Race Report, 27 October 2019
After some really nasty weather during the week it was a great relief that Sunday came as a perfect autumn day – sunshine, autumn colour starting to appear in the trees, and a gentle 6-7 mph wind from the north west.
Seven boats started on an A-course a bit further downstream than usual, starting at the Zoffany House short A-course line but with the downstream buoy outside the City Barge. The north west breeze was straight down the river and gave a run all the way down and a beat back to the Bell and Crown.
The two Lasers (Rob Adams and John Bull) and two Enterprises (the Browns and Lev sailing solo) established themselves as the leader-pack from the start. There was only 15 seconds between them at the first lap with Lev in the lead. Lev swapped first place with the Browns for the next two laps with only seconds between them, but by the fourth lap the Browns had opened a 2-minute lead, and Rob was in second place. The Browns maintained their lead for the next three laps and finished just under the hour about two minutes ahead of Rob and Lev, who were about 30 seconds apart. John was about 3 minutes behind Lev and was the last to complete 7 laps. Interspersed in a tight finishing order were Alex Pape in his lugger, Sam and David in the Wayfarer and Tim Young in his Gull, all on 6 laps.
The handicap sums gave the Browns first place in all three series, with Tim second in the Handicap, Little Boats and Polly Prize points. Lev was second in the Big Boats; Rob was third in the Handicap and Big Boats; and Sam was third in the Handicap.
Many thanks to Inna Kolobov for volunteering to be the Race Officer at short notice and for an immaculate results sheet disentangling seven boats coming over the line within minutes if not seconds of each other. And thanks to Andy Ross and David Kolobov in the safety boat.
The boats, including the safety boat, almost floated into the yard on a high spring tide and, even at lunch time, warming tea was on hand.
Next week it’s a D-course starting at 1330.
HB
