The fifth race day of the Autumn Series started with the usual 2021 conditions of grey overcast skies and a millpond stillness on the river which luckily, changed as the day went on. As the race officers, Peter Wyatt and Wendy Crawford put the safety boat on the water it looked like racing would be cancelled, but around 10.30am this changed with a sudden change in wind direction followed by increasing winds. By the start of the racing, winds had increased to about five knots at the clubhouse and more than ten past the bend from the north to northwest. The race officers set a course of a B buoy at the bend taken to starboard, an A buoy above the willow trees taken to starboard, the B buoy taken to starboard on the return leg down the river and a C buoy in front of the jetty taken to starboard. This C buoy was moved upstream of the jetty in the afternoon due to the changing wind direction.
The Lightning class were started first and jostled for position at the start line. The wind was light and the sailors slowly tacked back and forth up to the first buoy with Martin Evans (LN 150) taking the lead ahead of the rest of the sailors with Maddie Harris (LN 279), Duncan Watts (LN 431) and Mary Webb (LN 178) exchanging positions up the course. Maddie had problems with her main sheet on the first lap and dropped to the back and they finished the first lap with Martin with a clear lead ahead of Duncan, Mary and Maddie. On the second lap, Duncan got into difficulties and dropped back through the field. The shortened course hooter was sounded as they came down the course at the end of the second lap and Martin Evans crossed the line to take the win with Mary second, Maddie third and Duncan fourth.
The Handicap sailors started five minutes after the Lightnings started the first race with many of the fleet late onto the water, Jerome Dreux getting his newly restored and re-rigged OK 2007 on to the water as the minute hooter was sounded. Gary Adshead (OK 1998) made the best start with all the sailors making a route straight for the Berkshire bank to roll tack their way up the line of parked cruisers out of the river flow in the light winds. At the bend, the sailors were still closely matched with Richard Cartwright and Ray Swinney (E 22174) catching Gary at the bend and James Long (OK 1990) and Jerome battling just behind and Marius and Tanja van Wyngaardt (E 5980) just behind them. James touched the B buoy as he took a tight line past it and served a 360 penalty dropping him back behind Jerome. The upper part of the course saw lots of different wind strengths due to the shadows created by the trees and the wind direction affected by Winter Hill and the sailors picked different tacks across the river. Richard and Ray took the lead with Jerome and then James passing Gary before the C buoy ando n the downwind leg, James passed Jerome. With a lap taking almost twenty minutes, the sailors entered the second and final lap with Richard leading by over a minute with James second, Jerome just behind in third, a small gap to Gary and Marius and Tanja in fifth. On the tacks after the B buoy Gary passed Jerome for third and the race finished with Richard and Ray winning, James just over a minute behind in second, Gary third, Jerome fourth and Marius and Tanja fifth.
The Lightnings started the second race in slightly stronger, but with wind still lighter on the lower part of the course. Martin made another good start and quickly pulled out a good lead with Duncan, Maddie and Mary following. At the end of the lap, they were still in these positions and were spread out, so the positions remained static through the race and Martin won ahead of Duncan, Maddie and Mary. Maddie finished her sailing for the day and Clive Evison joined the Lightning sailors in LN 412 for the afternoon races.
The wind had picked up for the start of the third race with the sailors able to sail further into the middle of the river up to the B buoy. The race officer decided to start the Lightning and Handicap fleets together for the afternoon races and they all jostled for the best position on the start line. In the Lightnings, Martin made another good start with Clive, Duncan and Mary close behind. By the end of the lap, Martin had pulled out a gap and would hold that lead for the rest of the race, Duncan had taken second place just ahead of Clive and Mary. The wind was now stronger in the middle of the course and the sailors took different lines up to the A buoy, most quickly realising there wasn’t any wind against the Berkshire bank, but they could search for isolated gusts in the middle of the river. The A buoy proved difficult for all the sailors and everyone had to pick a route to the buoy as the wind seemed to drop just below the buoy making it difficult to approach and circumnavigate the buoy quickly and trying not to touch the buoy. At the end of the lap, Martin had pulled out a sizeable gap ahead of Duncan, Clive and Mary. These positions remained the same for the rest of the race.
Richard was unable to sail the afternoon races due to commitments and so the Handicap fleet was reduced to four boats for the third race. Jerome made an astounding start and leapt into the lead with James and Gary roll tacking back and forth and exchanging positions and Tanja and Marius just behind. Past the B buoy Jerome extended his lead finding some good gusts up the course to the A buoy. By the end of the lap, he held a two minute gap with James crossing the line second just ahead of Gary and Tanja trailing in fourth. Gary took a quicker line to pass James just before the B buoy on the second lap and pulled a gap by the end of the second lap with Jerome pulling out an even larger gap in the lead. The gap was held on the final lap with Jerome coming home to take an easy win ahead of Gary, James and Tanja and Marius.
The wind shifted towards the end of the third race and the wind was now stronger across the river below the B buoy. Mary made the best start ahead of Clive, Martin and Duncan and at the end of the lap Mary led Martin, Clive and Duncan. Martin caught up and passed Mary for the lead on the tacks up the course and Mary fell back through the fleet with Duncan passing Mary and Clive to assume second place. Martin would hold the lead to the finish ahead of Duncan, Clive and Mary.
The Handicap fleet was reduced to the three OKs for the final race and Gary made the best start finding a good route to the B buoy with Jerome in second and James stuck losing time amongst the Lightning and having tacking to avoid those who were calling water. At the end of the lap, Gary held a two minute gap which he would hold to the flag with Jerome second and James just behind having gained some time back on the upper part of the course. Jerome gained a good gap on James on the second lap, who got into difficulty in light winds just below the A buoy. On the final lap, Gary crossed the line despite Jerome closing the gap by almost a minute on the final lap. Jerome unfortunately missed the C buoy which was positioned above the finish line and therefore had to be passed to starboard. He crossed the line, got a shout from the shore that he’d missed the buoy and tacked back up, but unfortunately had also closed the gap on the final lap and took him as Jerome rounded the buoy.
There are more race days in the Autumn Series. Martin Evans leads the Lightning series just ahead of Clive Evison with Duncan Watts in third. In the Handicap series, Gary Adshead and Alastair McMichael are tied for the lead with James Long in third and Andrew Boxer fourth.