The fourth round of the Winter Series took place in strong gusty winds of 10-15mph gusting to 25mph from the north with gusts shifting it from northwest to northeast. These conditions usually suit the OK sailors, but two excellent races from Clive Evison (LN 412) and Martin Evans (LN 150) in their Lightnings meant the Lightnings won both races.
The race officer, Kevin Singleton assisted by Ray Swinney and Clive Church set a course similar to the past few weeks of a dog leg with a B taken to starboard on the Berkshire bank just after the wooden post on the bend, then across to the D buoy taken to port on the Buckinghamshire bend. The strong winds meant the A buoy was placed further up the course well above the fallen willow tree and set in the middle of the river. This buoy was taken to port. The sailors then returned downstream and downwind to the C buoy which was placed upstream of the jetty and taken to starboard.
Seven sailors took the start of the first race, James false started and had to return over the start line but was quickly back into the race and chasing after the rest. Martin Evans, Jerome Dreux (OK 2007) and Clive Evison made the best starts and led early up the course where light winds meant some frantic roll tacking with Nick Reuter (L 125425), Maddie Harris (LN 279), Rob Peskell in his first outing in the club OK (OK 1695) and James just behind.
James managed to move into third place after avoiding the tacks and keeping a steady course straight up the river close alongside the parked barges. At the B buoy the sailors tried different lines across the river and upon reaching the Buckinghamshire bank discovered a large pocket with no wind below the D buoy. James had moved into second as they tacked around the D buoy and was just behind the leader, Martin and they both sailed across the river finding that the wind was considerably stronger in this stretch of the course causing both to fight their overpowering boats. The strong winds suited James in his OK and he moved into the lead closely followed by Martin and Clive with Jerome just behind and these four had gapped Nick and Maddie with Rob trailing behind after getting into difficulty below the B buoy. James was first the buoy and rounded it, but hadn’t read the course correctly and went round the wrong way, having to return to go around the correct way and lost the lead and places to Clive who rounded the buoy first, Martin and Jerome. Jerome moved into the lead early in the downwind leg, but Clive passed when the winds got lighter at the bend, behind, James managed to recover from his quick 360 and caught Martin on the downwind leg taking a closer line to the C buoy, rounding it and taking third. The four lead sailors were covered by four seconds as they crossed the line to start lap two. Behind, Nick was in fifth and now held a good gap to Maddie in sixth with Rob a distant seventh but starting to get to grips with the OK. On the second lap, Clive and Jerome pulled out a thirty second lead over the other two sailors with Martin passing James and gapping him slightly. On, the third lap the lead stayed the same, but James recovered his third place on the water. On the final lap, some good tacking on the upper section of the course meant Jerome took the lead and held it on the downwind leg to take the win with Clive second, James third and Martin fourth, Nick fifth, Maddie sixth and Rob seventh. However, on PY Handicap, Clive won the race, Jerome second, Martin third, James fourth, Maddie fifth, Nick sixth and Rob seventh.
Gary Adshead joined the second race of the day in a club Enterprise (E ). Martin, Jerome and Clive made the best starts with Nick and James both false starting and needing to return back across the line to start. By the first buoy, Clive had taken the lead ahead of Martin and the two Lightnings pulled clear of the field. Jerome was third and then a gap to the rest. The dog leg part of the course still causing problems with shifting wind direction and pockets of no wind and Gary took a higher line passing Maddie for fourth. At the end of the lap, Clive and Martin had a healthy lead with a Jerome a lonely third and then the rest following with Maddie managing to take fourth place. Clive pulled away on the second lap and had a minutes lead at the end of the second lap, Jerome caught Martin with some good sailing in the strong winds on the upper part of the course. Behind, Maddie and Gary continued to battle for fourth place and Nick and James closely fighting for sixth place and Rob a distant eighth. Clive led the third lap with the gap to second place Jerome remaining static who had pulled out a small gap over Martin in third. Maddie had pulled away from the pack in fourth, James up to fifth, Gary sixth and Nick in seventh. On his third lap, Rob capsized as he rounded the top A buoy when a strong gust blew the OK as he pulled in the main rounding the buoy. The sailors took avoiding action of the capsized boat as Rob had some difficulty righting it as it took on lots of water which filled both the front and rear tanks of the OK and required the safety boat to assist as it floated down the course. Meanwhile, James passed Maddie for fourth place at the D buoy. On the fifth lap, Clive lost all his lead whilst avoiding the capsized OK allowing Jerome and Martin to close right in and the three were separated by a couple of seconds as they crossed the line to start their final lap with a huge gap of three minutes to James in fourth. On the tacks up the course, Jerome took the lead and came home first with Martin second and Clive third. James lost fourth place after forgetting to pass the C on the correct side requiring some frantic roll tacking up the river in the light wind which allowed Maddie past. Gary finished sixth and Nick seventh. On Handicap, Martin won the race with Clive second, Jerome third, Maddie fourth, James fifth, Gary sixth and Nick seventh.
Jerome now leads the Winter Series with James second and Clive up to third place. There are three weekends of the series still to sail. In the Personal Handicap, Jerome leads, James second and Clive third.