OOD: Enoch Rodriguez. Safety Boat: Tim Young and David Jones
Sunday was our 28th and Last Race of the season with its own special prize. There was sunshine and a WSW wind at 8knots, gusting 17knots (according to the Met Office at Kew Gardens). Tim set a long triangular A-course with a downstream buoy at the bottom end of Oliver’s Island (giving the opportunity of an upstream leg on either side of the island). The upstream rowing buoy on the Surrey side and our buoy opposite the Steam Packet formed the other end of the triangle.
Eight boats launched from the rapidly diminishing foreshore: three Enterprises (James Armitage and crew in Zephyr, Rob Adams in Big Polly, and Lev Kolobov in Porpoise); two Lasers (Ben Chappell in Envy and Keith Clarke in Kaia); Chris Greenwood and Felicia Biekark in Distant Thunder – Leader; Nick Floyer in flo – Gull; and Rebecca Hayes in Wagtail – Mirror.
It was a day for the big boats: the three Enterprises and the Leader led the way from the start at 13:45 with all four within three minutes at the first lap – James and Rob 10 seconds apart. Rob was ahead at the second lap by about the same margin, but James soon overtook and was ahead for the next three laps, and he was 20 seconds ahead of Rob when Enoch finished the race after 51 minutes on the fifth lap. Chris, Ben and Lev were next on four laps each, and Nick, Keith and finally Rebecca finished their three laps after 70 minutes.
Meanwhile the tide had forced OOD Enoch and Ian Nethersell off the footpath and onto the steps of the Bell and Crown. And yet they resisted a drink. Their return to the club had to be along Thames Road with the last short stretch welly-deep past the Bull’s Head.
By then the dinghies had floated into the Club’s soggy premises where the barbeque was sizzling with sausages and Steve Newell’s delicious beer was flowing freely. The traditional end-of-season Beer and Bangers was relaxed and, as ever, enjoyed by all. Many thanks to those many hands who provided and prepared the sumptuous feast.
The handicap sums made little difference to the finishing order: first James, second Rob and third Chris.
The results for this race are shown below. The final results for the whole season need some tweaking to account for the ‘best 14 results’ which is a way of reducing the advantage to those who sail most frequently. The Master of Sums will publish them as soon as possible.
