Easterly winds at Cookham Reach Sailing Club gave the competitors in the Autumn Series a rare chance to sail almost all the way to Cookham Bridge on Sunday September 18th. Race officers Tricia and Clive Evison set a course with a dogleg D and B buoy set in the middle of the course, with D buoy set in the middle of the river and taken to starboard and then back up the B buoy rounded to port. The sailors then sailed downstream to the C buoy set about 50m up from the bridge. They then returned downwind past the club jetty to round an A buoy set midstream and taken to port.
Six sailors started the first race of the day in fairly light winds, with four Handicap competitors and two Lightning 368 class competitors. Gary Adshead (OK 1998) and James Long (OK 2130) were both over the line at the start and Richard Cartwright / Ray Swinney (E 22174) led away. By the end of the first lap, Gary had moved into second place and James was third after Jerome Dreux (OK 2007) struggled in the light winds rounding the C buoy. In the Lightning class, it was close at first before Andrew Yuille (LN 446) pulled clear of Duncan Watts (LN 431). On the second lap, Gary passed Richard for second place with James dropping back as the wind dropped considerably at the bottom of the course. Richard retook the lead on the final lap and pulled away to take the win with Gary second, James some way back in third and Jerome fourth. In the Lightnings, Andrew won with Duncan second.
Peter Withrington (LN 442) joined the Lightning fleet for the second race, although wasn’t on the water until the others had completed a lap. The sailors were closely matched all the way down to the two middle buoys and they lined up to round the first buoy. Gary led by the time they reached the bottom C buoy, but was closely followed by Richard, Andrew and James. By the end of the lap, Gary led just ahead of Richard and James with Andrew having a clear lead in the Lightnings. Andrew managed to pull ahead of the Handicap fleet during the second lap which was still very closely fought. Jerome and Duncan were having their own battle a little further back whilst Peter joined in the race. The positions stayed the same during the third lap and on the final lap, Richard passed Gary to take over the lead in the Handicap fleet and won the race with Gary second, James third and Jerome fourth. Andrew finished a clear winner in the Lightning fleet with Duncan second and Peter a lap down in third.
During the lunch hour, the wind picked up considerably as storm clouds brewed and as the racers headed out to the start line for the third race, the rain came down increasing in strength during the race. Dave Phillips (OK 2123) joined the Handicap fleet and the eight sailors lined up at the start line. A minute before the start, James noticed that his halyard was twisted round the mast and the sail hadn’t hoisted properly so headed to shore to untangle the mess. He started five minutes after the starting hooter as Dave immediately pulled into a clear lead heading down to the dog leg with Gary second and Jerome battling Richard for third. In the Lightning class, Andrew and Peter slowly eked out a lead over Duncan. At the end of the lap, Dave over a minutes lead ahead of Gary with a three minute gap to a recovering James, Jerome fourth and Richard fifth. Peter led the Lightnings from Andrew and Duncan. The wind dropped considerably as the rain increased and they crawled round the next lap which ended up being the last. Dave held his gap to Gary and claimed a convincing win, Gary was second, James third, Jerome fourth and Richard fifth. Peter pulled away to a convincing win in the Lightnings with Andrew second and Duncan third.
The rain stopped for the final race of the day although both sailors and boats were very damp. Richard decided to sit out the final race. Andrew, Dave and James made the best start and rounded the dog leg with a healthy lead over the rest. By the end of the lap, Dave led just ahead of James, Jerome third and Gary trailed in fourth. Andrew held a huge lead in the Lightnings ahead of Peter and Duncan. On the second lap, James managed to pass Dave for the lead on the downwind leg, but was repassed as they approached the C buoy and Gary passed Jerome for third. Peter caught Andrew and battled for the lead of the Lightning class. James continued to battle Dave for the lead to the dogleg as both hugged the Berkshire bank, they rounded the dogleg together, but Dave pulled clear as they rounded the C buoy and James was stuck just after the buoy as the wind dropped. Dave pulled away and won the race by over two minutes, Gary was third and Jerome fourth. In the Lightnings, Andrew held on to the lead and won just ahead of Peter with Duncan third.