The Met Office promised sunny spells giving way to showers spreading west, with a northerly breeze gusting into the high twenties. Undeterred, nine boats rigged for a D-course on the last of the ebb. Low water was due around three o’clock, and the river was already shrinking between wide banks of Strand’s finest mud. Rebecca was OOD, and Dave kindly volunteered for the safety boat so that James and his daughter Ruth could sail.

Sadly, Nick found a problem with his Gull flo and sensibly decided not to start. Getting the boat back across the low-tide mud became a team effort. New member Priscilla and her dog Sunday waded out to help, along with a kind gentleman from the pub, and Sunday thoroughly enjoyed a full mud bath. A warm, muddy welcome to Priscilla (and Sunday)!

The 13:50 start came with a bonus obstacle: a rower drifting through the middle of the line. Joe in his Laser Punt was first across, closely followed by Ben in Envy (Laser) and Lev sailing Porpoise (Enterprise) single-handed. Next came James and Ruth in Zephyr (Enterprise), then Tamir in his Laser, and Rob with his neighbour Vaughan in Big Polly (Enterprise). Ollie with his four-year-old daughter George in Spinosaurus (Mirror) and Chris with Rex in Distant Thunder (Leader) completed the fleet. Five minutes later the heavens opened. Every sailor came back reporting how thoroughly drenched they had been, but spirits stayed remarkably high.

The course took the fleet all the way down to the buoy off the London Corinthian Sailing Club. The tide turned before anyone got there, so the final approach meant battling the young flood to round the mark. Near Chiswick Bridge, Lev capsized Porpoise and came up full of water, which is perhaps only fitting for a boat with that name. He then discovered his bucket had gone missing, so Rob turned Big Polly back to deliver a huge yellow bucket for Lev to bail himself out, a fine bit of Strand sportsmanship.

By 15:13 the rain had cleared, and the sun came out to welcome the fleet home. The leaders beat up a crowded river through sculls, eights and coaching launches, now with the flood behind them. James and Ruth led comfortably and were first home. Tamir climbed from fifth at the start to cross second, with Joe third. Despite their bucket delivery, Rob and Vaughan gained two places to finish fourth, with a seagull supervising from its post as Big Polly passed. Lev, now well supplied with buckets, recovered from his swim to finish fifth. The closest contest of the day was between Chris and Ben, side by side up the final stretch, with Distant Thunder just edging out Envy.

Last, but by no means least, Ollie and George brought Spinosaurus home. They were the only small boat sailing, and it was George’s very first race. Big sister Felicity, unable to sail because of a broken wrist, cheered them in wearing a dinosaur T-shirt in honour of her dad’s dinosaur-named boat, and sounded the horn to close the race.

The drama wasn’t over, though. Towards the end of the race the safety boat’s engine cut out, leaving Dave in need of rescue himself. Ollie dropped George ashore and sailed straight back out, and Strand witnessed the rare sight of a Mirror towing the rescue boat. Chris and Rob then waded out under Kew Railway Bridge to fit an outboard to the small inflatable and relieve Ollie of his heroic mission. At that point, naturally, the safety boat’s engine decided to work again, and Dave motored himself home.

Only at Strand.

*Order across the finish line*

1.⁠ ⁠James & Ruth, Zephyr (Enterprise)

3.⁠ ⁠Joe (Laser)

2.⁠ ⁠Tamir (Laser)

4.⁠ ⁠Rob & Vaughan, Big Polly (Enterprise)

5.⁠ ⁠Lev, Porpoise (Enterprise)

6.⁠ ⁠Chris & Rex, Distant Thunder (Leader)

7.⁠ ⁠Ben, Envy (Laser)

8.⁠ ⁠Ollie & George, Spinosaurus (Mirror)

DNS: Nick, flo (Gull)

Rebecca Hayes, OOD.

… and after the handicap sums were done:

OOD: Leona Shepherd

Safety Boat: Keith Clarke

Weather: Fair, light winds from both E & W (!), no tide (until a weak flood at the end). 

 Course: ‘Modified A’ As the Thames Barrier closed there was no tide and very little water.

This provided the opportunity to extend the course to include passing under Kew bridge. An anticipated benefit was that the wind appeared better on the other side. But like green grass, it was not quite as good as hoped. 

Never the less, the course started downstream over the usual Course A start line, round the PLA pontoon clockwise, upstream keeping the red Port can to starboard, under Kew bridge and clockwise around the red Port can at far end of Kew pontoon. The course ran clockwise.  

Start: 14:54  HWKB: none    Wind  NE 5-6kn6 boats launched* with Chris Greenwood and Felicia Biekarck in Distant Thunder (Leader) and Tamir Gottfried in Punt (Laser), Rob Adams in Big Polly (Enterprise), Dave & Sheila Berger in Entre nous (Enterprise), Kieran Biekarck in ‘63’ (Laser), and Rebecca Hayes in Kingfisher (‘70s Mirror) .

Launching was a sticky and muddy effort due to the lack of water, however there was no rush – there being no tide – and worth doing correctly. The safety boat ran smoothly and efficiently throughout. Bravo to Chris who has worked wonders on the outboard.

Patrick Lane-Spollen, in Tango, launched later and completed the course for fun (untimed). The start was very tight and for the first leg 5 boats remained neck and neck – sailing in perfect alignment side by side (sadly no photos). After the turn into wind, without tide, the boats started to separate with Punt and Big Polly completing the 1^st lap after 22mins only 20secs apart. Entre Nous, closely pursued by Distant Thunder, completed their 1^st laps 90seconds later. Thereafter it was a slow race not least due to an unexpected gentle flood tide in the final minutes. Always exciting at Strand on the Green. Several boats reported going backwards!  The total race ended when Tamir, on Punt, finished his 2^nd lap, with Rob on Big Polly still only 25secs behind him, and, 4mins later, Entre Nous was 3^rd with Distant Thunder only 16secs behind him.

Huge congratulations to Keiran on ‘63’ for completing his lap and coming in 5^th followed by Rebecca on Kingfisher. The sailors were observed walking their boats back – obviously there was not the predicted 5m tide! Great photos by Keith and others are already posted to the SGSC WhatsApp group.

Race Report  4th October 2026

A beautiful day but no wind. The Windguru forecast showed 4 knots of wind from the SW. Reluctance from potential entrants Kiran Biekarck (laser 5.7), Felicia Biekarck (Laser), Ben Chappell (laser), Keith Clarke (Laser), to drift to Hammersmith and back possibly a 3 hour trip. So as a compromise a low water B course was set using the rowing buoys as marks negating the use of heavy club marks. Optimistically the intention was to stem the outgoing tide to make the return leg of the laps. 

With Rob Adams substituted in the rescue boat by new SGSC member Robin Hunter-Coddington and Lenny Pronk a 5 boat fleet launched. Another innovation was the use of the lightweight rubber dinghy and the 2.3hp engine as the rescue boat. Much easier to launch and recover across the low water foreshore.

Heather as OOD started the race 20mins late with Felicia still launching. Not to worry, after a pleasant sail in the very light zephyr of a wind the fleet arrived at the downstream, mark Rob followed by Kiran, Ben, Keith and then Felicia. Unfortunately even with centre plate and rudder up little progress was made upstream. The fleet regrouped. Keith left the group who were using dagger boards to anchor and sailed off to Chiswick Bridge. Rob and Ben managed to round the mark and set off for the Middlesex bank to try their luck there but with no benefit. But all was not lost for the patient ones, Kiran and Ben having retired in frustration. The wind filled in a little bit and conveniently came from the south allowing a close fetch to the one-lap shortened course finish at No 1 SotG. By the time of the finish the tide had turned. A close finish with Rob, Felicia and Keith. Keith having done the longer course made up considerable ground.

Conclusion 

The lightweight dinghy as safety boat was a great success although tricky with two buoys on board. Take a can of petrol with you because the small engine does not have a big tank.

A low water B course is not a bad option but a time closer to the tide turning would be advisable.

Thanks to Lenny and Robin for volunteering to do the rescue boat.

Rob Adams

Race Report 26th September 2026
OOD: Leona Shepherd/Andy Ross
South Bank Safety Boat: Chris SBSC & Lennart SGSC
Weather: Sunny, with fresh Southerly winds gusting from 15-20mph

Course: A – 80th Anniversary Celebration Race
Start: 14.45 HWKB:16.03 Wind Sth 10-20mph

8 boats launched: 5 from Strand on the Green Sailing Club – with Patrick Lane-Spollen in Ellie (Laser); Chris Greenwood and Felicia Biekarck in Distant Thunder (Leader); Tamir Gottfried in Tango (Solo); James Armitage and Xanthi/Keiran Biekarck in Zephyr (Enterprise); Rob Adams and Von in Big Polly (Enterprise). Our 3 guest boats were Alex from Ranalagh SC, in Snapper (laser); Eric Morgan and Ellie Osborne from South Bank SC, in Faith (GP14); Olivier Benech, South Bank SC, on Super Nova aka Fulham Pier (laser).

After a few last minute issues with the SGSC safety boat, notably its failure to start, the marker buoys were rapidly transferred to the SBSC safety boat, skippered by Chris, who was joined by Lenny. The race start was delayed by 15mins while the buoys were deployed (in hindsight slightly far apart) and all 8 boats were circling ready for the delayed start at 14.45.

As a (almost) founding member of the club we were honoured to have Paul Williamson sound the starting horn demonstrating his 79yrs & 6months of SGSC experience 😊.

With 8 boats vying for the best position and a gusty, southerly wind, the start was very tight. Distant Thunder immediately took an honourable penalty returning to the start, having been just overline as the gun was fired. Thereafter the race settled into a predictable rhythm. Thanks to the gusty winds Alex on Snapper was able to demonstrate his agility and skill by re-righting his laser on several occasions!
The Spring tide rising rapidly, the gusty winds and the quirky wind gullies of an A course made the downstream section particularly challenging. In the meantime James & Xanthi/Kieran on Zephyr maintained an early lead despite Alex, on Snapper, being a strong competitor throughout the race.
The lead boat, Zephyr, crossed the finish line after 4 laps (56mins 13s). Snapper also completed 4 laps (1h 4mins 53s). Distant Thunder, Tango and Big Polly completed 3 laps each. SuperNova/Fulham Pier, Faith and Ellie eventually escaped the downstream challenges, each completing 1 lap. Despite the course complexities everyone said they had really enjoyed the sailing, the race and the camaraderie. After handicaps, the ranking was Zephyr (1st), Snapper (2nd), Distant Thunder (3rd ) Tango (4th), Big Polly (5th), SuperNova/Fulham Pier (6th), Faith (7th), Ellie (8th).

Back at the club we were honoured to be joined by founding member Martha Armitage, some social members, as well as a number of young, hopefully future sailors.

Compliments and much gratitude go to Mary Short who had masterminded (with Chris’s pre-race assistance) a fabulous BBQ and Keith who, though unable to join us, sportingly provided a delicious and much appreciated soup. Felicia handed out the awards for the first 3 boats and everyone promised to come back again next year. Many thanks also to the pre-start cake baker (?).

Great photos by Andy are already posted to the SGSC WhatsApp group.

Leona & Andy (OODs)

Race Results 13th September 2026 (amended 19/09/2026)

OOD: Lenny Pronk, Safety boat: Joe Armitage, Wind light 8 knots from the W, some drizzle.

5 boats launched: James Armitage plus Ruth in Zephyr (Enterprise); Chris Greenwood and Felicia in Distant Thunder (Leader); Keith Clarke in Kaia (Laser); Tamir Gottfried in Tango (Solo); and Patrick Lane-Spollen in Ellie (Laser).

James (with Ruth) lead from the start followed by Chris and Felicia who were overtaken by Tamir in a Solo on the last lap.I was slightly off guard and cycled to Kew Pier to set up for a C-course. Fortunately, Joe reminded me just in time that I needed to get to the Crown and Bell pub for the 16:30 start.

James and Ruth led from the start and maintained the lead throughout the race. They even managed to complete six laps, with an average lap time of around eight minutes.

Felicia and Chris held second place until the fourth lap, but were overtaken by Tamir sailing the Solo on the final lap.

Patrick fought his way up to the stronger Keith and was even nine seconds ahead of him on the fourth lap, but lost considerable ground during the fifth lap.

I ended the race when Zephyr completed their sixth lap, as the tide was coming up quite quickly. By then, my bike was slightly submerged, and I had created a trail of chairs from the pub to help hold up the flag stand!

The whole scene reminded me of Bruce Springsteen. Interestingly, the surname Springsteen is said to have Dutch origins, referring to a “jump stone” or stepping stone. You can look it up with AI — apparently the name dates back as far as the 17th century.

That said, it was a lovely day, with typically English weather: a westerly of around 6–11 knots, white and dark-grey cumulus clouds, sunshine, and the occasional drizzle.

The next race is a D-course at 15:10 on 20th September.

Lenny Pronk (OOD)

OOD: Lenny Pronk

Safety Boat: Enoch Rodriguez and Andy Ross

Three boats braved the gusty conditions: James Armitage with daughter Ruth as crew in Zephyr (Enterprise); Dave and Sheila Berger in Entre Nous (Enterprise); and Joseph Armitage in Punt (Laser).

The conditions were difficult with a southerly turning squally at the end. There were strong currents due to the spring tide and little river run-off to counter them. All three managed 2 laps of a long B-course, and that was enough. James led from the start followed by Joseph with the Bergers, all the way from Beverly bringing up the rear.

Thanks to Enoch and Andy in the safety boat and well done to all.

Lenny Pronk (OOD)