Following the early season party in the new clubhouse, Tamesis Club once again delivered a beautiful hot spring morning for their Firefly open meeting for the Queen Elizabeth Cup.
Twenty boats resisted the temptation of running 27 miles in the middle of London to sail on the river instead. As usual the challenge was to read the puffs and avoid the holes.
The morning racing was dominated by Paul and Laura Kameen and Alex Davey and Jonquil Brookes who managed to lose the rest of the fleet but not each other, and won one race each.
Alex Davey and Jonquil Brookes built up a big lead in the final race following two general recalls after passing motor vessels drove through the 20-strong fleet in the final minute of both starts.
The first mark was set upstream giving a beat towards Kingston Bridge with the downstream mark midway down Trowlock Island. The gusty wind shifted from an easterly to a southerly and then a south westerly direction, causing a few capsizes, but most of the downstream sailing was a run with jibs goosewinged and there were some interesting gybes opposite the clubhouse as helms compensated for the bend in the river.
The warm sunshine was an added bonus and the competitors and their supporters enjoyed having lunch and tea on the lawn and the club’s new south facing terrace. There were 14 visiting Fireflies and six Tamesis entries.
All 20 competitors (helms and crews) were entered into the National Firefly Assn’s raffle to win a brand new firefly F4000 as part of the 2009 season competition.
The next event in the calendar is the Wilson Trophy this weekend – an extended three-day event for the 60th anniversary of the competition (May 1-3) followed by South Staffs SC RNVR team racing and open meeting on May 9-10.
Entries for the 63rd Firefly National Championships at Hamble River SC from 15-21 August 2009 are coming in and preparations well underway. Entry forms are available on the Hamble River SC website (http://www.hambleriversc.org.uk – click on the Firefly 63 box) and the NFA website
More photos in the gallery, including the all-important spaghetti competition in which a win was recorded by Mr and Mrs Vines Junior’s team. (I’m sure they had played it before though!)
Overall Results:
1 Mustard (2649) Alex Davey & Jonquil Brookes, Royal Harwich YC
2 Biscuit Buffaloe (2018) Paul & Laura Kameen, Tamesis
3 Fourwood Thinking (3023) Barney Smith & Alannah Witherby, Hamble River SC
4 Squeary (3072) Damian Boreham & Claire Shea, Wessex Exiles
=5 Border Riever (2282) Will Mason & Lucy Smith, Tamesis, and Skirmish (3615) Jamie & Jo McEwen, Ranelagh SC