19 constraints were a consideration.
The downstream mark was set well down
towards Chiswick Bridge opposite Putney Rowing Club and the upstream mark was
just below the Railway Bridge.
Most of the fleet set off on time with the Browns a few
minutes late (lack of concentration) and Nick Floyer (Lightning) even later
with rigging problems. The beat down to
Chiswick Bridge favoured the Enterprises and James and Lev (both solo in their
Ents) established a lead which they maintained throughout. Chris and Mary (Leader), Ian (Vibe) and Alex (lugger)
formed a following pack at the bottom mark by which time the Browns (Ent) had
worked their way up through the fleet.
They kept in close company on the way back up river where Alex’s lugger
showed its paces on the run and Ian tried to intimidate the rest by flying a
spinnaker. He had already tried more
direct intimidation over a sculler – or perhaps it was the other way round. There was a seeming multitude of scullers and
paddle-boarders enjoying the river and adding to the excitement of tacking.
At the end of the first lap James was about 3 minutes ahead
of Lev with the two crewed Ents, Alex and Ian within a minute of each other and
two minutes behind Lev. Jane in her Gull
was another two minutes behind with Tim (Gull) to the rear. Nick had already retired by this stage and
Tim was shortly to follow.
The second and final lap was much the same. James increased his lead over Lev to 7
minutes who maintained his 2 minute lead over the rest, although he was almost
caught around the bottom mark. The
Browns were a whisker ahead of Chris and Mary (Leader) at the end, Alex and Ian
followed 2 minutes later with Jane bringing up the rear.
When the handicap sums were done Jane was shown to have
triumphed in the Handicap Series and the Little Boats cup. Well done to her. And James was first in the Big Boats and the
Polly Prize.
The race was the fun part with excellent sailing throughout:
close tacking battles, nail-biting stuff on the runs, wearing times for the
centre-board. The hard work then took over with the recovery of 9 dinghies and
the safety boat up the slimy foreshore, up the ramp and into the yard. Without, in these plague-ridden times, the
consolation of tea and buns.
Many thanks to Heather Adams for officiating over the race
and to Rob for ensuring our safety.
Next week’s race is and A-course at 15:10. Let’s hope for similar conditions.
Although the summer weather seemed to have gone, we had a
turn-out of six for our fourth Covid-restrained race. There were grey skies, the occasional drizzle
of rain and a gusty breeze coming down the A-course from Kew Bridge giving a
sort-of run down to the grid and a beat back towards the Surrey-side rowing
buoy and then our third mark above the Bell and Crown.
The critical choice for the downstream leg was whether to
stick to the Strand bank or try the possibly clearer wind on the Surrey
side. James (solo in his Enterprise),
Lev (also solo in his Enterprise) and Rob (Laser) went across to the Surrey
bank and made steady progress against the tide to establish a good lead at the
end of the first lap – Lev and Rob leading the trio followed by James.
Ian (Topaz), then the Browns (Enterprise) came around the
top mark to the start line a couple of minutes later, in company with Chris and
Mary (Leader) who had started late.
The leaders swapped places in fairly close formation for the
rest of the six-lap race but Lev was in the lead most of the time and finished
first about 15 seconds ahead of Rob with James, uncharacteristically, trailing
them by over three minutes.
By that stage Lev had lapped Ian twice and had almost overtaken the Browns who were happy to finish their sixth lap and a very enjoyable and energetic sail. Back at the arch the high tide made for an easy recovery.
So, a good time was had by all despite the enforced lack of tea and buns. Manty thanks to Alex for manning the safety boat and to Tom (and Jo) Broadhurst for officiating from the Bell and Crown.
Next Sunday is down as D-course, starting at 16:10 which may be shortened to a multi-lap B depending on the conditions.
A handful of
sailors turned out for what was scheduled to be a D course on blustery day.
After some deliberations, an altered B-course was selected, downstream to a
rowing buoy mid stream just past the pier, and then upstream under the railway
bridge to a racing buoy set just before Oliver’s Island. Start was by whistle
only on this occasion and all got under way without problems and were close
together for most of lap 1. James started to pull away thereafter, however Lev
and Ian picked up the pace and stayed on the same lap for most of the race.
Chris and Mary pulled up after the first lap for some bailing and re-joined
after fixes. Jane had a capsize just before the mark on Lap 2, righted the boat
and recovered to the rowing club, and soon after re-joined the racing. Lev had
a capsize by the upstream mark late on and completed the final lap sitting very
low in the water despite furious bailing. Leader James completed 9 laps in just
over the hour, and the remainder of the pack followed soon after. Lev and Ian
completed 8 laps, Chris 7 laps, and Jane 3.
All boats and kit were launched and recovered socially distanced and
with masks in club colours (kindly provided by Jane) donned.
Ten swans were there.
With huge good grace and unhurried calm on seeing the gates of the SGSC
opening and envisioning the prospect of social competition for admiration and
attention they headed in a line for the opposite bank: upper class social
distancing by the true aristocrats of birds. Some swifts like black dots on a
blue sky screeched by. Two moorhens hooted like journalists with urgent
headlines reporting a story of great importance and they made way in turn for a
random mob of Canada geese who had heard the news and gathered just to gaze and
guffaw in honks of laughter at the odd sight of SGSC boats trundling down the
ramp – and at the even odder sight of sailors in Covid-19 face masks.
Alex in a cowboy movie bandana, ready to ride out of
town on a raid, Lev in a ghoulishly tooth-fanged Halloween mask [surely pinching
David’s party trick] and Sam was unbelievably pretending to be as innocently
white-faced as the driven snow on a summers day while Rob wore something red
and Andy swore by a heavy duty builders demolition rubble and dust choker, complete
with a nose valve. James realised he was not at all suitably dressed for this
fancy dress party and came back in a fetchingly backless spaghetti-strap little
black dress number.
Covid-19 is making the bizarre and impossible quite
normal and no one is used to it.
Neither are the boats. Nor are its sailors. Lev had
taken over the duty as Safety Boat officer from Tim while being in
self-isolation. Lev’s boat was upside down but with immaculate external repairs
while Andy’s was fighting acute and chronic internal rot with more and more patchwork.
Sam tangled his mast in the tree and while commenting that the heavy gusts were
not encouraging, discovered a shorn-off part of the gooseneck – which he took
as a recipe for cooking his boating goose into an early lunch retirement. And the safety boat trailer wheel had a flat
tyre; requiring the urgent life-saving attention of a mechanical ventilator. Nurses
in PPE then wheeled the trolley patient down the ramp to recuperate and recover
in the water. No-one clapped.
The warm F3 wind came fitfully but directly from the
North-West; perfect for a really long straight ‘A’ course.
As the OOD set up the start at the Bell & Crown he
discovered that Covid-19 had struck the scoreboard pen into mute. No transmission of ink to paper! Unmute your
mike! But no amount of empty scribbling would work to fix the bug. There was nothing
for it but to abandon the call and zoom off back to the club to get another
pen. An aural and video sign was signalled to Lev on the Safety Boat to inform
him of the delay.
Hurrying back, the Blue Peter was raised for the
6-minute start – but without using a trumpet or a whistle that would potentially
blast corona virus into the atmosphere for miles around and prolong the
lockdown of the whole of Britain. Can the squeezy rubber ball for the acoustic
hooter ever be replaced?
A brisk and gusty warm wind sent first Alex, then Rob,
then James downstream and within three minutes they were more or less together
at the mark that was set just off the City Barge. After rounding it, James took the lead and
headed across the end of the PLA trot into the mainstream of the river and
stayed close to the punts before crossing to the upstream mark, reaching it
only just ahead of Alex. Both Alex and
Rob had stayed on the Strand side of the trot.
Only the tricycle ice-cream seller had a socially
distanced queue that could silently watch the gybes round the mark.
Goose-winged, James flew down the Strand side but Alex
found he was caught in the slacker wind by the bank and Rob overtook him.
After rounding the mark and coming back upstream,
James decided not to risk heading across into the mainstream again but tacked into
the wind on the Stand side of the trot.
It seems that as the incoming tide reaches a certain
volume its momentum carries it through the railway bridge and on around the
bend in the river, away the main traffic route; towards the Strand rather than
towards Kew bridge. The wind was perfect for a classic “Round the Island” race
but the slackness of the current on the other side of Oliver’s Ait usually also
makes it dangerous to manoeuvre with the constant traffic of rowers and
passenger boats. But with a totally empty river, this would have been a perfect
day for a “Round the Island”. The OOD
regretted not suggesting it.
By the third lap Rob had secured his second place lead
over Alex who, by the fourth lap and in a slackening wind and an imminent high
tide, was being tailed by James.
Gybing fast round the upstream mark James lapped Alex
– and James asked the OOD if this might be the moment to signal the end of the
race.
Since they had all been sailing for well over an hour while the ODD starting technology was zoom-meeting muted this was clearly appropriate.
The Blue Peter was raised – and lowered.
The sky was so blue – while no planes flew.
A Covid-19 race had ended – and no tea was brewed.
On Sunday late afternoon, on the 17th
May, three Crews gathered for our first sail under social distancing
regulations. It was a warm sunny afternoon with a light North Westerly. It was
decided to change the scheduled D course to a short course between the pier at
the East end of Strand on the Green and the rowing marker buoy on the Surrey
side at the downstream end of the Island. This could safely be sailed without
having to launch the rescue boat. Rob Adams our officer of the day set the
starting line on the upstream face of the railway bridge with an upstream start
against the wind and current.
Down at the bottom of the river bed, the
wind was erratic and the shallowness of the water was a constant challenge to
our centre plates, but it was great to be back on the water. Porpoise crewed by
James led the way, Distant Thunder crewed by Chris and Mary followed and SY2
crewed by Sam was third on the water. He
was struck by a doldrum below Strand End and self-towed along the foreshore
back to the ramp.
Successfully hauling the boats back up to
the arch was the final challenge for the afternoon.
JA
The next sail/race is an A-course, start 15:10 on Sunday 24 May. See you there – at a safe distance!
This notice says it all. We must suspend our racing activities until the emergency is over. When that will be is anybody’s guess, and we will be ready. The Covid bug caused the Dance to be cancelled, but it merely postpones our sailing.
Port of London – River Thames NOTICE TO MARINERS No.6 of 2020 24 March 2020
COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS RECREATION AND LEISURE ACTIVITIES We are issuing this in line with current Government coronavirus guidance, placing restrictions on movement. To reduce social contact, travel and potential strain on emergency services, we strongly recommend that all recreation and leisure activities on the tidal Thames are avoided until further notice. Our priority at the PLA is to help ensure the UK continues to receive essential supplies of food, fuel and medical goods at this time. As a result, we expect to have a reduced capability in responding to recreational incidents on the river. To support our essential port operations, we are reducing the operating hours of our harbour service patrols between Putney and Teddington. We are grateful for your co-operation in these exceptional circumstances.
Not for the first time the First Race was more a whimper than a bang, or even a splash. A handful of helms took stock of the conditions, which were gusty and threatening with rain (the Met office said it was F4-5, gusting F5-6 from WSW at Kew), and all but James decided not to launch. Lev was keen to get on the water and so crewed with James for a couple of laps from the ramp up to the Bell and Crown and back, but on the third pass the threatened rain swept in and they retreated to the arch. But the honour of the Club was saved.
Next week there is no race.
Only a D-course is possible, and a rowing event means that the river
downstream of Chiswick Bridge will be closed by the PLA. But there will be a working party to do
general tidying.
