Eight weeks into the season, Cookham finally saw some decent sailing conditions and only the third week of racing in the Spring Series. Three Lightning 368 competitors and four Handicap sailors competed for honours on a very gusty day with northeasterly winds of around 8-10mph gusting upwards of 20mph. The race officers, Tanja van Wyngaardt, Marius van Wyngaardt and Clive Church set a course with the B buoy near the bend on the Berkshire side of the river. The A buoy was above the willow trees in the middle of the river and the C buoy set midstream in front of the jetty. All buoys were taken to port including the B buoy on the return leg to allow for a shortened course if required. The C buoy was moved upstream about 30m above the jetty from the second race onwards due to the poor wind in the middle of the river in front of the jetty.
The sailors battled to get their boats into the water with the wind pushing direct onto the jetty and causing some issues, particularly when gusts blew through. Christine Roy (LN403) decided not to start the race after her boat capsized on the jetty.
The Lightning 368 sailors were started first and Martin Evans (LN 150) made the best start sailing close to the Berkshire bank and taking an early lead from Andrew Yuille (LN 446) who struggled to get off the line where there was very little wind. By the end of the first lap, Martin had a lead over four minutes, extending it on the second lap and coming home to take the first race of the day by a comfortable margin. The Handicap sailors started five minutes later and Gary Adshead (OK 1998) copied Martin’s route hugging the boats moored on the bank. Clive Evison (P 1355) and James Long (OK 2130) started a little further out in the stream and struggled across the river to the bank allowing Gary to pull away. Andrew Boxer (OK 2196) started a little late after some boat troubles. By the end of the first lap, Gary had almost a minutes lead over Clive with James a few seconds behind Clive. The C mark was proving challenging for all the sailors and slowed many as they rounded the buoy with no wind and strong flow and tried to make it across to the safety of the jetty where the current was weaker. On the second lap, Clive caught Gary on the upwind leg and took the lead with James almost a minute behind in third and Andrew Boxer a distant fourth. On the final lap, Clive extended the lead further to finish with a comfortable lead with Gary second and James closing the gap in third on the final lap. Andrew finished some way back in fourth.
Martin and Andrew Yuille started the second race with Martin again taking an early lead by finding the wind on the lower part of the course up to the bend. By the end the lead he had pulled out a minute lead. He extended the lead on the second lead and maintained the gap to take another convincing win. In the Handicap race, the sailors had a difficult time between the races. Gary packed his boat away and didn’t start the second race. James had tied his boat ashore whilst he went ashore and the OK capsized when a very strong gust blew through, the cockpit was full of water meaning he missed the start whilst emptying the boat. Andrew suffered the same fate just before the start but managed to right the boat with less water in the cockpit and set off a lap behind Clive who had kindly waited for the OK sailors to sort themselves out, but deciding to set off when it looked like neither would start. James finally got going shortly after Andrew set off, but his rudder came off, probably working loose when the boat capsized and he decided to retire. Clive sailed on with a massive lead and won easily with Andrew second a lap behind.
After lunch, the ODs decided to start the five boats together and this time Andrew Yuille made a better start and took an early lead in the Lightning class. He extended the lead going up the course and had almost a minute lead by the end of the first lap. Martin closed the gap on the second gap and by the third lap the two Lightnings were battling for the race win with Andrew leading by a few seconds as they started the final lap. Martin managed to take the lead and came home to win with Andrew chasing just behind. In the Handicap class, Clive made the best start and took an early lead with James and Andrew battling over second with Andrew just ahead. Andrew had difficulty rounding the C buoy and lost a lot of time and second place at the end of the lap. James took the class lead at the end of the second lap, but Clive retook it on the roll tacks back up the course to the B buoy and extended it further up the course. He had a lead of almost a minute and a half at the end of the lap, but James closed the gap back on the tacks back up the course. Clive sailed a good downwind leg keeping to the Berkshire bend and came home to take the win by just over a minute with Andrew third.
The Lightnings and Clive packed up for the final race and leaving the two OKs to battle out the final race of the day. It was very close at the start and James took an early lead on the roll tacking up to the bend. Andrew took the lead further up the course and rounded the A buoy just ahead, holding it on the downwind leg as the two raced downwind to the C buoy. Rounding the C buoy, James took the lead and extended it up the course rounding the A buoy with a clear lead and extending it further to lead by two and a half minutes at the end of the second lap. During the third lap, James pulled away further and held a very healthy lead all the way to the hooter.