Five sailors competed in the Cookham Reach Sailing Club Winter Series day on Remembrance Sunday. Race Officer Martin Evans assisted by Tricia Evison and Clive Church set a course of a B and D buoy in at Bend with B taken to starboard and D to port. The top of the course was marked by the A buoy taken to port and set in the middle of the river about 50 metres above the bend. The sailors then returned downwind and downstream to the C buoy which was placed above the club jetty due to the poor wind strength in front of the clubhouse, the C buoy was also taken to port. The wind conditions were good for sailing with southwesterlies around 10 to 15mph with very little gusting.
The three OKs and two Lightning 368s took the start at the club OD box with very little wind at the start line and the wind picking up about 10 metres upstream of the jetty. James Long (OK 1990) managed to sail into this breeze the quickest and pulled clear of the rest of the sailors with Jerome Dreux (OK 2007), Clive Evison (LN 412), Gary Adshead (OK 1998) and Mary Webb (LN 178) tacking back and forth on the Berkshire bank and jostling over positions behind. All the sailors had to tack back and forth on Berkshire bank as the river current slowed progress if they sailed into the middle of the stream, James made it to the B buoy first and sailed across to the D buoy encountering a lighter breeze on the bend which would hamper the sailors all day long. The wind got stronger above the bend and the sailors took different tacking routes up the course with some hugging the Buckinghamshire bank and some venturing out into the middle of the river. The sailors encountered another pocket of light wind just below the A buoy which slowed progress for some and then they rounded the buoy for a sail straight downwind to the C buoy with the three OKS now leading the Lightnings by some distance. At the end of the lap, James had a healthy lead over Gary who had sailed through the fleet up to second, Jerome third, Clive fourth and Mary fifth. On the second lap, Gary managed to close up some of the gap to the lead, but the positions stayed the same through the fleet and the gaps remained static. On the third lap, James led up the course with Gary just behind as they rounded the top buoy, but on the sail downwind, James took a line close to the Berkshire bank as they got the bend whilst Gary stayed in the middle of the river and found a good breeze which allowed him to take the lead up the inside as they rounded the C buoy. Behind, Jerome was still third with Clive holding the gap between them in fourth to around 15 seconds and Mary in fifth. The fourth lap was notable due to the problems caused by a cruiser that came down the river holding its line despite a potential collision with James as he tacked across from the Berkshire bank to the A buoy, James had to take avoiding action and tack back to the Berkshire bank. The cruiser caused problems further down to the river for Jerome who also had to avoid it and then Gary on his downwind run. James managed to close some of the gap at the end of the lap and Gary had a 24 second lead as they started the last lap. The gap continued to close as they tacked up the course with James able to cross the river between B and D quicker by taking a higher lined tack to the D buoy. However, he lost all those gains near the top of the course, Gary rounded the A buoy and the wind dropped and Gary pulled out a substantial lead to win the race on the downwind run to the line. Jerome came home in third with Clive fourth and Mary fifth. After handicap adjustment, Clive finished third with Jerome fourth.
After exchanging stories about the problem cruiser, all the sailors reconvened for the start of the second race. The start line was now moved up above the C buoy to try and find the breeze which had died completely at the jetty and caused problems for James who only made it to the start line a couple of minutes before the race start. The OKs again made the best start with Gary taking the lead on a starboard tack from the middle of the river towards the Berkshire bank, Jerome just behind and James third after starting closer to the bank. By the B buoy, James had made it into second after braving it into the middle of the river and picking up a good breeze to tack back to Berkshire bank and round the B buoy. Clive was contesting third with Jerome and Mary in fifth. Gary continued to pull out the gap in the lead and rounded the A buoy with a substantial lead after finding a good breeze on his route up the course. A change in wind direction now meant that a jybe was required near the bend from the starboard side previously used on the downwind leg and timing this correctly to get a lift could mean some good gains. Gary crossed the line with a minute and a half lead to James, Jerome just behind in third, Clive fourth and Mary fifth. Gary maintained his lead on the second lap with Jerome dropping back in third and Clive falling back into a battle with Mary for best of the Lightnings. James closed some of the gap to the lead on the third lap and it looked like a battle was emerging for the race win, on the penultimate lap that gap closed even further and they were separated by thirty seconds as they went into the last lap. At the bend, Jerome also joined the battle and all three OKs were separated by thirty seconds. Each sailor picked their lines carefully as the river had pockets of dead wind, the light wind of the bend having moved across to Buckinghamshire bank adjacent to the D buoy and the dead spot previously present below the A buoy also having moved towards the Buckinghamshire bank. Gary made the best route near the top of the course and pulled out a healthy lead again, behind Jerome was closer to James as they rounded the A buoy. On the downwind leg, Gary continued to extend his lead back again and crossed the finish at the OD box with a lead of a minute and fifteen seconds, James had also had a better run downwind and pulled out the gap to Jerome and crossed in second with Jerome third, Clive fourth and Mary fifth. On handicap, these positions stayed the same.
James Long now leads the Winter Series with Jerome second and Gary third, the positions being the same in the Personal Handicap.