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:
Race Report:
Race Report: What happens in Vegas. 26 May 2019
90% of what happens on the B Course is an unseen mystery to the OOD.
All that is known is who starts, and who doesn’t, and who finishes; and in what order and when.
Vision is obscured by the jetty and the race mainly proceeds behind the scenes where ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’, – for those who go there.
In an overcast and blustery slightly drizzly westerly wind which threatened big gusts, Tim decided that his preference was to encourage others to start – while he would seek the comforts of a leisurely Sunday back in Brentford; the Vegas of west London.
But his help and support encouraged Jane onto the water in her Gull. And she was then joined by Chris and Rob in the Enterprise, followed by Sam and Matthew in the Wayfarer, while Enoch and Lev and David rigged up and headed out in the Safety Boat.
But Chris and Rob never arrived at the start. Apparently springing an unstoppable leak from an unknown source they never got under the railway bridge – and with a sudden flurry of dropping sails and much tiller-waggling made it back to foreshore safety, and retired.
Meanwhile, perfectly timing a long slow drift with the wind behind her and against the incoming tide and in a straight line in the middle of the river, Jane eased across the start line ahead of Sam and Matthew, who were struggling with a determined set of cross-river tacks that only held them back.
But size counts when it comes to sails and on the final hooter Sam sped off with a following wind to the head of the jetty while Jane was bounced and jolted around mid-river, wallowing in the wake of a pair of upriver steamers.
Then they were gone.
Incoming jets like gigantic predatory aerial reptiles streamed behind them long trails of pencil-thin lines of drizzle. Swifts plunged, swooped and darted for insects in the wind; though with far fewer of them around now than ever. Their numbers are dropping catastrophically as all insects are declining drastically in number. Remember when car journeys had swathes of insects smeared on the glass and glued to windscreen wipers? All now gone.
The Bank Holiday weekend coincided with Thames 21 River Week.
Seeking the ‘Rewilding of London’s Rivers’ their idea is to open up the concreted-over tributaries of the Thames in urban London. Amazingly, there are over 430 miles of these streams hidden under London.
We have our own one in the Sailing Club; the outfall under the side gate originates in a spring at the top of Whitehall Gardens. It flows underneath the back gardens of the roads alongside the railway line: Deans Close, Magnolia Road. Following the course of the original Dead Donkey Lane it was the source of the astonishing wealth of Chiswick.
Clean clear fresh water flowing over rich soil enabled the stunning productivity of the horticultural and market gardens of Chiswick – and the wealth of the Parish of Chiswick as a “Peculiar Parish” of the Bishop of London, which paid for the running of St Paul’s cathedral for 600 years – before the Great Fire, and Sir Christopher Wren rebuilt it.
Wouldn’t these current residents rather like a fresh open stream running across and through their back gardens? Imagine the estate agent’s description of the amenity of biodiversity and wildlife and nature? It’s maybe more difficult for SGSC to open this up on site; how to get our boats across it? But we could put a submersible run-of-stream hydropower engine in it – and generate renewable electricity for the arch and battery-power an electric motor for the safety boat?
Ah! Jane has appeared! And, stunningly, she’s in the lead!
Midstream, and only occasionally tacking while being carried along on the incoming tide; she was comfortably ahead of Sam whose heavy boat needed long slow tacks from bank to bank – which repeatedly left him stalled in the eddies.
Jane was first round the upstream buoy; and first across the line after some 30 minutes of sailing; followed by Sam 4 minutes later.
Then they were gone again.
Nothing much to see on the river except the dull foreshore was brightened up with speckled dots of plastic: a colourful mosaic of bottle tops, lids, spoons, wrappers, straws, labels and bits of bag. A species list of occupants of this habitat far outnumbers the native leaves, twigs and branches.
Suddenly blue sky opened up. A rainbow arced across the deep grey clouds of drizzle. The tops of the trees on the south bank shone with a brilliant greenness. The flowering yellow irises on the river bank glowed with colour, as though all voting for Lib Dem.
And here they were again!
But the roulette wheel of the sailing game had spun round the fortunes of the gambling sailors. Somewhere, somehow; Sam had done it.
Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
And the dreams that you dare to
Oh why, oh why can’t I?
But he hadn’t just dreamed the dream. Sam was convincingly in the lead. And with a confident gybe around the mark he was up to the line to finish his second lap after just under an hour of sailing.
Jane meanwhile got stalled at the buoy, and then drifted into the shallows. Inch-by-inch she crept up to the finish line –willed on by the safety boat keen to pull up and go home.
Determined to maintain a strictly poker-faced and dead-straight tiller, she was 4 minutes behind Sam at the finish; nonetheless on handicap points, very likely the winner – and so scooping the pool of punters in sailing to Vegas.
Andy Ross
OOD
26 May 2019
A windy morning, which saw just two dinghies, Ian’s Gull and Alex’s boat, in a face off. Ian’s almost capsized off the ramp as a gust came up just as she was getting in the water. They quickly tacked down to the start where the 6 minute warning was reduced to a 1 minute warning, with 10 second reminders and a countdown from 5.
Alex got off to a good start and maintained his lead around the top marker, which both boats turned in under 3 minutes. Ian stayed on Alex’s tail and, with the bottom marker just 20 yds away, caught up just enough to set a collision course with Alex’s boat.
Alex had right of way, being on a starboard tack vs. Ian’s on port tack and overtaking. But Alex blinked first, turning away to give Ian the lead. Alex laid chase, but as they completed lap two, Ian pulled away as they again neared the back marker.
By lap 4 Ian was a full course length away. In lap 5 Alex began to catch up but foundered again at the back marker, leaving Ian with a convincing win. A very frisky sail which both sailors enjoyed.
Sam Shemtob
Race Report 21 April 2019
A race characterised by fickle light and dying winds and an increasingly strong Spring tide. Only two marks were set, aiming (unsuccessfully) to keep the competitors clear of Kew Bridge. As the river was still quite low at 15:30, the start was delayed for 15 minutes awaiting more water.
James’s and David Berger’s (on loan from Rob Collingwood) Enterprises both achieved prompt starts, but an almost immediate lull stranded the other four boats, putting them a lap behind. After 40 minutes James had completed 4 laps and David two, but it was clear that the elements were now against us, and the race was ended at that point. In fact nobody else managed to complete more than one lap, and ultimately the rescue boat was fully occupied retrieving stranded boats from the environs of Kew Bridge.
Tim Wellburn
D Course, 4.40pm start.
Four boats started the D-course on this afternoon with North Easterly blustery wind, two Enterprises (Porpoise sailed by James, and Rob Collingwood’s Tiamat sailed by Josh and Caroline), a Vibe (Backwash, Ian Nethersell), and a Laser ( Phoebe, Rob Adams). In the first few minutes all were together, however by Chiswick Bridge Rob and James had broken away and the fleet began to stretch out. Conditions meant for much leaning out on the beat downstream and although the fleet was somewhat becalmed by Chiswick Pier, progress was only halted momentarily. The buoy was laid just downstream of the Corinthians starting line, with Rob coming round first, followed by James soon after. Ian and Josh rounded without difficulty some time later and began their sail back upstream, which was uneventful and all four boats finished in the order that had emerged soon after the start.
The total time was quite fast for a D-course: 89 minutes for Rob, and 108 minutes for Josh and Caroline. After the handicaps were taken into account Rob still won in all three series, with Ian sneaking into second place in the Handicap series ahead of James.
Next week, Easter Sunday, it’s an A-course at 15:30 with the added incentive of an Easter Egg prize.
Alex Pape
