Race Report. 29^th March 2026

OOD: Rebecca Hayes.     Safety Boat:  David Baker

Weather: dry, cold, wind force 3-4 B SW, gusty.

The third race of the season was an A-Course with two buoys in front of the Steam Packet and by the barge dock. We had a strong seven boat turnout with 3 Enterprises; Big Polly helmed by Dave Berger with Shelia crewing (welcome visitors from Yorkshire); Lev Kolobov was solo in Porpoise;  and father and daughter team James Armitage helming with Ruth crewing in Zephyr; Tamir Gottfried and Ben Chappell in their Lasers; Sam Shemtob with crew in Wayfarer SY2,  and Lennard Pronk who was taking Tango out for the second time and mainly using the race to get used to his Solo.  The WillyWeather forecast promised cloud, no rain, and light winds with the odd blink of sunshine — and while the Thames broadly agreed, it also threw in some unexpected gusts that kept everyone alert.

Launching took a little longer than usual with so many boats, so the race began at 11.30am. Rebecca, Officer of the Day, had Ella assisting on the line, which proved wise as a second pair of eyes was needed as it proved to be a very exciting energetic race. Ben in his Laser Envy shot across first, catching an early puff before the wind faded again, turning the opening lap into a more tactical second part and one of the longest laps. Zephyr led the first lap in thirteen minutes, closely followed by Big Polly and Porpoise, the three Enterprises practically glued together. Tamir kept close behind, SY2 followed steadily and Lennard in Tango crossed the start line twenty‑five minutes later after bailing out some water and settling into only his second outing in the boat.

After the first lap there were a series of punchy gusts speeding up the laps and reshuffling the fleet. One of these sharp gusts capsized Tango in front of the pub and in the line of the other boats so Dave, in the safety boat, towed her clear and after a while Lennard righted her with impressive composure, earning warm applause from the pub as he carried on. Envy also had some dramatic moments, with Ben masterfully righting the Laser each time, much to the delight of the pub terrace who cheered him on.

The Enterprises continued their tight formation, while Tamir darted in and out of them, catching gusts at just the right moment. After an hour of lively, gust‑driven racing, the finish was a thriller: Tamir slipped ahead of Zephyr by just one second to cross the finish line, with Big Polly close behind and then Porpoise, all four boats completing 9 laps.  Ben completed seven laps in Envy, Sam and crew finished with six laps in SY2, and Lennard completed four determined laps in Tango. Well, done to all who braved the cold to complete an adrenaline filled race.

Rebecca Hayes

Next week, 5th April, it’s another A or B course starting at 16:10, following a Working Party in the morning at 10:30.

RACE REPORT: 15 MARCH 2026 – FIRST RACE OF THE SEASON

Sunshine and a Met Office forecast of a 14kt SW wind offered the prospect of an excellent, if challenging first race of the season.

Seven boats launched: three Enterprises (James, Rob and Lev); Chris’ Leader; two Lasers (Tamir and Patrick); and a solo Solo (Lennert). Keith manned the Safety Boat single-handed, which was noble of him given the high likelihood of salvage operations.

In the event, all the big boats stayed afloat, if not always quite upright, which was impressive, especially as Rob and Lev were sailing single-handed. 

The start was delayed by a few minutes awaiting late-rigged boats, and then by a few more minutes when somebody led half the fleet over the start line on the 5th minute, despite yellow and blue flags still flying pending the conventional six-minute start & signal. This was of little consequence because the wind (& sunshine) held throughout the morning – we definitely got the better half of the day.  

Lev and Tamir got a very good start, sailing almost in formation all the way round the first lap with Lev just beating Tamir round the upwind buoy and onto the second lap. Fighting gusts (& doing well to avoid capsizing) Lev lost the lead to Tamir, and second place to James on the second lap.

Lennert retired when his boat filled with water.

From the third lap, James and Tamir started to consolidate their lead, albeit changing positions, with James taking and just holding the lead from the fifth (penultimate) lap, to cross the line after the sixth lap in just under 48 minutes.

Meanwhile, a real battle was developing between Lev, Chris and Rob, with Rob taking the lead on the fifth lap, only to relinquish it to Chris – by just 12 seconds – on the sixth and final one. Patrick, making a good fist of Strand’s unusual sailing conditions, completed five laps, finishing only a couple of minutes after the six-lap mid-field big-boats.

Tim Wellburn  – OOD

PS A warm welcome to Patrick (Laser) and Lennert (Solo) who have joined SGSC and now have first-hand experience of our peculiar conditions. Long may they continue.

The next race is another A or B course (depending on conditions) starting at 15:30 next Sunday.

Full report to follow, but 5 boats raced with 3 finishing the C-course and the two little boats having to turn back in the face of the ebb tide. They were, nevertheless, given points for their persistence.

Three boats took part in a very slow race:

A report will follow as soon as I get it from the OOD.

SGSC Race Report 12 October 2025

SGSC Race Report 12 October 2025

A sunny evening race. There was very light wind from ENE and so from behind the houses along Strand: a slight back-draught however blew one way or another or sometimes not at all. An A course was set from a Bell & Crown start to half-way down to the railway bridge.

James (Enterprise) made slow and patient progress keeping close to the bank, and was the first to round the downstream and upstream buoys and complete a lap. Rob (Enterprise) headed out into the strong flood tide in search of more wind, which looked initially to pay off but in the event he completed his first lap a few minutes later; he almost immediately fouled a mooring buoy and took several minutes to clear himself, after which progress was so slow that he was  unable to go round again.

Chris (Leader) rounded the downstream mark but found it difficult to turn back round the one upstream; he had a losing battle against the tide before resorting to paddling to avoid Kew bridge. Tamir (Laser) managed better but needed several attempts out in midstream to reach the line.

Meanwhile, James finished a second lap, and although only a little more than half an hour had gone by, he and the others were progressing so slowly that it seemed wise to finish the race. This enabled Sam (Wayfarer) to be the second to finish, after one lap taking three-quarters of an hour; and to be followed by a finally successful Tamir. Keith (Laser) also sailed but did not complete a lap.

All the two-handed boats were fully crewed, so crews also deserve credit: I am sorry that I did not take a list of names. And thanks to Andy who managed the safety boat unassisted.

Nick Floyer OOD

SGSC v. SBSC 21^st September 2025

OOD: Mary and Henry Brown;   SB: David Baker , Andy Ross

Course: B;   Weather: fine, North 2-4 Beaufort;  Start time: 14:00

On a perfect day for the event, we had 5 visitors from SBSC (Laser, Laser 13, GP14 and 2 Solos) who sailed up with the tide to arrive at around 11:00, in time for a quick lunch in the Bull’s Head, mooring on the slimy foreshore outside the pub.  We had already chosen a B-course because of the predicted north wind, and the fact that a temporary mooring downstream of the Railway Bridge would be more convenient for our visitors.

The first surprise of the day was the unusually large turn-out from SGSC: 11 boats eventually started (3 Enterprises, 4 Lasers, a Leader, a Wayfarer, a Mirror and a Solo).  The OOD had taken the precaution of doubling-up: one to record times so far as possible, the other to simply log each boat for each lap as a check.  And David Jones was also on hand to identify sail numbers.

Dave Baker and Andy had laid the downstream buoy opposite Chiswick Staithe, and the upstream mark was just downstream of the Railway Bridge, in line with the old mooring post.

It was a downwind start, and all started without a recall.  Sam Shemtob (Wayfarer) was late getting to the start but persisted anyway.  From the OOD’s point of view the fleet was out of site until late in the return half.  Joe Armitage was in the lead ahead of his father, James, and followed by Lev Kolobov, then Rob Adams and then Tamir Gotfried, and these five were in the lead throughout.  The first SBSC visitor was Matt Young in a Laser at No. 7.

It was exciting sailing at times with several capsizes and recoveries and the OOD decided to give everyone a generous hour.  Approaching the hour James was bow-and-bow with Joe with Rob close behind followed by Tamir and then Lev.  These five completed five laps, with eight boats completing four laps, and the SBSC Laser 13 and Sam’s Wayfarer on 3 laps.  Ariel Biekark was last to finish in a Solo – he was caught by the turning tide.

So, a spectacular and enjoyable afternoon for all 16 boats on the river, and those watching from the shore, and it was followed by a delicious barbeque, provided by Mary Short and many helpers.

Race Report 7 September 2025

OOD: Mary Brown, Safety Boat: Henry Brown and Russel Hayes

The race was scheduled as a C-course, then changed to an A because of a possible clash with an upstream sailing club, then as we gathered at the Club it was clear that the tide was not rising, and sure enough, on checking, we found that the Barrier had been closed for its routine September full-tide test closure.  So we decided to race on a B-course – between the Railway Bridge and Chiswick Staithe.

Four boats prepared to sail: James Armitage solo in Zephyr (Enterprise); Rob Adams, also solo in Big Polly(Enterprise); Ben Chappell in Envy (Laser); and Rebecca Hayes in Wagtail (Mirror).  There was a brisk SW wind up the river with the tide blowing, according to the weather app, between 11 and 27knots.  The course was set with the bridge support as the upstream mark, and downstream a buoy was laid opposite Chiswick Staithe.

There was a considerable flow upstream, despite the Barrier closure.  The Thames is mysterious. So the downstream leg was a beat against wind and the river, and the return upstream was a run with the current.  Rob and James were evenly matched on the first lap with James about a minute in the lead at 25 minutes, but they swapped positions several times.  Ben started late and was about 5 minutes behind at the first lap.  Rebecca, unfortunately, never made it to the start line.  She tacked persistently just upstream of the bridge only to be swept back in the dead air under the bridge.  She then grounded on her centreboard causing it some damage and decided to retire.

The second lap ended with James less than 2 minutes ahead of Rob and that was quite enough for single handers in a frisky wind.  And especially for Rob who was recovering from a serious shoulder injury.  Ben capsized at the downstream mark which he recovered elegantly without getting wet above the waist.  This earned him a round of applause from picnickers on the bank but lost him 10 minutes of time at the finish.

Next week we have an A/B course at 18:40.