The battle is heating up in the 2023 Cookham Reach Sailing Club August Frolic and it looked promising for the sailors on August 13th with winds around 10-15mph gusting over 20mph. Race officers Richard Cartwright, Andrew Granger and Christine Roy set a course of four buoys. From the start line at the OD box, the sailors rounded a B buoy to starboard set on Berkshire bank at the bend and up to an A buoy which was set only about 150m upstream of the bend which was rounded to starboard. A short tacking leg back to a D buoy which was set just above the bend a little further out from the B buoy and upstream of it. This buoy was rounded to port and then the sailors returned to the finish line rounding a C buoy to starboard set midstream just below the finish line.
Six sailors took the start with patchy wind at the start line and Gary Adshead (OK 1998) and Clive Evison (P 1355) made the best starts from the Berkshire side of the river and headed up the course on a broad reach. Behind, the Lightning 368s of Mary Webb (LN 178) and Duncan Watts (LN 178) battled with James Long (OK 2130) and Nigel Webb (LN 372). Gary continued to lead at the bend and rounded the A buoy just ahead. Duncan had moved into third place having found a good route round the B buoy where the wind was very light and made the route past the bend very tricky. At the end of the lap, Gary had a lead of twenty seconds over Clive with Duncan a lonely third, Mary fourth, James a few seconds behind in fifth and Nigel sixth. The lead battle remained static during the second lap, but James started to move through the field and passed Mary and Duncan to move into third. At the top of the course, Mary jybed to round the A buoy, but a gust overpowered her as sailed off back down the course and she capsized requiring some assistance from the safety boat to right the boat. She retired from the race along with Nigel at the end of the lap. On the third lap, Clive passed Gary for the lead and James started to close the gap to the two leaders. Clive extended his lead over the final three laps and won the race with a three minute margin. Behind, Gary was second and James third and Duncan fourth.
Mary and Nigel decided to sit out the second race, leaving just four boats to start the second race. All four sailors raced up to the B buoy at the start, on the upper part of the course Clive moved into the lead and had a good lead by the time they returned down to the bend. Gary and James were battling for second place, but both were looking over their shoulders as Duncan was staying with them, despite the strong winds which suited the OKs. James passed Gary for second on the second lap and they pulled out a gap on Duncan going up the course, but Duncan had a good set of tacks on the return leg and was still battling for second at the end of the lap. On the third lap, the two OKs managed to pull away with James and Gary still battling over the runners up spot and the position changed several times throughout the rest of the race with James managing to find a good lift to the D buoy and holding second place as they finished the lap. Clive finished the race and won, James and Gary sailed to the line side by side with James just managing to hold on to take second.
Over the lunch period, the wind dropped and several more sailors appeared for an afternoon’s racing. Peter Withrington (LN 442), Carole Dixon (LN 259), Tricia Evison (LN 412), Jerome Dreux (OK 2007) and Tanja van Wyngaardt crewed by various friends (E 5980) joined the four sailors who had started the second race of the day. The race course was changed slightly with the B buoy brought down below the bend to try and put it into some wind. The A buoy was also moved a lot further up the course to introduce more than one beat and some tacking into the course.
It was a busy startline for race three and some sailors sailed up and down the line, some sat head to wind at the line and some trailed back making a flying start. Gary and James moved into the lead from the starting horn and pulled out a healthy lead by the bend, perhaps knowing how to handle the trickier conditions on the lower course from their morning’s experience. By the end of the lap, Gary led, James second, Duncan third and not far behind, then a gap to Clive fourth (who had started late after helping other sailors onto the water), Peter fifth, Tricia sixth, Jerome seventh, Tanja eighth and Carole ninth. On the second lap, James decided to head to the Bucks bank after the bank and crept up the bank moving ahead of Gary before rounding the A buoy. On the return leg, Clive also passed Gary for second. Duncan was fourth, Tricia fifth, Peter sixth, Jerome seventh and Tanja and Carole battling for eighth. On the next lap, Clive passed James for the lead just after the bend and Peter passed Tricia for fifth. Clive extended his lead to a minute on the final lap and won again whilst Gary passed James for second. Jerome had an amazing final lap and passed Tricia, Peter and Duncan to take fourth. Duncan finished fifth, Peter sixth, Tricia seventh, Tanja eighth and Carole ninth.
Several sailors decided to sit out the final race of the day, so Tanja, James, Gary, Jerome, Peter and Duncan started whilst Andrew Boxer (usually OK 2196, but sailing with a sail acquired at the Lyme World Champs sailed as OK 204) joined the sailors. The wind had picked up for the final race of the day, particularly on the upper part of the course.
The four OKs make the best start and raced up to the B buoy where they struggled round the bend. James led around the bend with Gary close behind and he passed for the lead near the A buoy. At the end of the lap, Gary led, James second, Jerome third, Andrew fourth, Duncan fifth, Peter sixth and Tanja seventh. Gary extended his lead on the second lap whilst Andrew passed Jerome for third and Peter passed Duncan for fifth. On the third lap, Gary maintained his lead of about 30 seconds and Duncan moved back into fifth ahead of Peter, Tanja retired from the race with boat issues. On the final lap, James closed in on Gary and they rounded the top buoy with Gary just ahead. On the tacks back to the D buoy, James found a good lift on the final tack across from the Bucks bank and headed straight to the buoy whilst Gary tacked earlier and headed to the buoy from the Berkshire bank. They rounded the buoy together and Gary sailed low towards the Bucks bank whilst James maintained a higher position. Gary called water as they headed to the line and put a final tack in allowing James to pass for the lead which he maintained to the finish line. Andrew came home third and Jerome fourth. On the final lap, Peter passed Duncan again for fifth and he held this to the line.