Andrew Yuille and James Long win the Summer Series

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Seven boats started the final day of the Summer Series, with the Handicap series to be decided on the final day of racing and the Lightning 368 series already won by Andrew Yuille. The race officers, Tricia Evison, Clive Evison and Marcus Robb set a course with an A buoy midstream about 50m below Andrew’s Beach taken to port, then a B buoy set at the Cookham bend and about 20m from the Berkshire bank and taken to port. Finally the sailors returned past the start/finish line and rounded the C buoy set about 20m out from the jetty just below the finish line and taken to port. Wind conditions were southwesterly 5-10 knots gusting to about 15-20 knots a lot of gusts, there was also alot of directional change around Cookham bend also about half way up to the A buoy. This caused a lot of frustration for the sailors throughout the day and caused the racing to ebb and flow as sailors caught a gust whilst others sat in light winds.

Three Lightning 368 sailors and four Handicap class sailors lined up for the start of the first race. In the Lightning 368 race, Andrew Yuille (LN 446) made the best start and jumped into an early lead with Martin Evans (LN 150) and Duncan Watts (LN 431) chasing. Andrew opened up a good gap by the time they rounded the A buoy at the top of the course having found a good route through the shifty wind on Cookham bend. At the B buoy, the wind was light and the sailors had to choose their line up to and around the buoy carefully to avoid being slowed by the very light wind surrounding the buoy. Andrew had a healthy lead by the time he started his second lap with Martin and Duncan chasing together. During the second lap, Martin Evans in second pulled back some of the gap and extended his lead over Duncan Watts. The gap between Martin and Andrew closed on the third lap and it looked like Martin might catch Andrew to battle for the lead but on the final lap the gap stabilised and Andrew took the win ahead of Martin second and Duncan a distant third.

In the Handicap class, James Long (OK 1990) made the best start and followed Andrew Yuille’s line through the bend to open a healthy lead over the chasing sailors with all three battling for second. He continued to lead around the A buoy and made a good approach to the B buoy with a lift from the Bucks bank across to the buoy. Just below the buoy the wind was very shifty and all the sailors had to adjust their point of sail to compensate for the change in wind direction. At the end of the lap, James had a minutes second lead over Andrew Boxer (OK 2196) with Jerome Dreux (OK 2007) just behind and Nick Reuter (L 125425) close behind in fourth. The lead extended considerably on the second lap with the three chasers absorbed in an excellent battle for second place, Nick passed Jerome and then Andrew to take second place at the end of the lap. The gap stabilised on the third lap, with Andrew repassing Nick to take second and on the final lap, Jerome managed to get past Nick with Andrew pulling away slightly. James came home with a three minute lead to take the win with Andrew second, Jerome third and Nick fourth.

The sailors gathered at the jetty recounting stories of the lifts and lulls of the first race and the frustration of the B buoy, but it was decided to leave the buoy in position for the second race with a view to changing it at lunchtime. Andrew Yuille again made a good start with Martin Evans and Duncan Watts just behind but able to fight for the lead this time as they sailed around the troublesome Cookham bend. Andrew continued to lead around the A buoy and opened a very small lead on the tacks back to the B buoy. At the line, Andrew held a small lead over Martin with Duncan trailing in third. Andrew pulled out a good lead on the second lap from Martin, on the fourth lap, Andrew got caught by a gust whilst tacking and capsized, but quickly recovered from his dip and held his lead, although dramatically reduced. These positions were held for the rest of the race and Andrew finished with a second win of the day from Martin with Duncan third.

In the Handicap class, Nick, Andrew and Jerome started from the line together with James behind after a misjudged start. At the bend, Andrew found the best line through the bend and took the lead from Jerome and Nick with James chasing. James managed to find some good wind down to the A buoy and caught the three sailors by the A buoy putting in a tack as soon as he rounded the A buoy which found a good lift to take him into the lead which he held to the end of the lap with Andrew second, Nick third and Jerome fourth. Nick found a good route round the bend on the second lap and passed Jerome for third. James led around the C buoy, but had a difficult time at the B buoy and Andrew caught up and passed at the buoy as James was caught in a dead patch and floated on to the buoy requiring a penalty turn which dropped him to the back of the field. Nick had found the best route to the B buoy and passed everyone to take the lead with Andrew now second and Jerome third. On the third lap, Andrew got stuck in a dead patch and Jerome took second and closed on Nick to battle for the lead who now had a good gap to Andrew in third. James managed to catch Andrew and followed him around the C buoy but collided with Andrew when he stalled after his tack at the buoy. The two penalty turns dropped James back again in last place. Nick pulled clear of Jerome on the final lap and Andrew sensed that he could catch Jerome and take second place hauling him in on the downwind leg to the A buoy, he closed further on the tacks back to the B buoy, but Jerome managed to find a good route past the B buoy and they both found a lift to the finish line with Jerome closing off Andrew to ensure he took second place. James came home a distant fourth.

Martin Evans decided to sit out the afternoon race, leaving two Lightning 368 sailors to battle for class honours. In the Handicap class, the Wyatts joined in their Enterprise. The B buoy was moved upstream to move it away from the dead spot on the bend and the C buoy was moved down just below the jetty and into the middle of the river.

Andrew made the best start in the Lightning class and pulled out a three minute lead by the end of the lap, he extended the lead to five minutes during the second lap and it then stabilised for the rest of the race. In the Handicap fleet, all five boats were very closely matched away from the line, but at the bend Nick found a good route through the swirly wind and took the lead, rounding the A buoy in the lead, on the return to the finish line the Wyatts (E 22828) managed to find a good lift and moved into second eking a small lead over Andrew third, James fourth and Jerome fifth. James managed to pass Andrew on the return from the C buoy at the bottom of the course to take third and caught the Laser and then the Enterprise passing it around the A buoy at the top of the course. He pulled out a small gap by the end of the lap with the Wyatts second, Andrew third, Nick fourth and Jerome fifth. The Wyatts found an excellent lift on the downwind leg of the third lap and took the lead around the A buoy and extended this lead during the final lap to win by around forty seconds, Andrew closed the gap on the final lap to James with a good route around the B buoy but James held it to the finish. Jerome caught up with Nick on the final lap and they crossed the line together with Nick just ahead.

In the final race of the day, Andrew again got a brilliant start and pulled out his large lead, but Duncan came back on the second lap in closed to within a minute, but Andrew held on over the final third lap and took the win.

In the Handicap race, it was another close start but the Wyatts led at the A buoy by a small margin, Andrew managed to find the best wind on the return leg and led across the line with a healthy lead ahead of the Enterprise, James, Jerome and Nick battling for third. The wind was very light on the second lap and the Enterprise seemed to find good lifts in the light gusts and took the lead from Andrew. James closed the gap to battle for second place with a gap to Jerome and Nick who were battling for fourth. The Wyatts continued to eke out their lead on the final lap with Andrew pulling away from James to take a lonely second. Nick passed Jerome on the final lap to take fourth.

This race Sunday was the final in the Summer Series and Andrew Yuille’s four wins from the final day meant he extended his lead in the series to finish on 240 points with Duncan Watts finishing second on 226 points and Mary Webb third on 225 points. In the Handicap class, it was extremely close with James Long winning with 234 points, Andrew Boxer second on 231 points and Gary Adshead third with 218 points.

The August Frolic series starts on Sunday August 7th and runs for four weeks during August.

 

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