Saturday afternoon

Briefing was at 1.15pm.  Thirteen skippers had signed in and one more was expected (he did arrive).  Between the briefing and the start there was much trepidation as to whether there would, or could, be a race.  There was a strong spring flood tide and no wind whatsoever.  Fortunately a light breeze sprung up for the scheduled start and the upriver leg went well.

The boats in start one kept well bunched; those in start two were more spread out and start three was well bunched.  Henrietta seemed to have her own supply of wind as she rounded the buoy and headed back downriver.  All others were confident of rounding the buoy and gaining a few places as previous starters drifted backwards towards Langley Dyke.  Some later starters saw the situation and realised 13 boats tacking together against a strong contra tide and virtually no wind was not a situation to be relished and dropped mudweights.

As boats eventually filled their sails they were soon upset by a lack of river space or having to manoeuvre to avoid collision.  All starters eventually managed to move downriver past the buoy, but in the confusion some skippers were unaware that they had not actually rounded the buoy to port.

Henrietta, meanwhile, was demonstrating how things should be done and lapped several boats in a two lap race!  All starters did manage to complete the course in a reasonable time.

Result  1. Henrietta  2. Melody  3. Aelfleda  4. Shruff  5. Anne  6. Golden Moon  7. Lucky Breeze  8. Anna  9. Nutcracker  10. Modwena  11. Dryad  12. White Rose  13. Puck  14. Privateer

Sunday morning

The wind had got up, the rain had cleared.  Again 14 boats registered for the start.  Only one boat had reefed for this race and at times this was shown to be a sensible decision.  However, the boats with full rig did have the advantage between the heavy gusts.  We could have had a "how clean is the underside of your hull" competition as all boats were showing plenty of bottom.  Privateer retired with a broken shackle, but the other 13 boats all made it safely round the two lap course.

Result  1. Shruff  2. Lucky Breeze  3. Dryad  4. Henrietta  5. Anne  6. Melody  7. Nutcracker  8. Farthing  9. Golden Moon  10. Modwena  11. Aelfleda  12. Puck  13. White Rose  rtd. Privateer

Sunday afternoon

The forecast was for lighter winds in the afternoon but it did actually freshen and other boats decided to reef.  Spectators had a wonderful time watching 11 boats jockeying before the start.  The race itself was exciting, with a steady fresh breeze which lacked the heavy gusts of the morning wind.  White Rose retired with a torn jib, but all other boats safely and quickly completed the two laps.  The talking point was Anne's Chinese gybe, which did worry the crew at the time.  She did come safely out of it and went on to win.

Result  1. Anne  2. Nutcracker  3. Golden Moon  4. Dryad  5. Lucky Breeze  6. Henrietta  7. Modwena  8. Puck  9. Aelfleda  10. Shruff  rtd. White Rose

Overall result  1. Henrietta  2. Shruff  3. Anne  4. Dryad  5. Lucky Breeze  6. Melody  7. Nutcracker  8. Golden Moon  9. Aelfleda  10. Modwena  11. Puck  12. White Rose  13. Privateer

It was a most enjoyable and successful weekend.  We extend our thanks to Terry, who is retiring from his OOD role.

Bob Soutar