The C-course
race took place in warm sunshine and a light variable wind, starting at 11:45.
With
all sailors and supporting members ready early and a weak tide the fleet assembled
on the far side of Kew Bridge without undue excitement. Holding on until the
three minute warning, to avoid the risk a premature departure to the London
Apprentice, we set off together with the wind behind us. All, that is, except Nick who had drifted
over the line and had to work back to re-cross.
Family
crewed Enterprises Lev and Inna and Tim and his daughter Emma, Chris and Mary
in a Leader, Lightning Nick and Ian with his spinnaker jostled for position
until the wind ran out just after Brentford Marina and eventually
re-established itself in the opposite direction. Despite his false start Nick reached
the buoy at the London Apprentice with a long lead only to find, when he turned
the mark, the tide still flooding strongly, so he stopped while everyone else
caught up.
Everyone
else then reached the buoy opposite the pub and started off again with a
following wind; Nick in the lead followed by Chris and Mary. The Middlesex side
of the river offered the best wind on the way home and the tide turned for the
leaders when they were almost at Brentford Ait.
It was a long race – an hour and three quarters for Nick,
followed 5 minutes later by Chris and Mary, 9 minutes later by Lev with Ian
close behind, and 6 minutes later by Tim.
Which was also the finishing order after the sums were done.
Thanks
to David Jones for standing in for Tim Young on the safety boat and Jane as OOD
who went the extra mile to retrieve the Blue Peter flag from the river at the
end of the race.
On a hot sunny afternoon the Met Office said the wind would be
light and from the east. It was
certainly light at times, and Steve Newell set a short A-course from the
Zoffany House start line with a sometimes consistent wind coming up-stream from
east south east. Chris Jones set the top
mark just above the Bell and Crown and the bottom mark was at the downstream
end of the slip-dock, where a barge was somewhat inconveniently moored for the
duration of the race.
There was another good turnout of 9 boats which made for a
congested start from the short start line.
The well-positioned ones headed off downstream hugging the Strand bank
and a leading trio of James Armitage (solo in Enterprise), Joseph Armitage ( a stranger
in his Laser, determined to beat his dad), and lev Kolobov (also solo in his
Enterprise) made it to the mark with little difficulty. The big dilemma was whether to tack within
the slip-dock, with the added hazard of the barge, or to beat against the
stronger tidal flow midstream. Those
three made it around and were practically back at the top mark before the
Browns (Enterprise), Ian Nethersell (Vibe) and John Bull (laser) worked out the
best way around the bottom mark in the contrary wind and tide.
Joseph completed his first lap in less than 9 minutes
followed by Lev and then James, after which James gained, maintained, and added
to his lead. John Bull was fourth at the
first lap and held his position to the end with the Browns in close
pursuit. James and Joseph proceeded to
lap everyone at least once, and all but Lev twice. They did 7 laps with James 11 minutes ahead
of his son at the end. Lev did 6 laps
and John, the Browns and Ian did 5.
While all this was going on a much more notable event was
taking place: the SGSC Ladies Plate. In
the absence of the Summer Party it had been decided to sail the Ladies Plate
concurrently with a suitable A-course points race, and this was the one. It was strenuously contested by Jane Watkins
(ever growing in confidence in her Gull) and former winner Mary Short (in Chris
Greenwood’s Leader). As luck would have
it, Jane had a bad day. She tangled with
the bank and got caught by a series of doldrums which drifted her towards Kew
Bridge – the stuff of Strand nightmares – to be rescued by Chris Jones and
towed home. Which left Mary in control
of the field. She completed 3 laps of
challenging conditions in considerable style and wins the coveted prize.
Many thanks to Stephen for keeping a clear record of the
fleets’ many line crossings – no easy feat.
And to Chris Jones for keeping an eye on everyone from the water. And to Andy Ross for helping the many weary
mariners, and the safety boat, ashore at the end.
Next Sunday is a C-course starting at11:45, and there may be a picnic sail on Wednesday 12th August, starting around 1850 to clear Kew Bridge well before high water. If it happens you will be contacted by email soon.
It was perfect weather for a race: sunny on the whole and a F3 westerly wind, which couldn’t help but be gusty in the strange conditions of Strand. And perhaps because of the COVID restrictions we had a good turnout of 8 boats on a long A-course – top mark opposite the Steam Packet (yes, it’s a pub again!), bottom mark opposite the City Barge.
As usual James Armitage showed the way around the course
(solo in his Ent) and established a lead before the bottom mark by keeping well
into the lesser tidal flow by the Strand bank.
It was a run with minor variations all the way down. James was goose-winged with his jib-stick
most of the time. The return leg was a beat
to windward and although several boats tried a long tack across to the Surrey
bank, shorter tacks between the PLA moorings and Strand proved the best route. The gusty wind meant that the fleet made
steady progress against the tide most of the time on the downstream legs with
some exhilarating beating on the upstream bits.
The Browns (Enterprise) followed James at increasing
distances throughout the race – a minute at the first lap increasing to 11
minutes by the 9th after a
doldrum-patch just below the slip-dock on the last lap. Alex Pape (Lugger) was in third place for
most of the time followed by Nick Floyer (Lightning) who capsized in a gust at
the end of his fifth lap and had to retire (towed home by David Jones). His place was taken by Tim Wellburn
(Enterprise, crewed by Wellburn jnr.), Ian
Nethersell (Vibe) and Tim Young (Gull) who completed seven laps, and Jane
Watkins (Gull) who did six laps.
After the handicap sums the Handicap points were won by Tim
Young, followed by the Browns and then Jane; the Big Boats points were won by
James, then the Browns, then Tim Wellburn; in the Little Boats the winner was
Tim followed by Alex and then Jane; and in the Polly Prize James was the winner
followed by Tim Young and then the Browns.
Mary Short kept an immaculate record of the race, aided by
Chris Greenwood. Eight boats doing up to
9 laps each takes some keeping up with.
Thanks also to David Jones for shepherding the fleet on the water. Apres-race at the arch was masked like the Venice
Carnevale but with less extravagant costumes.
Next Sunday’s race is an A-course at 1730, following a working party in the morning.
Sunday’s race was scheduled as a D-course, down to
Hammersmith and back, but under the COVID-19 circumstances we had decided to
race a series of low-water laps between Chiswick Bridge and the railway
bridge. This enables the safety boat to
keep everyone in sight.
Four boats took to the water with a warm and gusty
north-west wind and headed downstream to a buoy set by David Jones opposite the
late Tony Smith’s house. It was soon
clear that the gusty wind was going to cause problems but Ian Nethersell (Vibe)
managed the first lap in 22 minutes, followed by Chris and Mary (Leader) and
Jane (Gull) in about 26 minutes. Nick
was having less luck and was lapped by Ian before he made his first lap. He then got caught by a gust and capsized just
below the pier and accepted a tow back.
Ian completed his second lap after 34 minutes, 5 minutes ahead of the Leader and 8 minutes ahead of Jane. That was almost it for Jane who struggled with the fickle wind and a flooding tide to make the bottom mark. After a creditable struggle she called it a day and retired.
Ian meanwhile completed a third lap after 48 minutes of
sailing and set off on a fourth lap.
Chris and Mary followed about 8 minutes later, almost an hour from the
start, and Andy Ross (OOD) signalled the end of the race.
Sunday was a sunny day with a light breeze from NNE. From the immaculate results sheet prepared by
Inna Kolobov the race worked out something like this. Seven boats took to the water but Tim Young retired
before the start. The remaining six fell
into a leading group of Alex Pape (Lugger), Lev Kolobov (solo in his
Enterprise) and Ian Nethersell (Vibe), who led from the first lap, swapping
first place between them until on their fifth and final lap Alex crossed the
line a mere 2 seconds ahead of Lev, with Ian under 6 minutes behind. Chris and Mary (Leader) followed Lev, having been
lapped once, and both Sam Shemtob (Wayfarer) and Jane Watkins (Gull) were a lap
behind on 3 laps.
After the sums were done Alex was first in three of the Series
(Handicap, Little Boats and Polly); Lev was first in the Big Boats and second
in the Handicap and Polly; and Ian was second in the Little Boats and third in
the Handicap and Polly.
Thanks again to Inna for keeping a clean score sheet, and to
David Jones for doing safety boat duty and allowing Lev to sail.
There’s nothing on the calendar for next week but it could
be an A/B-course at 1810 or a downstream D/B-course at 1445 (or later). We’ll let you know as soon as possible.
Seven boats competed on a 2-buoy A course, the light breezes
being deemed inadequate for the scheduled B course.
Ian, James and Alex all managed the first lap in just
over 10 minutes, the rest of the field being slightly detained in
the vicinity of the downstream mark.
Ian and James each achieved a total of four laps, the latter
taking Ian’s lead on the second; Alex and Chris managed three laps. The
other two boats retired in the face of too little wind or/or sail area.
The award for perseverance went to Chris who, surprising the
race officers, determined to finish his third lap and, despite an almost
complete lack of wind, managed to do so, setting the day’s
endurance record.
The Gentleman of the Day award went to Ian for graciously
letting Alex go ahead of him to cross the finishing line, only to have the wind
fail a boat-length’s short of it, a piece of gallantry that cost him a
further 6 minutes’ sailing.
Seven sailors arrived, eager to
rig their dinghies on this breezy Sunday afternoon. After launching
three more sailors joined, Chris & Mary, Distant Thunder and Sam SY2.
A long “A” course was
set with the buoys being laid up stream of the Bell and Crown and just off the City
Barge by Chris Jones in the safety boat.
The scheduled Start of 14.15 was
delayed for Chris & Mary and Sam to get to the start line. Chris &
Mary managed to make the start line but Sam joined after the start on lap 2.
With the
wind gusting 3-4 in a general WSW direction, a good start was made by all with the fleet
bunching at the first buoy. James with his crew Ayanda rounded first, followed
by Rob and Lev. Not far behind the others all rounded the buoy successfully.
The second
lap showed the same leadership pattern, with the gusting wind causing a great
deal of
uncontrolled listing and Lev in his Enterprise capsized off Oliver’s Island.
Lev being Lev quickly righting and continuing to sail plus
bailing with his trusty bailer.
Tim had the misfortune to be swept onto the buoy at the Bell and Crown.
The leading dinghies were now
lapping at about 10 minutes per lap and generally keeping to the Strand
side of the trot. However, others tried crossing over to the Kew side of the
trot to have a fast reach to the Bell and Crown buoy. On some laps this appeared
to gain ground on the leading dinghies.
The race
continued with James and Rob lapping at about 8 minutes and eventually
finishing 7 LAPS. Lev, Alex and Ian finishing within 28 seconds of each other at 6
LAPS and Henry & Mary and Chris & Mary 4 minutes behind, also
on 6 LAPS.
Tim and Sam completed 5 LAPS.
Many thanks to Chris for manning the safety
boat single handed, not easy. This was a testing race, with strong gusts
of variable wind typically “STRAND”.
Sunday was a sunny day with a good F3 wind coming straight
up the river from Chiswick Bridge, against the river flow. A high-water race being out of the question a
D-course had been programmed (downstream to Hammersmith and back), , but Rob
Adams, who was in charge of the safety boat, wisely decided that we should sail
as many laps as possible of our B-course, between the Railway Bridge and
Chiswick Bridge, so that he could keep all the fleet in sight. The Covid-19 constraints were a consideration.
The downstream mark was set well down
towards Chiswick Bridge opposite Putney Rowing Club and the upstream mark was
just below the Railway Bridge.
Most of the fleet set off on time with the Browns a few
minutes late (lack of concentration) and Nick Floyer (Lightning) even later
with rigging problems. The beat down to
Chiswick Bridge favoured the Enterprises and James and Lev (both solo in their
Ents) established a lead which they maintained throughout. Chris and Mary (Leader), Ian (Vibe) and Alex (lugger)
formed a following pack at the bottom mark by which time the Browns (Ent) had
worked their way up through the fleet.
They kept in close company on the way back up river where Alex’s lugger
showed its paces on the run and Ian tried to intimidate the rest by flying a
spinnaker. He had already tried more
direct intimidation over a sculler – or perhaps it was the other way round. There was a seeming multitude of scullers and
paddle-boarders enjoying the river and adding to the excitement of tacking.
At the end of the first lap James was about 3 minutes ahead
of Lev with the two crewed Ents, Alex and Ian within a minute of each other and
two minutes behind Lev. Jane in her Gull
was another two minutes behind with Tim (Gull) to the rear. Nick had already retired by this stage and
Tim was shortly to follow.
The second and final lap was much the same. James increased his lead over Lev to 7
minutes who maintained his 2 minute lead over the rest, although he was almost
caught around the bottom mark. The
Browns were a whisker ahead of Chris and Mary (Leader) at the end, Alex and Ian
followed 2 minutes later with Jane bringing up the rear.
When the handicap sums were done Jane was shown to have
triumphed in the Handicap Series and the Little Boats cup. Well done to her. And James was first in the Big Boats and the
Polly Prize.
The race was the fun part with excellent sailing throughout:
close tacking battles, nail-biting stuff on the runs, wearing times for the
centre-board. The hard work then took over with the recovery of 9 dinghies and
the safety boat up the slimy foreshore, up the ramp and into the yard. Without, in these plague-ridden times, the
consolation of tea and buns.
Many thanks to Heather Adams for officiating over the race
and to Rob for ensuring our safety.
Next week’s race is and A-course at 15:10. Let’s hope for similar conditions.
A handful of
sailors turned out for what was scheduled to be a D course on blustery day.
After some deliberations, an altered B-course was selected, downstream to a
rowing buoy mid stream just past the pier, and then upstream under the railway
bridge to a racing buoy set just before Oliver’s Island. Start was by whistle
only on this occasion and all got under way without problems and were close
together for most of lap 1. James started to pull away thereafter, however Lev
and Ian picked up the pace and stayed on the same lap for most of the race.
Chris and Mary pulled up after the first lap for some bailing and re-joined
after fixes. Jane had a capsize just before the mark on Lap 2, righted the boat
and recovered to the rowing club, and soon after re-joined the racing. Lev had
a capsize by the upstream mark late on and completed the final lap sitting very
low in the water despite furious bailing. Leader James completed 9 laps in just
over the hour, and the remainder of the pack followed soon after. Lev and Ian
completed 8 laps, Chris 7 laps, and Jane 3.
All boats and kit were launched and recovered socially distanced and
with masks in club colours (kindly provided by Jane) donned.
Ten swans were there.
With huge good grace and unhurried calm on seeing the gates of the SGSC
opening and envisioning the prospect of social competition for admiration and
attention they headed in a line for the opposite bank: upper class social
distancing by the true aristocrats of birds. Some swifts like black dots on a
blue sky screeched by. Two moorhens hooted like journalists with urgent
headlines reporting a story of great importance and they made way in turn for a
random mob of Canada geese who had heard the news and gathered just to gaze and
guffaw in honks of laughter at the odd sight of SGSC boats trundling down the
ramp – and at the even odder sight of sailors in Covid-19 face masks.
Alex in a cowboy movie bandana, ready to ride out of
town on a raid, Lev in a ghoulishly tooth-fanged Halloween mask [surely pinching
David’s party trick] and Sam was unbelievably pretending to be as innocently
white-faced as the driven snow on a summers day while Rob wore something red
and Andy swore by a heavy duty builders demolition rubble and dust choker, complete
with a nose valve. James realised he was not at all suitably dressed for this
fancy dress party and came back in a fetchingly backless spaghetti-strap little
black dress number.
Covid-19 is making the bizarre and impossible quite
normal and no one is used to it.
Neither are the boats. Nor are its sailors. Lev had
taken over the duty as Safety Boat officer from Tim while being in
self-isolation. Lev’s boat was upside down but with immaculate external repairs
while Andy’s was fighting acute and chronic internal rot with more and more patchwork.
Sam tangled his mast in the tree and while commenting that the heavy gusts were
not encouraging, discovered a shorn-off part of the gooseneck – which he took
as a recipe for cooking his boating goose into an early lunch retirement. And the safety boat trailer wheel had a flat
tyre; requiring the urgent life-saving attention of a mechanical ventilator. Nurses
in PPE then wheeled the trolley patient down the ramp to recuperate and recover
in the water. No-one clapped.
The warm F3 wind came fitfully but directly from the
North-West; perfect for a really long straight ‘A’ course.
As the OOD set up the start at the Bell & Crown he
discovered that Covid-19 had struck the scoreboard pen into mute. No transmission of ink to paper! Unmute your
mike! But no amount of empty scribbling would work to fix the bug. There was nothing
for it but to abandon the call and zoom off back to the club to get another
pen. An aural and video sign was signalled to Lev on the Safety Boat to inform
him of the delay.
Hurrying back, the Blue Peter was raised for the
6-minute start – but without using a trumpet or a whistle that would potentially
blast corona virus into the atmosphere for miles around and prolong the
lockdown of the whole of Britain. Can the squeezy rubber ball for the acoustic
hooter ever be replaced?
A brisk and gusty warm wind sent first Alex, then Rob,
then James downstream and within three minutes they were more or less together
at the mark that was set just off the City Barge. After rounding it, James took the lead and
headed across the end of the PLA trot into the mainstream of the river and
stayed close to the punts before crossing to the upstream mark, reaching it
only just ahead of Alex. Both Alex and
Rob had stayed on the Strand side of the trot.
Only the tricycle ice-cream seller had a socially
distanced queue that could silently watch the gybes round the mark.
Goose-winged, James flew down the Strand side but Alex
found he was caught in the slacker wind by the bank and Rob overtook him.
After rounding the mark and coming back upstream,
James decided not to risk heading across into the mainstream again but tacked into
the wind on the Stand side of the trot.
It seems that as the incoming tide reaches a certain
volume its momentum carries it through the railway bridge and on around the
bend in the river, away the main traffic route; towards the Strand rather than
towards Kew bridge. The wind was perfect for a classic “Round the Island” race
but the slackness of the current on the other side of Oliver’s Ait usually also
makes it dangerous to manoeuvre with the constant traffic of rowers and
passenger boats. But with a totally empty river, this would have been a perfect
day for a “Round the Island”. The OOD
regretted not suggesting it.
By the third lap Rob had secured his second place lead
over Alex who, by the fourth lap and in a slackening wind and an imminent high
tide, was being tailed by James.
Gybing fast round the upstream mark James lapped Alex
– and James asked the OOD if this might be the moment to signal the end of the
race.
Since they had all been sailing for well over an hour while the ODD starting technology was zoom-meeting muted this was clearly appropriate.
The Blue Peter was raised – and lowered.
The sky was so blue – while no planes flew.
A Covid-19 race had ended – and no tea was brewed.
