On Saturday 20th April, following early starts and scary towing past the expensive cars of west London, 28 sailors arrived at sunny Tamesis Sailing Club to be greeted with bacon rolls and tea! After rigging and taking a peak at the future Mark 1 projects in the shed, the fleet had a quick briefing and launched into the fast flowing River Thames but only after almost losing their ankles to the local rowing clubs.
The weather was glorious with 8 knots gusting 15 and perfect sunshine setting the scene for perfect racing.
Race 1 started cleanly with Jono + Zara leading round the first mark closely followed by Thommie + Rosie and Ben + Eleanor. The tide made the downwind’s slow and gave perfect opportunities to play catch up. After a late start due to lack of watches Will + Chloe managed to catch up and end the race out front.
For race 2 everyone seemed to forget about the effect of the tide, resulting in a general recall. Once the fleet finally started, the racing was close, similar to race 1 with lots of reaching across the fleet to gain mark room on the downwinds. The tide struck again against Will + Chloe on the final lap resulting in a complete stand still, almost (but not quite) letting Jono + Zara through. Sadly it wasn’t enough and freshly named ‘Drunken Sailor’ took another win. Some where less lucky in this race with Jonathan taking this time to teach his crew Veronica how to swim instead!
After some hard racing, the group returned to shore for delicious sandwiches and to watch the ‘Junior Cup’
4 boats headed out to the start line, meeting the requirements of one sailor being under 16. The wind picked up and the gusts where punchy leading to good racing. The Bickford duo where leading strong before tragedy struck again and the Father-Daughter duo went for another swim. This allowed a different Father-Daughter duo Harvey + Sophie to take the win! All must be congratulated for their effort in the tough conditions.
The rest of the fleet re-launched to join for race 3. The start was busy with Jason + Jo heading back to avoid the OCS and claiming the rest of the fleet where over. Will + Chloe quietly slipped off into the distance again leaving the rest of the fleet fighting ferociously for the last two spots on the podium. Jason + Jo managed to climb their way back up to third just losing out to Ben + Eleanor, leaving Jono + Zara to settle for fourth.
The final standings were William Pank and Chloe Harding in first, Ben Ainsworth and Eleanor Crebbin in second and Jason Aldous and Jo Mason in third.
Thanks to Tamesis SC for hosting a wonderful event for the 70th time, we hope to see more of you next time, including students after Will + Chloe proved that even a team racing Rondar can be fast!