A warm and sunny morning, with a zephyr (westerly wind) just strong enough, most of the time, for boats to make progress against the incoming neap tide. The course was changed by necessity from the planned B to a short A. There were many changes of position early, but James (Enterprise) soon stretched out a lead and lapped John (Laser) once and Tim Y (Wanderer) twice. However, he just failed to lap Chris (Leader), and those two completed 8 laps. Ian, David and friends were in the safety boat.
It was a delightful day with warm sunshine and a steady F 2-3 wind making it well suited for a B course in the late afternoon.
The safety boat was manned by David Jones but happily his services were not stretched. 5 boats competed, each being of a different class. At the front of the pack for most of the race was Family Armitage, namely James in his Enterprise with his daughter Ruth as crew, fighting it out against his son Joe in his Laser. All bar one of the boats completed 4 laps within the hour, the only exception being Nick Floyer in his Gull who saved a final lap by allowing the Armitages to steam pass him to the finish line.
The two other boats were Distant Thunder with Chris Greenwood and Nikita Roketskiy sailing together for the first time, and Ian Nethersell sailing his Vibe single handed.
Mare’s Tails, two miles high and five miles across an azure-blue sky signaled a fast-galloping race on a ‘C’ course to Isleworth and back. In a warm and southerly wind, deceptively mostly F2, but gusting dramatically to F4, the question was: would the riders manage to stay in the saddle? Tim, and his experienced sailing friend John, fine-tuned their Enterprise rigging while Keith prepped his Laser, hoping his new £3k hearing aids were water-proof, while Nick carefully maneuvered his pretty new boat onto the foreshore, trusting that his sticking centre-board would seriously stick to the job of keeping him upright. Rob also then joined the fleet, anxious that his boom cords were not as tight as would be needed for a high-tension performance.
Tim was first out on the river – and soon found himself becalmed in the long wind-shadow above Oliver’s Island until Enoch and David in the Safety Boat arrived to guide him through Kew Bridge. Alongside each other they headed for mid-channel. But just as they entered the bridge a vicious roque gust swirled them round 180 degrees – and the mast scraped along the arch roof [at the expense of the burgee] – and they emerged, painfully slowly, all going backwards, on the upstream side of the bridge, but all thankfully still upright and onboard. Keith and Rob sped through unassisted. But the OOD, by then walking over Kew Bridge, saw that Nick, rather than commit to this journey of discovery towards a highly probable dunking, was dropping his mainsail – surely a sign that he was returning to base; later confirmed by the Safety Boat team.
A perfect line-abreast start was achieved as Tim, Keith and Rob hurtled across the line, billowed along by the ever-so-strong southerly wind. Their tacks sounded like whip-cracks as they shot back and forth – and the OOD gathered up the starting flags and walked on up to the Herbarium steps to see how they were faring.
Immediately, it was obvious there was trouble. In a violent gust Keith had capsized. So too, just two seconds later, did Tim. Keith then righted – and then capsized again. Tim struggled to get round the boat to the centre board [or was it John?] – and once upright; and wallowing deep in the water, with the Safety Boat beside them, they drifted into Brentford Ait and began baling. Keith capsized for a third time – and this time it seemed he couldn’t find the energy to do anything more. Meanwhile Rob, who had been boisterously bouncing along upriver, must have seen this chaos behind him. And, very nobly, he turned round and came back to see if he could help. Later, and in a typically self-deprecating way, he said that he did not fancy capsizing somewhere up in Isleworth, all on his own. Now sticking to the bank edge, he made his way against the strong incoming tide back to Kew Marina.
There too, Tim was towed into the trees again to bale out while the Safety Boat took Rob and Keith back through Kew Bridge – and turned them in to the slipway beside the bridge, before returning to pick up Tim – and tow him to SGSC; before then going back for Rob and Keith.
Nick was astonished to see everyone back so soon. What had happened? As the tales and the experiences of this totally eventful, but totally non-race event, were related, typically, by the time everyone had got their boats and the Safety Boat back in, the wind had dropped to the gentlest and easiest of an English summer Sunday afternoon. A Mare’s Tail tall story had turned like the tall tale of a London Mayor who said one thing – and surprised everyone by doing something completely different: spinning Mayor’s Tales like a weather cock. Just like on the river!
Thoughts then turned to remembering the three days of Glastonbury – and to looking forward to Henley and Wimbledon. And, of course, to tea. Alice, Enoch’s partner, had made a banana cake that was so dense with the concentrated taste of bananas that it rivalled the GDP of an entire Banana Republic. It was the best kind of tea-time treat – and the tastiest tale of the day for us all!
Our much-delayed sailing adventure to the Norfolk Broads has been confirmed for 16th to 19th September. The weekend trip is based at Upton Yacht Station situated in the centre of the network of rivers and lakes that make up the Broads National Park.
We have reserved four traditional sailing boats from Eastwood Whelpton.
The fleet is well equipped and unlike our last outing has engines!
There are berths for 19 people, and if they are all taken then the approximate cost is £140 per person.
If you are interested in coming along or have already paid your deposit and want to confirm your place then please contact David Jones by mobile or by email on davidjones306@hotmail.co.uk
This was a warm cloudy evening race, two days before midsummer. The wind being in the northeast, meaning that the A course was in the shelter of Strand houses, the course was changed to a B downstream, where there was a goo wind, in fact rather too much for the smaller boats.
Six boats started. James (Enterprise), Rob (Laser) and Chris (Leader) made a good start close along the Surrey shore, broad-reaching against the flood tide. Tim Y (Wanderer), Ian (Vibe) and Nick (Gull) preferred Middlesex. The latter two decided that was a mistake and crossed over, a long way behind the leaders. Tim persisted and rounded the downstream mark fourth, but retired after the beat upstream, having shipped too much water over his lee gunwale. The race then became a procession, with the fleet well spaced out by the finish. All boats completed three laps, except Nick who was lapped by James shortly before the finish.
Keith Clarke was OOD, and the safety boat, manned by David Jones and Andy Ross, was in watchful attendance.
It was good that there was sufficient wind to warrant a B course rather than the fallback option of an A course. It was a delightfully sunny morning and the conditions at the upstream end of the course were calm though the wind was prone to vanishing completely for short periods. Further downstream the sailors reported a tendency for changeable wind direction and wind speed.
The safety boat was manned by David Jones accompanied by Paco and Kieran Biekarck whose services were only called upon after the race finish to help Keith Clarke in his Laser get back to the club under the railway bridge on the rising tide.
Nick Floyer in his lovely Gull got off to a quick start and was first to reach the downstream buoy but was beaten to the first lap by Chris Greenwood and Felicia in his Leader. Chris maintained his lead on the second lap but then Lev Kolobov and David (Enterprise) sneaked ahead and stayed there to finish the fourth and final lap 10 minutes ahead. Keith and then Nick followed after a further ten minutes, only 6 seconds apart.
Next week is an A-course after a working party, and the Master of Sums is off to Greece for 7 weeks. Could OODs please leave results sheets in the Arch so that Nick can collect them and do the sums?
Could it be the Queen herself about to parachute-in to join the SGSC fleet assembling for the 4-day Platinum Jubilee Race Regatta?
The SGSC flag spun around its pole in dizzying anticipation – but the helicopter moved over and slowly descended on the allotments on the opposite Kew bank; an air ambulance had been called for some reason.
Although Ait Knots rocked, while not being given exactly the right Royal Regatta send-off, we cheerfully made up for it with really great bunting! Unflustered by this kerfuffle, the SGSC fleet mustered; James with Ruth, Chris with Felicia, Ben, Tim, and Sam with a crew, and David Jones, Andy Ross and Tim in the Safety Boat; all lined-up for a tow down to London Corinthians in beautifully sunny weather.
The Y-shaped arrangement of the towline, with two arms extending from the rear cleats with boats staggered alternatively proved hard to control. Swinging across the river as each of the lines took up the strain was only suppressed by keeping to a very low speed; a problem answered on Day 2.
The fleet arrived at LCSC well ahead of time and moored on the rowing pontoon. And found no-one else there at very low tide.
Eventually, LCSC opened up and said they thought 4 or 5 of their boats would be sailing. But that quickly increased to about 10 -15. Then a message came from Ranelagh, and also from Southbank, to say that they were each bringing 10 – 15 boats, which began to panic the catering staff. And it eventually turned out that close on to 40 boats were assembling! It was going to be a massive Regatta! A vast fleet was soon moored all along the riverbank.
The LCSC OOD announced there were going to be three races, around two buoys. The first would be of three laps, then two, then one. It was slightly breezy warm day, but now with a very strong incoming tide. At the starting signal, very few boats were at the line; most were drifting back with the tide – and it seemed several could be washed away completely.
Sure enough, the SGSC SB went to rescue the LCSC Commodore, Beverley, from Chiswick Ait – and also towed back up Tim who, unobserved by the OOD amidst the struggling throng, recovered his position in the race. But the great majority failed to complete even one lap. After an hour the OOD ended it. The second race fared no better, only a few got round, – and it was to the great relief of a by-then completely exhausted fleet that the remaining number of the original 40 boats finally managed to complete the third and final race, but only because the tide had slackened enough. Throughout, Sam’s boat was heard: its magnificent bunting fluttering, with Chris also thundering along.
The SGSC boats were hauled up into the LCSC yard and our SB was moored onto the pontoon, ready for the trip down to Ranelagh next day.
The LCSC catering crew in the meantime had managed find extra food for the unexpected number of sailors – and the beers from the bar went down very well. The bicycles that had been piled up on the Safety Boat took their owner’s home.
James with Ruth, who managed to finish all three races in the in the time available, came in third place overall.
Day 2.
As we gathered on the Hammersmith foreshore the Red Arrows flew by on their ‘Round the Country’ tour, accompanied by a fly-past of dozens of veteran aircraft that dispersed over Hammersmith in every direction.
The cure for the swinging-about of towed boats on a single line was solved by using separate towing lines from the port and starboard rear cleats, with the heaviest boats first, lighter ones after. This indeed proved to be far more satisfactory during the journey to Ranelagh, as we sped downriver.
After dropping off some LCSC passengers and re-rigging, about 30 boats were assembled there. On another warm and sunny day, but still with a very light wind, the Ranelagh OOD announced there were to be two races: one down to Battersea Bridge. And another back, after the tide had turned.
Given the long slow bend round the Fulham reach, the fleet quite soon spread out and were far apart – with James, it seemed, in the lead.
After about an hour the OOD boat hurried away – and laid a buoy just before the bridge, though beforehand they had asked us to inform the fleet that the finishing line was between their Safety Boat and the buoy.
Unfortunately, this was misinterpreted by some in the fleet to mean it was between us and the OOD. And so, as we had moored between the OOD, and a very shallow shore, several boats headed to finish between our two boats – and they could not understand why we were waving them away!
The two OOD’s in the Ranelagh boat were then both simultaneously raising and lowering flags, sounding hooters, writing down times, – and taking photos of multiple boats crossing the finishing line on both sides at the same time. They needed a photo finish to separate everyone out!
The return race from Battersea Bridge began precisely at 12.30pm – and, sonorously echoing across the whole of London, came the sound of the 16½ ton Great Paul bell of St Paul’s cathedral to mark the start of the Thanksgiving Service for Queen Elizabeth II.
Simultaneously, the eight bells of St Mary’s church, right beside Battersea Bridge, burst into ringing chimes that were, in effect, the most extraordinary starting gun sound ever heard. Tintinnabulation of church bells on a sailing Sunday morning, blowing in the breeze across the river, marked both a magnificent sight and sound – and an unforgettable moment in history.
And so then, our own ceremonial Platinum Sailing Procession began in great style.
After finishing at Ranelagh, all the SGSC boats carried on up to Southbank and were hauled out to await the start there of the race on Day 3 – and the SGSC Safety Boat returned to Ranelagh to moor out on a mid-river pontoon. Nearly everyone then walked back to Ranelagh for a pre-plated buffet supper. But where was the Platinum Pudding? Not there. Where was it?
James and Lev finished third overall based on the two races, having come first on the beat downstream and Tim distinguished himself with a fourth place on the run back upstream.
Day 3
Overnight, the weather forecast deteriorated dramatically: gales and rain were expected. An early morning consultation with everyone then led to a decision to abandon completely SGSC’s participation in the Southbank race – and to head back upriver straightaway, while the tide was in our favour.
Accordingly, Andy Ross took the train to Putney to collect the Safety Boat – and found the Ranelagh clubhouse locked and, at very low tide, nobody at all on the river. Not a single rower, and more significantly, not a single onboard boat could be seen anywhere to help get him out to the mid-river pontoon.
A call to Chris – and his gentle persuasion on Southbank, enabled the commandeering of a Safety Boat to come and rescue ours, and so our fleet [in fine and sunny weather again] forsook the charms of Southbank [and the promise of its BBQ] – and we all prepared to head for home: Sam and Ben sailing, James, Chris and Tim in tow.
The sailors were forewarned not, under any circumstances, to attempt to limbo under Hammersmith Bridge – even if tempted. And indeed, they stopped on the foreshore beforehand and de-masted to enable a walk-under, tilting their masts – and then, joined now by James, sailing on up.
The weary Safety Boat after days of motoring, protested at the gross indignity of being hauled by a winch up the ramp by its trolley with a split-flat tyre – but, as with all the other boats, and their sailors, everyone was glad to get home.
Except, not yet.
Day 4
The precaution of sailing back ahead of a great storm of rain proved totally illusory. Sunday dawned as warm and as sunny as the preceding three days.
So, the only remaining event on the Platinum Jubilee Race Regatta weekend was the Strand on the Green Association street party.
Sunday was cloudy with a F3 N wind – appropriate conditions for a B-course.
Five boats rigged on a rapidly shrinking foreshore: Lev and David Kolobov in his Enterprise; Chris Greenwood and Felicia in his Leader; Sam Shemtob with two crew in his Wayfarer; Tim Young in his Wanderer; and Nick Floyer in his Gull. Mary Brown (OOD) commanded the start line and Henry with David Jones and Tim Williamson manned the safety boat. Nick made two attempts at launching but both times he was assaulted by a nasty gust upstream of the railway bridge and, fearing worse conditions further downstream, decided to retire.
The others started on time and running before the following wind set off in line abreast, abreast the tide. Sam, with his well-ladened boat fell astern but the other three kept pace pretty well with Lev mostly in the lead. We had dropped the bottom mark just upstream of Chiswick Marina and Lev, then Chris and Tim rounded it after about 15 minutes and started the steady beat back upstream with the tide. Lev was well clear at the top mark (just downstream of the railway bridge) and completed his first lap after 25 minutes; two minutes ahead of Chris and Tim, who were a mere 2 seconds apart. The second and final lap followed the same pattern but at a much slower pace: the wind had dropped considerably and the flood tide was still strong. All four boats took between 80 and 84 minutes for the lap. Lev finished about two minutes ahead of Chris, leading Tim by 4 minutes with Sam about 5 minutes astern.
Tim then had an unfortunate contact with the bridge as a gust caught him before he had lowered his mast. The damage to Ait Knots remains to be determined. But he has the compensation of winning in all three points series in a very consistent display of sailing. And all participants were rewarded by a plate of flapjack provided by the OOD.
Next week is the 3-4 -day downstream marathon to our neighbours at Corinthians, South Bank and Ranelagh.
OOD: Leona Shepherd Safety Boat: Lev Kolobov Weather: Fair; Light wind moving between E and SSW. Course: A
Six boats launched by 18:40 in a light E wind. Race started at 19.00. On the water there was: Keith Clarke in Kaia; Distant Thunder, helmed by Chris Greenwood with Felicia crewing; Ben Chappell in Envy; James Armitage with Nikita as crew in Zephyr; Rob Adams in Phoebe; Nick Floyer in Flo. A fine evening down by the river. Thanks to the earlier premier league game there was an unusually large audience cheering our racers along at the start of the race. A steady wind from the East made for excellent times with pacey upriver legs in the initial laps and it was neck and neck for a while. The audience support continued too. On the fourth lap the wind remained tangible but moved around, coming from the South and the West – though it was quite inconsistent on the water. As the sun dipped Ben, always the competitor, was seen racing 2 geese with their 4 goslings – Ben won of course! After seven laps James crossed the line first at 47 minutes, followed by Rob, Chris, Ben and finally Nick. Leona (OOD)
Dear Sailors, The Jubilee is creeping up fast! We have been invited to take part in the Jubilee sailing regatta on the Thames which runs from Thursday 2nd to Saturday 4th with a return back Strand on the Green on Sunday 5th. Three other clubs are taking part. Corinthians, who are based on Hammersmith Mall, Southbank, who are opposite Fulham Football Ground, and Ranelagh, who are a little further downriver at Putney. There is a mixture of races with passages from one club to the next, down-stream races, and high-tide courses around buoys. Because of the tide times, SGSC is not able to host a race that is convenient for our neighbors. The other clubs are offering parties and food and the opportunity to leave our boats overnight so we can return home and go back the following day. Corinthians and Ranelagh are also offering dinghies for hire for the events held on their stretch of the river. This is the program:
If you are interested in taking part in any of the regattas then please let Chris Greenwood know. David Jones and Andy Ross have volunteered to look after the safety boat. We have three boats taking part so far. If you want to hire a boat for one of the events or crew with someone else then this could be a good option too.
Entry for SBSC The SBSC On-Line Entry Form for the round the cans race on Saturday 4th June is on SBSC website and ready for your club members to sign up. There’s a tick box for the BBQ post-race on the form too. Go to Menu on the front page and it’s there under Jubilee Regatta – www.southbanksailingclub.co.uk If we could have an indication of numbers by next Friday 27th that would be helpful. Inevitably there will be a few who won’t decide until the day before but we can deal with that on the 4th. Looking forward to seeing everyone. All we need now is some nice wind and sunshine!
