After four weeks of cancelled sailing, the Spring Series finally started on Sunday April 30th with some nice sailing conditions with winds around 10mph from the southeast which changed to southerlies during the day. Race officers Martin Evans, Christine Roy and Walter Aldridge set a course with a B buoy set around 15m from the shore at the bend which was sailed to port on the upstream leg, the top A buoy was positioned just above the willow trees and rounded to starboard. On the return leg, the B buoy was rounded to port and a C buoy was positioned just above the club jetty and rounded to port.

Four OKs, one Phantom and two Lightnings started the first race with some light and fickle winds around the start line. Duncan Watts (LN 431) was in trouble before the start as he sat below the club jetty with no wind and unable to get up to the line and so was late starting. Clive Evison (P 1355) was also late starting after helping the other sailors get their boats into the water and assisting Andrew Boxer (OK 64) fix some rigging issues. Gary Adshead (OK 1998) made the best start and had a good lead over the rest of the fleet by the bend. Andrew Yuille (LN 446) followed and had a huge lead in the Lightning class. Jerome Dreux (OK 2007) and James Long (OK 2130) battled for second place in the Handicap fleet and by the end of the lap, Gary had a sizeable lead with James second, Jerome third and then a distant Clive just ahead of Andrew Boxer. Andrew led in the Lightning class and would hold that lead for the rest of the race with Duncan eventually managing to start and sailing alone for the rest of the race. At the top mark on the second lap, James rounded the buoy and the knot attaching his mainsheet to the boom detached and he was halted retying it and dropped to the fourth in class. The race remained static for the duration of the race’s four laps and Gary finished the race with a clear lead ahead of Jerome second, Clive third, James fourth and Andrew fifth after his late start. After Handicap adjustment, it was Gary first, Jerome second, James third, Andrew fourth and Clive fifth. Andrew Yuille finished with a huge lead over Duncan in the Lightning class. After the race, there was much discussion about the C buoy and whether it was part of the course as some sailors had ignored it as they raced to the line and some had sailed it as part of the course, so race officer, Martin clarified that it would part of the course for the second race.

James Dyas (OK 73) and Keira Swinnery (LN 114) joined the fleet for the second race. Everyone avoided sailing below the jetty after Duncan’s experience before the first race. James Dyas made the best start and sped off into the lead hugging the Berkshire bank. Behind, the rest of the fleet were closely matched as they headed up the river. They continued the battle around the top buoy and the tacks back down the course and at the end of the lap, James Dyas held a lead of over thirty seconds over Clive Evison who had started late by sailed through the fleet into second. Gary was just behind in third and then a small gap to Andrew Boxer and James Long and a further gap to Jerome. In the Lightning race, Andrew Yuille led Keira and Duncan. Clive closed in on James Dyas on the second lap and passed him near the top of the course, behind Andrew closed in on Gary with James still chasing after Andrew with Jerome some way back. In the Lightning class, Andrew led comfortably and Duncan had passed Keira for second. The sailors entered their final lap with Clive and James Dyas battling for the lead and Clive pulled out a gap on the final lap to win the race on the water. Andrew finished third, Jerome fourth, Gary fifth and James was last in class having sailed down the Bucks bank and getting boxed in behind a narrowboat that came up the river. After the narrowboat had passed, he roll tacked back to try and get across the river to the C buoy and was swamped by boat’s wash, so crawled across the line. After handicap adjustment, results were James Dyas first, Andrew second, Jerome third, Gary fourth, Clive fifth, James Long sixth. Andrew Yuille maintained his lead in the Lightnings and won ahead of Duncan second and Keira third.

Keira dropped out for the afternoon races, so the Lightning fleet was back to two boats. In the Handicap fleet, Gary Adshead moved into an Enterprise crewed by wife, Hayley. The Handicap fleet were very closely matched at the start and the lead was closely contested all the way up the course. Jerome was first around the top buoy with James Long outside him and the rest of the fleet spread across the river towards the Bucks bank to round the buoy. At the end of the lap, Duncan held a good lead in the battle of the Lightnings and in the Handicap class, James Long and James Dyas crossed the line together in the lead with a small lead over Andrew Boxer, Jerome, Clive and the Enterprise of Gary and Hayley. The Handicap battle was heating up and on the tacks down the course, Andrew closed in on the James’s who were still battling for the lead. Andrew found a good route at the bottom of the course and found some wind and took the lead as they approached the C buoy. Behind, James Dyas tacked across to the Berkshire bank to sail down to the buoy whilst James Long approached from the Bucks bank. He tacked across to the buoy and rounded it, but collided with James Dyas during the tack around the buoy and capsized, retiring from the race after being unable to right the boat. In the Lightnings, during the second lap, Andrew Yuille caught Duncan to contest the class lead. Andrew Boxer continued to lead up to the bend, but James Dyas passed for the lead before the A buoy and Jerome also caught up to Andrew and passed for second. James Dyas won the race with a significant lead by the end with Jerome second, Andrew third, Clive just behind in fourth and Gary fifth. After adjustment, James Dyas won, Jerome second, Andre third, Gary fourth and Clive fifth. Gary and Hayley finished a distant fifth. In the Lightnings, Andrew took the lead on the final lap and beat Duncan to win the Lightning class.

A short gap before the final race allowed James Long time to empty the River Thames out of his boat and the sailors lined up at the start for the final race of the day. There was another close fought battle down to the A buoy and James Dyas found a fast route to the bend and up to the A buoy by hugging the Berkshire bank which allowed him to pull out a sizeable lead. Clive moved into second by the bend ahead of Andrew Boxer, Jerome and James Long fighting over third in class. In the Lightnings, Andrew and Duncan fought for the lead until the A buoy where Andrew pulled away on the tacks back down the course. At the end of the lap, James Dyas led the rest of the fleet by over a minute with Clive second, James Long third, Andrew fourth, Jerome fifth and Gary and Hayley sixth. Clive sailed an excellent second lap and caught up the James Dyas to contest the lead, behind James Long had pulled out a small gap to Andrew Boxer with Jerome just behind with Gary dropping back in sixth. Andrew Yuille extended his lead in the Lightnings. On the downwind leg of the third lap, James Dyas got a little too close to the bank and clipped a tree, spinning the OK into the bank and losing the class lead. At the C buoy at the end of the lap, James Long and Andrew Boxer were slowed as they approached the buoy and Jerome closed the gap and passed both at the buoy. Gary and Hayley retired at the end of the lap. The positions stayed the same during the fourth lap with Clive extending his lead and Andrew Boxer continuing his battle with James Long as both pulled away from Jerome. Andrew collided with the C buoy and then hit James Long having to serve a penalty and being distanced by James Long. Clive finished the lap with a healthy lead to win the race ahead of James Dyas, James Long third, Andrew fourth and Jerome fifth. After adjustment, James Dyas won, Clive second, James Long third, Andrew fourth and Jerome fifth. In the Lightnings, Andrew won ahead of Duncan.