The races on Sunday 16th May produced some very close racing in both Handicap and Lightning fleets.
The weather varied from south-westerly to south-easterly during the day with winds varying from around 10 knots gusting up to about 20 with the occasional squall blowing through when rain showers passed across the Thames. Race officer Andrew Boxer, assisted by Shannon Phillis and Marcus Robb set a classic Cookham course with a C buoy in front of the clubhouse, a middle buoy on the river bend and an A buoy between the bend and Andrew’s beach about where the first block of trees starts. All the buoys were taken to port apart from the C buoy which was taken to starboard and the middle B buoy was taken to port on both upstream and downstream legs to allow for a shortened course to be declared on the downstream leg.
A total of nine boats took the start with six Lightnings, two OKs and the commodore’s Laser. The Lightning fleet was joined by new member Maddie Harris who was sailing the club Lightning (sail number 279). The sailors jostled for start positions for the first race of the day with a congested startline due to the downwind start. In the Handicap race, Nick Reuter (L 125425) rounded the buoy just ahead of Gary Adshead (OK 1998) with James Long (OK 1990) at the back of the race behind all the Lightnings. In the Lightnings, new member Duncan Watts (LN 431), Maddie Harris (LN 279) and Martin Evans (LN 150) jostled for the lead with the rest just behind. As the back of the fleet approached the A buoy, a gust came through and James Long was blown into the back of the chase group of Lightnings ahead. As James made his tacks back down the river, the mainsheet detached from the boom and he was left sitting in the middle of the river, eventually managing to jury rig the mainsheet and sailing slowly back to club jetty where better repairs could be made. He spent the remainder of the race about quarter of a lap away from being lapped by the leading boat and finished a considerable distance behind the rest of the sailors. On the return leg, Gary Adshead took the lead and pulled away from the rest of the boats. In the Lightnings, Duncan fell away from the lead and Maddie and Martin raced for the lead with Maddie taking the win on her maiden sail on the Thames and her first time in a Lightning. Martin finished second with Clive Evison (LN 304) third and Duncan fourth.
In the second race, the Berkshire bank proved the best starting position and James, Martin and Duncan made the best start. Martin pulled out a small lead by the bend with James and Duncan behind. They rounded the A buoy in these positions, on the tacks back to the B buoy the wind increased and Gary managed to catch up taking the Handicap class lead as they rounded the C buoy. Martin continued to lead the Lightning class just ahead of Duncan with the Evisons closely battling each other behind. Duncan fought back late in the race taking the lead which he held to the finish ahead of Martin with Clive third just ahead of Tricia Evison (LN 412). In the Handicap class, Gary pulled out a minute’s lead by the finish ahead of James with Nick third.
After the lunchbreak, the sailors took to the water for the third race, another close start saw all the sailors jostling for river position as they headed for the first buoy with the Berkshire bank proving fruitful and Nick Reuter took the lead in the Handicap class with Duncan Watts close behind him leading the Lightning fleet. By the A buoy, these two boats had a good lead over the rest of the fleet with James rounding the A buoy ahead of Gary. Nick and Duncan had pulled a good gap by the end of the first lap and continued to lead as they rounded the A buoy on the second lap. On the tacks back down the river, a strong gust came through and Nick got stuck head to wind and James and Gary managed to get ahead. Gary took the lead of the race with James just behind with Gary then pulling away to finish ahead by almost a minute. Nick recovered from his incident and slowly caught James finishing just behind. In the Lightnings, Duncan continued to have a healthy lead over the rest and won again ahead of Clive, Tricia, Jerome Dreux (LN 155) and Keira Swinney (LN 114).
Nick Reuter and Keira Swinney sat out the final race of the day reducing the Handicap class to the two OKs. Tanja van Wyngaardt joined the Lightning fleet in club Lightning, Arkwright’s Revenge (sail number 281). All the sailors made a good start apart from Clive Evison who jumped the start by a considerable margin and had to return to the line. The rest of the Lightnings were closely matched up to the first buoy and then Duncan pulled ahead with the two OKs who were battling closely for the lead. In the Lightnings, Duncan again made a good start with Tanja and Clive sailing the Buckinghamshire bank to good effect past the bend as they headed to the A buoy. Duncan held the lead to the finish ahead of Clive, with Tanja third and Jerome fourth. In the Handicap class, James took the lead and held it for most of the race, but was taken by Gary on the last lap and they finished in that order separated by 12 seconds.