The Spring Series started its normal four race format on Sunday 11th April with variable and typically shifty winds at Cookham. Four Handicap helms and two Lightning 368 helms started the first race of the day, with a course set by race officer Mary Webb assisted by husband Nigel Webb of a downstream start at the OD box immediately rounding the C buoy to port and then sailing upstream and downwind to a gate set at the top of the course. The buoys of the gate were set with one buoy fairly close to the Berkshire bank and the other buoy set about two thirds of the way across the river. The sailors then tacked back to a B buoy set just above the Cookham bend and taken to port.
The wind was light at around 9mph with some occasional gusts and from the south but seemed to shift frequently between south-easterlies round to south-westerlies during the day. At the startline, the wind was particularly light and the sailors made a slow start from the line with Nick Reuter (L 125425) leading the sailors around the C buoy. At the back, James Long (OK 1990) trailed after being across the line at the race start and Clive Evison (P 1355) bring up the rear after also starting late. Clive quickly made his way through the pack and took the lead by the end of the first lap with Nick Reuter just behind after an excellent first lap. Andrew Boxer (OK 2196) was just ahead of James at the end of the lap but had an excellent second lap and took second place from Nick who finished the lap battling with James. On the third lap, there were further changes as Andrew got stuck rounding the C buoy and Nick resumed his second place and James also passed Andrew. Clive won on the water by five minutes and was ashore watching an exciting final lap which saw Nick hold on to second place with Andrew closing in all the way through the final lap and crossing the line a couple of seconds behind. James had dropped back to finish a distant last after struggling around the C buoy on the final lap. On Handicap correction, Nick won with Andrew second and Clive third. In the Lightning 368 race, Tricia Evison (LN 412) took an early lead with Martin Evans initially struggling in an area of the river with light winds, but Martin Evans (LN 150) took the lead on the tacks back from the gate on the second lap and held the lead until the end of the race.
In the second race, the C buoy was adjusted slightly to bring it upstream and hopefully into the wind. Andrew made the best start in the Handicap class, but Clive was quickly into the lead and was never headed after pulling out a three minute lead on the first lap which he extended through the race. Behind, Andrew sailed a lonely race to finish second with James and Nick battling for the entire race and Nick finished third with James fourth. In the Lightnings, Martin and Tricia raced amongst the Handicap fleet for most of the race with Martin finishing first of the Lightnings.
After lunch, Jerome Dreux (OK 2007) and Gary Adshead (OK 1998) joined the Handicap fleet. The race officer added a second buoy to the course with an E buoy positioned on the Buckinghamshire bank halfway between the B bend and the gate. In the third race, the B buoy would now be rounded on the upstream leg and taken to starboard and the E buoy would be taken on the return leg and taken to starboard too.
The sailors started the third race very closely matched and sailed the whole of the first lap battling each other with lots of lead changes and the two Lightnings battling in amongst the Handicap fleet. Gary led the first lap just ahead of Jerome with James in third and a small gap to Andrew and Nick. The second lap saw a sudden drop in wind which caught out some of the sailors and Clive managed to find his way through the pack to take the lead. Gary had suffered particularly badly with a tack over to the Buckinghamshire bend just above the jetty causing him to sit in a dead spot for some time. At the end of the lap, Clive led ahead of Andrew with Jerome third, James fourth, Gary fifth and Nick sixth. The third lap saw the gaps spread out and Clive pulled out some distance ahead of the rest of the fleet with Andrew now also alone in second and judging the light winds well. Gary recovered from his issues on the previous lap to take third ahead of James, Nick and Jerome. The final lap saw Clive extend his gap further to win by six minutes ahead of Andrew. Behind these lonely two, the rest of the pack battled over the final lap and Jerome managed to take third place ahead of Gary with Nick just behind. James finished last after getting stuck in a dead patch rounding the C buoy to start the last lap. In the Lightning class, Martin and Tricia had sailed in amongst the bulk of the Handicap fleet throughout the race with Martin leading the class battle throughout. Both Lightning sailors decided to sit out the last race along with Clive.
Four OKs and the Laser started the final race of the day and the OKs made the best start in the increasing winds. Gary made the best of the first lap and led by almost half a minute ahead of Andrew in second. Jerome and James batted behind with Nick a distant last. The dreaded dead spots returned on the second lap and whilst Gary continued to pull away in the lead, Andrew who had held a sizeable gap to the rest got stuck just above the Cookham bend in a dead spot and only got going again as the rest latched on to his tail and he started a battle with Jerome that would continue for the rest of the race. As the fleet caught up with Andrew, James and Nick appeared to get stuck in another pocket and floundered as Andrew and Jerome sailed away. At the gate at the top of the course, James and Nick were battling and Nick went for the gate buoy on the Berkshire bank whilst James chose the Buckinghamshire side. Rounding the buoy, James slipped in his boat and lost control of the boat, missing the buoy and having to sail downstream and then back up to it to round it. He retired at the jetty.
At the end of the lap, Gary had a gap of two minutes ahead of Andrew with Jerome just behind him, Nick a minute behind in fourth and James a distant last and about to retire.
Gary continued with a three minute gap to win the race, behind Jerome had managed to pass Andrew for second place and Nick sailed an excellent final lap and caught Jerome and Nick finishing twenty second behind.