OOD:  Mary Brown

Safety Boat: Henry Brown and David Baker

Course: A           Weather: hot and sunny, light E wind at 6 knots gusting 10.

Five boats launched for a 15.35 start on a slimy and diminishing foreshore: Lev Kolobov and Inna sailing in Porpoise (Enterprise); Chris Greenwood and Felicia in Distant Thunder (Leader); Keith Clarke in Kaia (Laser); Tim Wellburn and daughter in Ixion (Enterprise); and Rebecca Hayle and daughter in Wagtail (Mirror).

The wind was mostly with the tide, so we set a short A-course with the downstream mark above the PLA grid and an upstream mark opposite the City Barge.  Even so, the conditions were too much for Wagtail who failed to complete a lap despite patience and perseverance.  Tim started well and finished a lap in third place but that was all that Ixion could manage, and eventually she accepted a tow back to the Arch.

Lev led from the start with Keith and Chris close behind for three laps before he stretched his lead and finishing 6 laps in an hour and ten minutes.  Keith finished his fifth lap about two minutes later with Chris close behind.  A typical lovely Sunday on the river.

The tide was up over the ramp by the time they all finished and the substantial fencing erected to repair the bridge meant that it was a struggle to get the boats back in their places (as well as at the launch).

Thanks to Mary for officiating – she just managed to keep her feet dry.  The next race is a late D-course at 18.05.

Race Report, First Race

March 16 dawned with a promising day of sunshine ahead – and happily this turned out to be the case for the first race of the 2025 season.  This was an A course with two buoys, one upstream of The Bell and Crown and the other by the  grid.

 The wind was quite variable but generally light, with none of the 7 boats which started the race at 1440 needing to retire for any reason  – and hence relatively light work for Keith Clarke and Henry Brown in  the safety boat. 

The building work on the railway arch has made the parking and movement of boats somewhat different from usual but everyone worked deftly manoeuvring boats and trailers on the fast-disappearing foreshore at that start, and wading in the rising waters on the towpath when bringing the boats in after the race.

There were 3 Enterprises which each, at different stages in the race appeared to be leading the way, with eventually James Armitage (with Felicia Biekark as crew ) and  Lev who was single handed slogging it out to the end of the race, with both completing 8 laps.

 It was a delight to see two under -10’s crewing in the race (Felicity Adams completing 6 laps in Enterprise Big Polly with her grandad Rob Adams) and Kieran Biekark (crewing for Chris Greenwood in the Leader dinghy  Distant Thunder) completing 7 laps.

The other 3 boats in the race were sailing single-handed with Nick Floyer (5 laps), Tim Young (5 laps) and Nick Jeffery (3 laps) each in their characterful and very different designs of boat, respectively Gull, Wanderer and Duckling.

The race was a pleasing and colourful spectacle for the many drinkers, diners and walkers along the tow path which was bathed in warm sunshine – and it was a delight to be OOD under such conditions.

Mary Short, OOD

A note on the Results Table (below). We’ve added another column to the table, the first under the Polly Prize heading, ALT, standing for Average Lap Time after Portsmouth Number calculation. Olly asked for this as it is the nearest we get to an official handicap comparison of our boats taking the wide variety of boats, handicaps and number of laps sailed.

OOD: Nick Jeffery; Safety Boat: Dave Barker & Keith Clarke

 A gentle breeze on a grey day saw eight boats on the water for a 14.00 start on the A course, Dave and Keith having laid the buoys for an upwind leg against the flood tide in ample time and seven boats making it to the start line. 

 Two Enterprises on starboard tack, metres from the OOD, got the best start – James and Candice in Zephyr and Lev, sailing single-handed in Porpoise – then short-tacking up the bank, Zephyr rounding the windward mark first and goose-winging its jib running back mid-stream to make the most of the tide. 

 Rob and Otto in the Enterprise Big Polly, Chris and Felicia in the Leader Distant Thunder, Ben in his Laser Envy and Olly and Billy in their Mirror Spinosaurus finished their first lap in that order, with Zephyr, on its second lap, hot on Spinosaurus’ transom, also overtaking Nick Floyer in his Gull Flo who was struggling to make headway against the tide and had yet to cross the start line. 

 The OOD decided to shorten the course after 45 minutes – as the breeze was dying and lap times were getting significantly longer for all – so hoisted the yellow flag, Zephyr finishing 5 laps, precisely 3 mins later. Spinosaurus finished another 3 minutes 18 seconds later, having completed 2 laps. Porpoise completed 5 laps after 53 minutes 20 seconds, followed by Big Polly (4 laps, 53 mins 48 secs), Envy (3 laps, 54 mins 12 secs), Distant Thunder (4 laps, 56 mins 7 secs). 

 Eight minutes later Flo picked up some breeze and crossed the line having completed one lap 1 hour and four minutes after the start. Ali sailing in the Laser Punt, did not start (DNS) but practised manoeuvres in the middle of the course. 

 The high tide made for easy hauling out of the fleet of eight at the slipway, all dinghies and safety boat back in the club by 15.30.

 Nick Jeffery (OOD)

 Next week we have a D course to Hammersmith at 14.00 (after a Working Party at 10.30).

CLEARING THE ARCH ! It’s time to remove all the bits and pieces that threaten to fill the arch.

At the Work Party this Sunday (10.30), or preferably before then, can members please label any personal items that need to be kept or risk their removal to the tip.  We might even be able to clean the floor.

Race Report 1^st September 2024

OOD: Mary Brown;  Safety boat: Henry Brown and Dave Baker

Meteorological Autumn started with a beautiful, sunny, warm summer’s day with a nice breeze recorded as 9 knots gusting 15 from ENE in Kew Gardens.  Down at Strand this gave testing conditions for our fleet of six, divided equally between Big Boats and Little Boats.  The wind had to find its way diagonally over the houses at Strand and then blow with the tide further out in the river.

The fleet comprised Rob Adams, crewed by Billy, in Big Polly (Enterprise); Tim Wellburn, with crew, in Ixion (Enterprise); and Sam Shemtob with crew in Spirit of Youth (Wayfarer) represented the Big Boats.  Tim Young in Ait Knots (Wanderer); Nick Floyer in flo (Gull); and Olly Adams with Felicity in Spinosaurus (Mirror) made up the Little Boats.

From the start (downriver from the Bell & Crown) Rob headed into the middle of the river to catch the cleaner wind and the weakened tide upstream of Oliver Island.  He managed to catch the wind and sail practically into the trees of Oliver Island before reaching across to the mark just above the slip dock.  He managed to complete his first lap in 10 minutes.  Others tried to beat down the Strand shore or were less successful in the middle.  Sam, Olly and Nick completed their first laps in around 30 minutes, having been lapped almost twice by Rob.

There were equal and familiar problems at the upstream mark where the strong tide and fickle wind caused frustration.  Tim Young spent practically his entire race oscillating between the start line and Kew Bridge before, in the end, accepting a tow back to the Club.

Rob went on to complete 5 laps before Mary, taking pity on the following boats, finished Rob after 50 minutes.  The star of the rest of the fleet was Olly, in the smallest boat, who did 3 laps in 57 minutes, while Sam, in the largest boat and Nick in his little Gull both finished 2 laps, and Tim Wellburn had to content himself with one.

Thanks to Mary with the stopwatch at the Bell and Crown, and David Baker for help before, during and after in the safety boat.

Next week is a D-course starting at 1245.

HB

Report to follow, but, briefly, Lev was OOD and safety boat driver and reported that, almost from the start the order was James, then Ben, then Tim.

The race on Sunday 31st March will be an A-course starting at 17:40, not at 16:50 as stated on the last race report. Sorry.

Here are the results of the 2023 season. A good one by any standards: 27 races, attendance of up to 9 boats; and new sailors enough to make up for departing ones.

James won everything in sight but Lev, Chris and Rob kept him up to scratch. And Olly/Billy in their Mirror were a close contender after the handicap sums were done.

The next event is the infamous dance on 23rd March.

The Last Race of 2023

OOD:  Enoch Rodriguez and Andy Ross

Safety boat:  Keith Clarke and David Jones

The drizzle that threatened the overcast day stopped well before the 12:20 start. Several bodies were around in good time to make ready the safety boat but the amount of rainwater in the river meant that the foreshore was awash before most of the nine dinghies could launch in dry feet, and the exceptional number attempting to launch meant a lot of shuffling of boats and trolleys in the yard.  The wind was a light SE, blowing with the weakened flood tide that was pushing against the flow coming down river.  But all boats made it to the Bell and Crown on time.

James Armitage with Kiren Biekark in Zephyr (Enterprise) made good progress in the beat downstream to a mark just off the slip-dock and ran back easily to finish his first lap in under 10 minutes. He was followed by Lev, solo in Porpoise (Enterprise), then Dave and Sheila Berger in Entre Nous (Enterprise), Rob Adams in Phoebe (Laser), Chris Greenwood and Felicia Biekark in Distant Thunder (Leader), Toby Hicks in Cid… (Laser), and Ben Chappell in Envy (Laser).  Olly Adams and Billy in Spinosaurus (Mirror) were about 12 minutes behind, with Sam Shemtob solo in his Wayfarer bringing up the rear.

After his first lap Lev picked up a crew in the form of half a tree. The OOD reported that “the new crew slowed him down – they were just dead wood really! Once ruthlessly casting off the new crew he started catching up with the leaders” but didn’t quite make it.  James completed five laps in just under the hour followed closely by Dave and then Rob.  Lev, Ben and Chris completed four laps, Olly and Toby three, and Sam two.

The water was welly-boot deep on the ramp and much warmth-creating energy was expended by all in recovering and parking the fleet in preparation for the main event – Beer and Bangers.

B&B lived up to its high reputation.  Steve Newell had brewed an exceptional beer and Mary Short had barbequed the sausages well on the way to perfection by the time the cold and weary competitors were ready for them, and there was several tables-full of delights contributed by too many members to mention to satisfy every palate.

Mention must, however, be made of the OOD team of Enoch and Andy.  Keeping tabs of 9 boats, making 35 separate crossings of the line, with rising water and falling temperature, is no mean feat. 

So that was the last race.  A report on the sailing season will follow shortly, but please note that the Dinner and Dance will be held on 23^rd March 2024.  Mark in your diary and contact Marian for tickets.

We have been discussing methods of getting to and from the start of the C course through Kew Bridge recently and have trialed some ideas of Andrew Ross. This has been helpful and the Committee has agreed that it would be appropriate to publish these notes about the discussions:

The first thing to remember is that each sailing dinghy has a skipper who is responsible for the safety of his crew and boat. She/he should not do anything or ask anybody else to do anything which he/she is not confident is safe and prudent. The safety boat driver is responsible for the safety boat and if she/he is not comfortable to provide requested assistance he/she should refuse, and the club will support him /her.  

For large vessels, travelling under Kew Bridge is awkward, because the current is quite strong the arch is narrow and the bridge is on a bend in the river with poor visibility. It is important therefore that the river is clear before setting up to enter the central arch.

In the old days Bermuda rigged boats set off early enough before high water so that they could get under the bridge without having to heel over. This is a good idea and should be routine!   An Enterprise can get under the central arch until the water gets up to the top of the vertical part of bridge piers.  We certainly need to get back to the habit of allowing extra time, say 30 minutes, to prepare and get to the start of a C course.

If a boat launches late and if the safety boat driver is prepared to help sailors under the bridge, it’s better if he has two competent people on board. If he has more, he can always put the surplus ashore and pick them up again later.

Heeling the dinghies over is easier if no one is aboard, so the helm and crew should transfer to the safety boat, having lifted both the centre board and rudder (this makes the dinghy much more manoeuvrable). Unless the wind is light it’s easier to take down the sails, in which case it is possible to wait for your turn for help by the ramp just downstream. If going through with the sails up the dinghy must be head to wind, so it might be taken through backwards. The safety boat driver must decide if he is happy to take the safety boat backwards or would prefer to go forwards with the dinghy facing backwards. The safety boat driver must be happy that there is enough time to get properly set up before the current takes the boats under the bridge.

After the race roughly the same applies to the return through the bridge!   Or preferably wait for the tide to fall. 

James Armitage

September 2023

Monday Bank Holiday Race, 28^th August – revised

The Bank Holiday race will now be an A or B course (depending on conditions)

Starting at 11:20