Race Results – 24 September 2017

Race Report by Nick Floyer OOD

It was a warm and pleasant evening for this race over a triangular A course. Initially there was enough of a breeze to make tacking down to the windward mark by the City Barge, against the strong spring flood tide and SE wind, quite possible. Rob A and John in Lasers completed a lap in thirteen minutes, and Ian in his Vibe in eighteen. Only Lev’s friend Victor, in a borrowed Solo and without much small-boat experience, failed to get to windward at all, and had to be rescued several times from Kew Bridge by Dave in the safety boat. However the wind then became increasingly light, and it was the rounding of the leeward mark, the red channel buoy, and making it back to the line, that proved difficult for everyone. Lev in his Gull and Alex in his 14ft lugger were swept away to Kew Bridge and later retired. Next came Tim, who with considerable skill managed to tack up to the line and complete a lap in twenty-three minutes. Close behind were Rob and John coming round for the second time, and I raised the yellow flag in order to finish the race early, but they and Ian behind them failed to make it across to the finish line. Their various attempts to creep up along the wall did not succeed, and I eventually sent word that I would just use the first lap times for the results. After the best part of an hour the tide slackened, the wind perked up a bit, and the three boats were able to sailed home to the club. I timed them as they completed a nominal second lap, but the results below are based on the first-lap times of the four boats that made it round.

The so-called Burton rules for fishing a race are very sensible. However, this race shows that an OOD may need the option of ending a race on the basis of whatever laps have been completed, in the event that even the leading boat fails to finish a further lap within reasonable time.