Nine sailors experienced good wind conditions for the penultimate weekend of sailing in the August Frolic with northerlies of around 10 knots with some occasional gusts and unusually for Cookham; not much wind shift.
With northerly winds meaning the clubhouse area had very little wind, the OD Tricia Evison, assisted by Carole Dixon and Clive Evison set a course of two buoys with an upstream start just past the Cookham bend. The sailors would sail up the course to a A buoy set just above the infamous willow tree (which had recently lost a riverside bough into the water), this A buoy was taken to starboard before the sailors return downstream on broad reaches (which would change between port tack to starboard tack through the day). The C buoy was set below the start line at Cookham Bend and placed about 15 metres out from the Berkshire bank and taken to starboard. This meant a jybe to take the buoy.
A good fleet of six Lightning 368s had turned out and the rest of the Frolic competitors consisted of one OK and one Laser which took the start for the first race. Most of the sailors bunched over on the Berkshire bank near the start line with Jerome Dreux (LN 155) and James Long deciding to start from the Buckinghamshire side of the river. The start line had a slight downstream bias and at the start Nick Reuter (L 125425) was slightly over the start line and was called back. Jerome took advantage of good wind in the centre of the river and took an early lead with Martin Evans (L 150) Christine Roy (LN 403) and Duncan Watts (LN 431) just behind. They rounded the top buoy with Martin and Jerome battling for the lead and James Long (OK 2102) passing Jerome before the buoy and Duncan as they rounded it. After they jybed and rounded the bottom buoy, Gary Adshead (OK 1998) joined the race after starting late. Martin crossed the line at the end of the first lap with a small lead to James with Duncan just behind. On the upstream leg, James and Martin chose different paths up the river with James sailing across to the Buckinghamshire bank half way up the course and taking the lead as they rounded the top buoy. Martin managed to retake the lead with some good reading of the wind strengths on the Berkshire bank and pulled a small gap by the end of the second lap. Behind, Christine Roy had passed Duncan for third and Jerome was just behind in fifth with Nick following close behind. Mike Salem (LN 304) got caught by a gust and capsized, but eventually managed to right the boat and continue. Martin and James continued to battle through the third lap with James catching on the tacks and Martin gaining back downwind. He eventually pulled away on the fourth lap and led to the flag with James finishing a lonely second. Behind, Christine had dropped back behind Duncan and Nick, she exchanged fifth place with Jerome over the remaining laps, finishing just ahead of Jerome at the end of the race. Christine had to finish her racing for the day and sailed back to the clubhouse.
Gary made an excellent start in the second race and jumped into the lead, James had started from the Buckinghamshire bank again where the wind didn’t provide a wind advantage, but allowed him to call on the other sailors as sailed on a starboard tack across the river as they were sailing back across from the Berkshire bank. This allowed him to move into second place and gap the other sailors with Duncan, Nick and Martin fighting for third and Jerome, Leo Salem (LN 190), and Mike Salem (LN 279) just behind. Gary rounded the A buoy first with a good lead over James with Martin just behind in third and then a small gap to Duncan in fourth. Gary held a healthy lead at the end of the first lap ahead of James, Martin and Duncan with a good gap to the rest of the fleet. The positions stayed the same on the second lap with James pulling a small gap on Martin who had pulled out a good gap on Duncan in fourth. Behind Nick was catching Duncan with Leo just behind Nick, Jerome in seventh and Mike in eighth. Martin passed James on the third lap, finding some two good gusts on the downwind leg on the Berkshire bank whilst James was on the other side of the river. Gary held his lead to the finish, with Martin second and James third. Nick passed Duncan on the fourth lap and came home fourth and Leo finished fifth after having an excellent race with Jerome changing positions repeatedly throughout the third and fourth laps.
Some of the sailors finished for the day during the lunch break and a reduced fleet of four started the third race with Duncan Watts and Martin Evans missing. The start line had a more severe downstream bias this time and Nick made the best start. James false started and had to return to the start line, but was only delayed for a few seconds. Heading up to the first buoy, Gary and Nick fought for the lead with James, Jerome and Leo just behind and Mike trailing after getting stuck with no wind just below the start line. Gary took the lead ahead of Nick with James now second. James and Nick fought for second through the second lap before James pulled away and gained a good gap but in the latter half of the race Nick fought back and closed the gap with lots of ground gained on the upwind legs when gusts on the Berkshire side of the river allowed him to sail almost directly up the course. He passed James at the end of the penultimate lap, but James fought back and retook second place by sailing across to the Buckinghamshire bank and found wind whilst Nick couldn’t on the Berkshire bank. Around the A buoy for the last time, they were separated by a few seconds and James held the inside as they sailed side by side down to the last buoy on a starboard broad reach. James held the inside round the buoy and held second place to the line. Nick finished his day’s racing with a third as he sat out the final race. Jerome came home fourth after another battle with Leo in the latter part of the race. Mike Salem retired after getting stuck on the bank at the end of the second lap.
The last race was probably the windiest of the day and four sailors took the start after Nick and Mike decided to sit out the final race. The OKs made the best start and battled for most of the middle of the race before Gary pulled away at the finish and took the win ahead of James. Behind, Jerome was initially a clear third, but Leo closed up on the second lap and led by fifteen seconds starting the third lap. Another another titanic battle ensued and Jerome closed the gap with an excellent gybe around the bottom buoy at the end of the third lap and they could not be separated as they crossed the line to start the penultimate lap. Both sailors tacked back and forth across the course on the upwind leg of final two laps trying to gain an advantage exchanging positions. Leo passed Jerome rounding the C buoy for the final time and took third place by the tiniest of margins.