We cancelled the scheduled last race on 4th November because of a lousy weather forecast and a horrible start to the day. In fact the rain stayed away, but so did the wind. So it would have been a drift at best.
We are hoping for better luck this Sunday, 13th November. It will be a D-course (Hammersmith and back) with a start at 12:00.
Beer and Bangers will follow, starting at 14:00.
All welcome.
A dry, but warm afternoon, D course. Variable wind conditions – SE 2 gusting 4.
Four boats assembled on the foreshore.
Felicia and daughter Tamina in Chris’s Leader and three lasers: Rob in Phoebe, Keith in Kaia and Toby (guest) in unnamed Ema’s boat. The boats rigged with Toby a welcomed visitor to Strand being kindly assisted by Rob.
All boats managed to make the start of the D course. Race commenced 12.45pm.
A smart quick start was made with Felicia racing into the lead, on the Surrey Reach, closely followed by Rob and Keith and Toby. Unfortunately, Keith on the Middlesex Bank ran aground just after the Strand End Pier losing him ground.
All boats passed through Chiswick Bridge OK with Rob breaking into the lead.
Amazingly, through the Bridge the boats were astonished to be greeted by a seal. The race continued with the seal unconcerned by the boats. In fact Tim in the safety boat, approached the seal and entered into a one way conversation – but without a reply.
The race continued in the same order through Barnes Bridge and on to the downstream buoy which Tim had laid, wisely, just short of the Corinthian Sailing Club, opposite Chiswick Eyot.
With the wind gusting, both the Lasers of Toby and Keith capsized. Keith 5 times but managed to continue without a concern. Toby capsized once but a dry capsize, no problem.
After rounding the downstream buoy and recovering from the capsizes etc the race conditions were more favourable with the wind and tide with them back to Strand.
The race order remained the same back to Strand – Rob leading, followed by Felicia and Tamina with Toby and Keith at the rear. Everyone enjoyed the sail.
The stars were Felicia and Tamina, well sailed. Plus, of course Tim and the Seal.
The handicap calculations (below) gave the winners Handicap Points to Toby and Class and Polly Prize to Rob. Felicia was second in the Class and Polly points.
Next week is the last race of the season (an A-course) at 11:20, to be followed in traditional style by Beer and Bangers at around 14:00. All are welcome.
John Bull (OOD)
What an unexpected warm and sunny day for our race this Sunday! The Thames path was, as usual, filled with a cheerful crowd and at 13:00 five crews met at the Club ready to sail. Kirsty, who recently joined, courageously tried his new Solo but decided it was best to join the race another time. We therefore started with four boats and James Armitage and his crew, young Tamase, in Zephyr immediately took the lead.
Following Zephyr, a skilled Robert Adams with his Laser contended with Chris Greenwood and Felicia Bierkark in Chris’ Leader and proceed well ahead of them from the first lap. Nick Floyer in his Gull had an unfortunate start being trapped in the ropes of an abandoned inflatable dinghy but did not despair and beautifully set off at last.
The race ended at about 3pm with James leading in 4 laps, followed by Robert, Chris and Felicia and finally Nick, who managed to run two laps in just over an hour.
OOD: Heather Adams; Safety boat: Rob Adams; D-Course starting at 1440.
A lovely Autumn day but with little wind from the NW. Five starters arrived at the line James with Nikita, Chris and Felicia, Tim, Nick and Keith.
A running start saw the fleet cruise off down river at a slow pace. The fleet kept well bunched with the slower boats blanking the faster, not allowing them to get away through Chiswick bridge. The wind became more confused with James getting a small advantage. However, Rob in the rescue boat noticed a rapid change in the tide the fleet were not going to make Barnes railway bridge. A mark was laid on the Middlesex shore short of the old Thames Tradesmen Rowing Club (now demolished). With James now becalmed on the Surrey shore the fleet threatened to overtake him in a breeze that appeared in the middle of the river. In the end it was Keith who rounded the turning mark first, with the buoy cocked upstream confirming the incoming tide had arrived. The race was now a beat back home and the recent form book fell back into place with James and Nikita tacking well ahead of Chris and Felicia, followed by Keith then Tim and not far behind Nick. I suspect that the on the water result may be reverse once the handicaps are applied.
Heather Adams
PS. The Master of Sums is away but will calculate and publish the results as soon as possible.
And here they are …
It was an overcast day with a distinct autumnal chill in the 5-6 knot WNW breeze: perfect for the planned B-course.
Six boats came up river from South Bank: 3 Enterprises; a Laser; a Xenon, and a Merlin, together with an attendant safety boat. They beached on the slimy foreshore downstream of the railway bridge and made use of our sumptuous facilities, including tea and coffee.
They were matched by nine Strand boats: James Armitage and Lev Kolobov in Enterprises, Rob Adams, Joseph Armitage and Keith Clarke in Lasers; Sam Shemtob’s Wayfarer; Ian Nethersell’s Vibe; Tim Young’s Wanderer and Nick Floyer’s Gull.
The downwind start, against the flood tide, presented the choice of seeking the relatively slack water on either side of the river. 14 boats chose the Middlesex side and only one SBSC Enterprise (Allan Munro-Faure) chose the Surrey side. He was correct and rounded the downstream mark (at Chiswick Staithe) well ahead of the others. After the beat back upstream and rounding the upstream mark (opposite 7 Strand on the Green) he was 30 seconds ahead of Joe Armitage’s Laser with his Dad two seconds behind.
The first lap took around 19 minutes for the leaders. The second lap was faster with practically all the fleet following the Surrey bank and at the end of it Joe led James by 20 seconds with Allan 6 seconds behind. The wind dropped significantly during the second lap, spreading the fleet and catching Nick Floyer on the wrong side of the downstream mark.
It was clear that we’d had the best of the afternoon wind and Mary Brown (OOD) decided to end the race at the third lap as the leaders approached the hour. The finishing order was James, 54 seconds ahead of Joe, 11 seconds ahead of Allan Munro-Faure. Lev was close behind as was the sleek Merlin of SBSC’s A Molyneux.
The Challenge Cup is a team trophy and goes to the Club with the lowest total score when the positions of the first six boats in each club are added up. The result was a convincing win for SGSC .
Afterwards – what a feast. Steve Newells home-brew helped to wash down a wide variety of goodies from barbequed sausages (many thanks to Leona Shepherd), through buns and cakes to a triffle. Many thanks to all concerned, especially our SBSC visitors, for an epic afternoon.
Our much-delayed sailing adventure to the Norfolk Broads has been confirmed for 16th to 19th September. The weekend trip is based at Upton Yacht Station situated in the centre of the network of rivers and lakes that make up the Broads National Park.
We have reserved four traditional sailing boats from Eastwood Whelpton.
The fleet is well equipped and unlike our last outing has engines!
There are berths for 19 people, and if they are all taken then the approximate cost is £140 per person.
If you are interested in coming along or have already paid your deposit and want to confirm your place then please contact David Jones by mobile or by email on davidjones306@hotmail.co.uk
Request David Jones mobile number by emailing to info@strandsailing.org.uk
Dear Sailors,
The Jubilee is creeping up fast!
We have been invited to take part in the Jubilee sailing regatta on the Thames which runs from Thursday 2nd to Saturday 4th with a return back Strand on the Green on Sunday 5th.
Three other clubs are taking part. Corinthians, who are based on Hammersmith Mall, Southbank, who are opposite Fulham Football Ground, and Ranelagh, who are a little further downriver at Putney.
There is a mixture of races with passages from one club to the next, down-stream races, and high-tide courses around buoys.
Because of the tide times, SGSC is not able to host a race that is convenient for our neighbors. The other clubs are offering parties and food and the opportunity to leave our boats overnight so we can return home and go back the following day. Corinthians and Ranelagh are also offering dinghies for hire for the events held on their stretch of the river.
This is the program:
If you are interested in taking part in any of the regattas then please let Chris Greenwood know. David Jones and Andy Ross have volunteered to look after the safety boat. We have three boats taking part so far. If you want to hire a boat for one of the events or crew with someone else then this could be a good option too.
Entry for SBSC
The SBSC On-Line Entry Form for the round the cans race on Saturday 4th June is on SBSC website and ready for your club members to sign up. There’s a tick box for the BBQ post-race on the form too. Go to Menu on the front page and it’s there under Jubilee Regatta – www.southbanksailingclub.co.uk
If we could have an indication of numbers by next Friday 27th that would be helpful. Inevitably there will be a few who won’t decide until the day before but we can deal with that on the 4th.
Looking forward to seeing everyone. All we need now is some nice wind and sunshine!
Chris Greenwood, SGSC
The Black Swan Event
The afternoon did not get off with a promising start and if anything it just got worse!
There was little breeze and a persistent drizzle from the outset. The planned “B” course was never a realistic possibility so thoughts moved towards a short “A” with a Zoffany start provided we had enough sailors/boats (at least 3) along with a safety boat crew and OOD. We had a full complement of officials but it was well inside the last 40 minutes or so before we had three boats declaring intentions to launch and in the end we got four. Perhaps the televised Women’s FA Cup Final at Wembley was keeping everyone away. By the time the last trolley was back up the ramp the OOD had too little time to close up the arch and hasten along to the start which was three minutes late as a result. Many thanks at this point to Heather Adams for providing a folding chair which was later moved to under the shelter of a tree.
Two Buoys had been laid for a short “A” with the upstream one by the Bell and Crown. Progress was agonisingly slow and after 30 minutes no-one had reached the first mark and one boat had been rescued from the jaws of Kew Bridge at least once. That race was then cancelled, the downstream buoy moved nearer the bank and the upstream buoy only just downstream of the start/finish line.
The second attempt at holding a race was more successful but only just. The most exciting event of the afternoon was the appearance of a black swan (pictured) which seemed to swim around totally at ease with a dozen of the white variety and a few of the inevitable Canada geese. “Porpoise” (Enterprise) eventually broke free and completed a lap in 24 minutes followed by the other two survivors about ten minutes later. The other Laser had long since requested a tow back to base so all finishers got on the podium!
OOD – Steve Newell; Safety Boat – Tom Broadhurst, David Jones.
Steve
Good morning sailors
In case you haven’t been alerted, the first race of the season is on this coming Sunday, 6th March, and the calendar for the whole season is now on the website.
A printable version of the calendar is also on the website.
Happy sailing
Henry
How well did you do? Here are the points and winners over 28 races – more than most years despite Covid.
