It was a very light breeze for a C-course, and a nice clean start from Kew Bridge. Four boats out, two Enterprises (James and Lev), One leader (Chris), and Alex in his lugger. James was in the lead until Syon Park when Alex just slipped into the lead for a few minutes but James stayed in front for the rest of the race.
Tim Young, OOD and Safety Boat.
Race Report, 1 September 2019, SBSC and RSC visit
It was quite an intimidating sight for the hosts to see a fleet of 11 dinghies beating up the river towards us. There were 11 from SBSC and one from Ranelagh. We managed to muster six on the foreshore but Tim had to retire before the start with a bad case of gravel in the centreboard slot.
We set a B-course, downstream of the Railway Bridge, and the wind was a brisk F3-4, and mostly F4. Quite challenging for the mixed fleet of mostly single-handers.
Una-Jane Winfield (Ranelagh), solo in her RS200, led almost from the start. On the first lap she was followed closely by Lev, solo in his Enterprise, with Rob Adams (Laser) close behind. Lev had a spectacular capsize at the upstream mark on the second lap, was swept under the bridge and spent some time bailing on the foreshore before re-joining the race. Rob passed the line in second place on the second lap and continued close to Una-Jane’s transom to the end of the race. At this stage Ian (Vibe) was in third place but with a flock of SBSC boats in hot pursuit. On the third lap Henry Cook (SBSC, Laser) was in third place with Ian in 4th, and on the fourth and final lap Henry in 3rd place was followed by Jacob Grunig, flying Estonia’s Olympic colours (Laser), Allen Munro (Enterprise), Nick Ives (Xenon), and then Ian.
Eleven of the 16 boats completed 4 laps with the remainder completing 3, and despite at least eleven capsizes (before the safety boat ran out of fingers), in very frisky conditions, no one sought help and retired.
After the Yardstick sums were done, the finishing order was Rob (SGSC) 1st, Una-Jane (RSC) 2nd by about 6 seconds on corrected time, and Ian (SGSC) 3rd. The team trophy was award to SBSC: it’s awarded on the sum of the positions of, this year, the first five boats in each fleet. Lowest score wins.
The after-race socialising, initially wading in ankle-deep water, centered around Stephen Newell’s excellent home brew and mounds of cake, soup, cheese and biscuits from many volunteers. As usual, a good time was had by all.
Please note: The results below have been corrected to reflect the fact that Sarah Bennett did 4 laps, not 3. Many apologies to her.
Race Report Sunday 18th August 2019
OOD John Bull Safety Boat Dave Jones
A sunny, dry day with blustery WSW winds, F3 gusting F4 – 5.
Three boats prepared for the race. Lev sailing solo in White Angel (E), Ian in Backwash (V) and Tim Wellburn and crew in Ixon (E).
After a discussion regarding the blustery conditions and the need for keeping the boats within easy reach of the safety boat, a 3 buoy, “A” course was set. Starting at the Bell and Crown, down stream to the Grid and then over to the rowing buoy on the Kew Bank. David Jones ably supported by Tim Young and his canine companion laid the course. The Dog approved so Tim was Happy.
Conditions were gusty and proving testing as the boats made their way to the start line.
The start was delayed as Tim had some rigging problem. However, after a 13-minute delay, we started without Tim.
Lev and Ian raced speedily to the first buoy together and continued closely for the first lap in just over 6 minutes. For the next two laps the race pattern was repeated both Lev and Ian lapping in approx. 6 minutes. By now, Tim had sorted his problem and was quickly making his way around the course. His first lap being at 21.50.
Lap 6 saw Ian taking the lead over Lev and there was only two seconds between them at the Bell and Crown line. They continued to race closely with Tim rounding the course quicker each lap.
The gusting wind conditions made it very testing and all three boats experienced near capsizes much to the entertainment of the landlubbers at the Bell and Crown. However, all three boats mastered the conditions and continued with Lev and Ian completing 9 laps and Tim 6 laps.
Timings: Lev 56.27 and Ian 58.32. Tim 62.38.
JB
Race Report 11 August 2019
It was a bright but blustery day and 4 boats, all sailing single-handed set out for a mid-morning B course. The conditions were challenging due to the ever-changing, unpredictable wind. 3 boats completed the race, each doing 4 laps but Tim had retired after his first lap and a stop on the riverbank to bail out.
Alex was first to complete the second lap. Lev then overtook him and finished the race first, despite having to do a significant amount of bailing out while sailing along. An equally tenacious Ian finished third and all the sailors showed their skills by avoiding any capsizing despite the fickle winds.
Mary Short
Race Results:
Race Report:
The annual long distance race is sailed on an ebb tide to Battersea Railway Bridge, turning there at low tide, and returning on the flood. This means that competitors, who may set off whenever they like, have to estimate when low tide will be and how long they will take to get there. The forecast was for a light easterly wind, though the early morning rain was a surprise to all, and so with a slow windward passage in prospect, it paid to go reasonably early. After the tide turned, there would be no hope of reaching Battersea at all. In the event, the wind was good where there was wind, but some reaches are sheltered by trees, and at Battersea tall buildings meant that there was hardly wind at all. The actual wind direction was very variable, but tended to veer towards southerly during the race.
Lev (Enterprise) played safe and set off first; John (Otter), sailing the slowest boat on handicap, went next; Ian (Vibe) started after another interval, and Nick (Lightning) followed. Lev arrived at Battersea much too early: he was swept past the bridge by the still ebbing tide and took some time to return and work his way along the shore towards home. Ian and John were also early but only by ten minutes or so. Nick took the biggest risk and was only just in time for the turn of the tide. Then what had looked to be an easy run home on the flood tide was anything but, with many changes of wind strength and direction and sporadic doldrums.
On the final reaches, the other three boats started to catch up with Lev. Nick finally overtook him and finished half a second ahead; Ian, who had been practising his spinnaker drill with mixed success, was close behind, and John followed after 15 minutes. So Nick, starting last and finishing first, took the prize. The real hero, however, was Dave in the safety boat, who on his own and for five hours kept a close eye on us all.
Race Results:
Race Results:
