More light winds hampered sailing on Sunday December 4th and with the strong river current after the Winter rains it made for tactical sailing on the Thames. Race officers Martin Evans, Carole Dixon and Ray Swinney delayed the start as the wind wasn’t sufficient to sail the strong river current. Eventually, they decided on a remote start and they set the start line just upstream of the bend with an upstream start sailing up to the A buoy positioned a few hundred metres upstream and rounded to starboard. The sailors returned on a broad reach to the B buoy positioned about thirty metres below the start line and rounded to port.
Five sailors took the start after battling upstream from the club jetty in very light winds to get to the bend where the wind picked up (slightly). Clive Evison (P 1355) quickly took the lead making the best of the breeze and pulling away with each roll tack as the sailors hugged the Berkshire bank to avoid the current. In addition to the strong current, the sailors quickly learned that the course was blighted by shallows along the bankside and a few briefly ran aground as they discovered the river bottom. Clive rounded the A buoy first and was quite a way down the course by the time Andrew Boxer (OK 64 (aka OK 2196) rounded the A buoy in second place. Behind, James Long (OK 2130) followed with Jerome Dreux (OK 2007) and Duncan Watts (LN 431) following. Clive completed the lap with a lead of almost three minutes with Andrew second, James third, Jerome fourth and Duncan dropping back in fifth. The going was tough against the current but the OKs started to navigate the lighter winds better and Clive pulled out a further minute on the second lap with Andrew and James involved in a close battle in second place. On the upwind leg of the final lap, James decided to brave the midstream and sailed further out into the river and found some stronger wind allowing him to sail a good run up the river and move into second place. He extended his second place on the run downstream as Clive rounded the buoy at the bottom of the course and sailed back to the line to take the win. James came home second, Andrew third, Jerome a distant fourth and Duncan lapped in fifth.
The sailors lined up for the second race and everyone made a good start from the line, Clive was quickly into the lead and moved away at the front. Behind, Andrew moved clear in second place as they they got to the top of the course and Clive and Andrew had a clear lead as they sailed downwind to the bottom of the course. At the line, Clive led Andrew by a couple of minutes and Andrew had a thirty second lead over James third, Jerome just behind in fourth and Duncan fifth. Andrew closed the gap to Clive on the second lap after finding some good gusts close to the bank and he pulled away from James and Jerome who were battling over third. By the end of the lap, Clive led Andrew by just over a minute and Andrew was clear in second by almost two minutes. The wind was starting to pick up and on the third lap, James chose to risk a tack all the way across the river to the Bucks bank where he found a good strong breeze and he closed in on Andrew, Jerome followed but tacked earlier in the middle of the river and this allowed James to pull away. On the downwind leg, James caught Andrew and they approached the bottom buoy on different tacks and James held the inside line to round the buoy ahead and move into second place. On the tacks back up the course, they tacked back and forth trying to find the best line and James misjudged a port tack and hit Andrew on a starboard tack and had to serve two penalty rotations. He was quickly back up and running but Andrew had moved ahead into second place as they rounded the A buoy. Clive came home to take the win by over three minutes with Andrew second, James third, Jerome a distant fourth and Duncan lapped in fifth. On Handicap, Andrew won, James second, Clive third, Jerome fourth and Duncan fifth.
With two race days left in the Winter Series, Martin Evans leads, James Long second, Clive Evison third and Andrew Boxer fourth. Clive leads the Personal Handicap with Andrew Boxer and James Long tied in second place.