Race Report 16th November 2025 – Last Race

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Race Report 16th November 2025

OOD :  Enoch Rodriguez assisted by Andy Ross and Dave Jones

Safety Boat:  David Baker

Weather:  Cloudy, light NE wind, 2-3 Beaufort, 

Course: A

It was the last race of the season with a good turn-out of 8 boats on a fine Autumn morning.  James Armitage had Kieran Biekarck as crew in Zephyr (Enterprise); Lev Kolobov and Rob Adams were both solo in their Enterprises – Porpoise and Big Polly.  Chris Greenwood had Commodore Felicia Biekarck as crew in Distant Thunder (Leader) and Sam Shemtob had Timor Gottfried aboard to speed his Wayfarer, SY2.  Ben Chappell and Keith Clarke had their Lasers – Envy and Kaia, and Rebecca Hayle was all alone in Wagtail.

The wind was good for the Ents: James was consistently ahead doing laps in 5-7 minutes with Lev and Rob ending up about 4 minutes behind after 9 laps, and Chris followed closely about 90 seconds behind.  The two Lasers were lapped by the Ents and completed 7 laps in about the same time.  Sam in the Wayfarer had put a reef in his main (expecting to sail solo), which slowed him down despite Tamir’s assistance.  And the light wind was no friend to Rebecca who persisted heroically to overcome the flood tide in the approach to Kew bridge.  But she nevertheless completed 3 laps.

The race was over in just over an hour and all the boats made their way back to the Arch.  But spare a thought for Enoch and his helpers who had to record the times of eight boats crossing the line up to 9 times each – around 60 individual records.  And the race sheet was immaculate.

Meanwhile, back at the Arch, Mary Short (and others) had bought the barbeque to life to prepare a hot feast of bangers and other meats, plus pickles and sauces, plus buns, plus a wide variety of cakes, flapjacks and sweets, plus beer and other drinks.  The traditional beer and bangers to mark the end of the season, and 80 years of SGSC.   And we were honoured to have Marthe Armitage, a founder member of the club back in 1946, to share in the celebrations. 

Race Report 9th November 2025

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A good muster of boats ready for a D course in a decent breeze and sunshine. Boats included James Armitage and Felicia Biekarck in Zephyr (Enterprise), Keith Clarke (Kaia) and Tamir Gottfried in Lasers, Sam Shemtob and new crew in SY2 (Wayfarer), Nick Floyer in flo (Gull) and Olly Adams and Billy in Spinosaurus (Mirror).

The race got off to a start 5mins late with syncopated start sequence of horns and flags from OOD Heather Adams supported by Sienna. Sadly the tide was on the wane and it was clear that a full course was not possible. With James, Tamir and Keith stretching out and the little boats stuck at Chiswick Bridge, Rob Adams and Kieran in the safety boat put the buoy down just at the upstream end of the old Watney’s Brewery. 

Tamir lead James round the buoy with Keith close behind. The tide was exactly slack. The remaining boats managed to clear Chiswick Bridge and its wind shadow and began to make a little progress to the buoy but with an ever-strengthening incoming tide Rob and Kieran offered to move the buoy for the small boats, but both declined and pressed on. 

By this time Sam had retired finding it difficult to make it through Chiswick Bridge with a reef in his sail. 

To the great relief of the safety boat the wind changed a little more from the S allowing the two little boats to keep in to the Middlesex shore and reach up to the mark and round, Nick’s boat in the lead. The excitement was to see if the deployment of the Mirror’s spinnaker would give them a chance of catching up. Billy’s enthusiastic foredeck work finally got the bulging sail up and filled but wind was becoming more fickle and the positions didn’t change. 

The last two boats had a hour of sailing but by the time they got back the Wayfarer, Lasers and Enterprise were all put away. 

Rob Adams (from the safety boat)

Race Report 26th October 2025

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Race Report 26th October 2025

OOD and Safety Boat:  Keith Clarke

Cloudy, light rain, gusty, SW 12-28 knots, F 4-5 Beaufort

Course: A

Three boats launched late on a forbidding autumn day: back to GMT.  James Armitage in Zephyr (Enterprise) with Tom Wellburn as crew; Lev Kolobov solo in Porpoise (Enterprise); and Chris Greenwood with Mary Short in Distant Thunder (Leader).

Good start by all at 13:30.  Lev turned at the downstream mark first, followed by James and then Chris.  James overtook on the run upstream and led most of the way thereafter. (Lev was ahead on the 4th lap). Some strong gusts had all three leaning at times.  Six laps by James and Lev, 2 minutes apart at the end.  5 laps by Chris and Mary, about 5 minutes behind.  Daylight faded as the race procession ended.

Mary got moral points for crewing Chris in the rain and cold!

Thanks to Keith for doubling up on duties and enabling Tim to crew for James.

Keith Clarke OOD.

Race Report, 12th October 2025

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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

Race report, SGSC v. SBSC 21st September 2025

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SGSC v. SBSC 21st 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 7th September 2025

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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.

Race Report 13th July 2025

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OOD:  Mary Brown

Safety Boat: Henry Brown and David Baker

Course: A           Weather: hot and sunny, light E wind at 6 knots gusting 10.

Five boats launched for a 15.35 start on a slimy and diminishing foreshore: Lev Kolobov and Inna sailing in Porpoise (Enterprise); Chris Greenwood and Felicia in Distant Thunder (Leader); Keith Clarke in Kaia (Laser); Tim Wellburn and daughter in Ixion (Enterprise); and Rebecca Hayle and daughter in Wagtail (Mirror).

The wind was mostly with the tide, so we set a short A-course with the downstream mark above the PLA grid and an upstream mark opposite the City Barge.  Even so, the conditions were too much for Wagtail who failed to complete a lap despite patience and perseverance.  Tim started well and finished a lap in third place but that was all that Ixion could manage, and eventually she accepted a tow back to the Arch.

Lev led from the start with Keith and Chris close behind for three laps before he stretched his lead and finishing 6 laps in an hour and ten minutes.  Keith finished his fifth lap about two minutes later with Chris close behind.  A typical lovely Sunday on the river.

The tide was up over the ramp by the time they all finished and the substantial fencing erected to repair the bridge meant that it was a struggle to get the boats back in their places (as well as at the launch).

Thanks to Mary for officiating – she just managed to keep her feet dry.  The next race is a late D-course at 18.05.

Race Results 16th March 2025 – First Race

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Race Report, First Race

March 16 dawned with a promising day of sunshine ahead – and happily this turned out to be the case for the first race of the 2025 season.  This was an A course with two buoys, one upstream of The Bell and Crown and the other by the  grid.

 The wind was quite variable but generally light, with none of the 7 boats which started the race at 1440 needing to retire for any reason  – and hence relatively light work for Keith Clarke and Henry Brown in  the safety boat. 

The building work on the railway arch has made the parking and movement of boats somewhat different from usual but everyone worked deftly manoeuvring boats and trailers on the fast-disappearing foreshore at that start, and wading in the rising waters on the towpath when bringing the boats in after the race.

There were 3 Enterprises which each, at different stages in the race appeared to be leading the way, with eventually James Armitage (with Felicia Biekark as crew ) and  Lev who was single handed slogging it out to the end of the race, with both completing 8 laps.

 It was a delight to see two under -10’s crewing in the race (Felicity Adams completing 6 laps in Enterprise Big Polly with her grandad Rob Adams) and Kieran Biekark (crewing for Chris Greenwood in the Leader dinghy  Distant Thunder) completing 7 laps.

The other 3 boats in the race were sailing single-handed with Nick Floyer (5 laps), Tim Young (5 laps) and Nick Jeffery (3 laps) each in their characterful and very different designs of boat, respectively Gull, Wanderer and Duckling.

The race was a pleasing and colourful spectacle for the many drinkers, diners and walkers along the tow path which was bathed in warm sunshine – and it was a delight to be OOD under such conditions.

Mary Short, OOD

A note on the Results Table (below). We’ve added another column to the table, the first under the Polly Prize heading, ALT, standing for Average Lap Time after Portsmouth Number calculation. Olly asked for this as it is the nearest we get to an official handicap comparison of our boats taking the wide variety of boats, handicaps and number of laps sailed.