The annual Enterprise Championship saw a good turn out of six boats to compete for the cup with another day of challenging south-westerly light winds. The race officers Pat and Jilly Blake and Richard Campin set a simple course with a top A buoy just past the bend taken to starboard and a C buoy at the club jetty taken to port.
As the Enterprise race also counts for the Autumn Series, the blue-sailed boats were also joined by Keira Swinney in her Lightning for the first race. Five Enterprises started the race with all three of the club boats out on the water, two of which were being put onto the water as the race horn sounded after mechanical issues before the start. Alastair McMichael and Andrew Boxer (E 23043) took an early lead with Richard Cartwright and Ray Swinney (E 22174) just behind. Behind them, Tanja van Wyngaardt and Jerome Dreux (E 5980) held third with Keira Swinney (LN 114) in fourth. The late starters, Clive Evison and Marius van Wyngaardt (E 23222) and James Long and Christine Roy (E 23158) brought up the rear.
The sailors struggled up to the bend trying to move between the patches which seemed to contain slightly stronger breezes. The sailors discovered there were slightly stronger winds in the middle of the course, but these disappeared again just below the A buoy and they struggled to round the buoy due to the lack of wind. Alastair held a small lead as they rounded the buoy. Behind, Clive passed Keira before the bend and caught and passed Tanja just before the top buoy. Alastair had pulled out 16 second lead by the end of the lap and continued to pull away during the second lap, winning by just over a minute. Behind, Clive was a clear third. Keira passed Tanja on the second lap and came home fourth with Tanja a lonely fourth and James a long way behind. He struggled with tacking in his first time in an Enterprise and retired at the end of the first lap.
The second race saw much of the same wind conditions and Alastair and Richard again had the best start. They battled up the course again during the first lap and rounded the top buoy close together. By the end of the lap, Alastair held a lead of 11 seconds. Behind, Clive had slotted in behind the two leaders and held third with Tanja in fourth. James was again struggling in the light winds and dropped back considerably after struggling up the Buckinghamshire bank on the first lap and getting stuck with no wind to get around the top buoy. Keira was also having problems with the lack of wind. On the second lap, Richard clawed back the gap to Alastair and they rounded the top buoy very close together. Richard managed to pass Alastair on the downwind leg and took the win by a second. Clive came home third with Tanja fourth, James fifth and Keira sixth. As is usual at Cookham, the wind picked up just as the race finished!
The sailors watched the wind pick up during the lunch break and hoped for a better afternoon. The wind had definitely picked up when the sailors took to the water for the afternoon, but it dropped again just before the start. Peter and Sally Wyatt (E 22828) joined the Enterprise fleet whilst Tanja berthed her own Enterprise and shared crew duties for the afternoon in Clive Evison’s Enterprise. Keira sailed the first race in the afternoon and Warren de Reuck and Jacqui Travaglia (G 2416) joined the afternoon races.
The stronger winds seemed to close up the fleet and all the Enterprises were closely matched as the sailed to the bend after the race start with Alastair leading Richard, Peter, Clive, James, Keira and Warren. The wind died at the bend and some of the sailors struggled to find good wind to make it up to the A buoy. Alastair, Richard and Peter continued to battle up to the buoy with James now in fourth when Clive got into difficulty in the middle of the stream with a drop in wind slowing his progress. Alastair had a good lead by the end of the lap with Peter second and Richard third with James just behind in fourth and Clive in fifth. The gaps widened on the second lap as the wind dropped across the river with light gusts occasionally coming down the river. Alastair led with a considerable gap by the end of the second lap ahead of Peter and Richard. Clive repassed James on the tacks up the course and they rounded the A buoy together, but Clive eked out to hold a healthy fourth by the end of the lap. Peter managed to close some of the gap on the final lap, but Alastair held his lead to the end ahead of Peter, Richard, Clive, James, Keira and Warren.
The final race of the day looked a little more promising with better wind. Richard, Peter and Alastair again pulled away from the rest as they sailed up to the top buoy with lots of lead changes. Clive and James again battled for fourth. At the end of the lap, Richard led Alastair with Peter third, Clive in fourth and James fifth. On the second lap, the battles continued and Peter took the lead when Richard got stuck with low winds and dropped to third behind Alastair with Clive catching in fourth. James had dropped back and was a distant fifth with Warren sixth. The final lap saw the lead change again and Alastair passed Peter on the way up to the top buoy with Richard snatching second before the top buoy. They battled to the finish with Alastair winning, Richard second and Peter third. Clive came home fourth and James a distant fifth having dropped a lot time when the wind died to nothing on the last lap. Warren was a lapped sixth.