After the previous day’s Lightning 368 Open, only the Handicap sailors competed on Sunday July 25th with five OKs competing in very strong winds of around 25 knots from the south with shifts between southeast and slightly round to southwest. The race officers, Tricia Evison, Clive Evison and Clive Church set a course with the start line from the OD box with a downwind leg to the A buoy set at Andrews Beach and taken to port, then returning downstream to the B buoy set upstream of Cookham Bend on the Berkshire bank and taken to port. Finally the sailors rounded the C buoy taken to port and positioned out from the club jetty.
The five OKs took to the water to try out the strong winds and managing to take some respite below the start line where the winds were lighter below the club jetty. Andrew Boxer was late on to the water with some late adjustments to his put after returning from the OK Nationals the weekend before and having to reassemble his trailored OK. James Long (OK 1990) make the best start and led to the bend where the wind adjust slightly, but the sailors never quite managed a full downwind and remained on a broad reach. The winds were also considerably gustier from the bend down to the A buoy and the gaps ebbed and flowed as the sailors caught the gusts and rode up on to a plane. James led around the A buoy with Gary Adshead (OK 1998) second and the three following sailors very closely battling over third place. By the end of the lap, James had opened a small gap to Gary with a sizeable gap over the rest with Jerome Dreux (OK 2007) leading Andrew Boxer (OK 2196) and Martin Evans (OK 1695) all separated by a few seconds. James continued to lead on the downwind leg of the second lap and rounded the A buoy with Gary behind. On the tacks back up the B buoy, Gary closed in and passed James just before the buoy when a kayaker stopped in James’s path on the tack over to the buoy from the Bucks bank, he had to put in two short tacks to avoid the kayak and allowed Gary through. Behind, Martin had managed to pass both Jerome and Andrew to take over third. Gary pulled out a lead over the third lap with James still second and Martin third, although Andrew closed in to battle for third place. The lead continued to grow during the rest of the race and Gary won the race with James second. Martin and Andrew battled for third throughout the remaining three laps with Martin just edging it for third place. Jerome had dropped back in fifth and retired on the final lap.
The winds continued to blow through the course for the second race as the sailors lined up at the start. This time, Gary made the best start and opened a small gap by the time they reached the A buoy. Behind, James and Andrew battled for second place with James rounding the A buoy second. Oddly, the B buoy was the least windy part of the course and the sailors had to pick their lines carefully to minimise the time lost around the buoy. Gary led at the end of the lap with James second, Andrew third, Martin fourth and Jerome fifth. Gary pulled out a healthy lead on the second lap with Andrew passing James for second who made a mistake in the strong wind allowing Martin through to third. The winds were picking up in strength with some considerable gusts between the bend and Andrews. As Martin and James approached the A buoy there was a sudden wind shift which caused both to jybe suddenly, Martin put in his tack to round the A buoy and as he rounded the buoy a gust caught the boat and he capsized. James only just managed to avoid a collision and sailed out wide to round the Martin and the buoy with the same gust almost catching him out but he managed to right the boat as it ended up on its side. Martin eventually managed to continue but had to retire with the front tanks full of water. Jerome followed a distant fourth. Gary continued to open up his lead. Behind, James was now closing the gap to Andrew and on the fifth lap managed to pass by exploiting a lift and sailed from the Bucks bank over to the C buoy rounding it ahead after Andrew put in two tacks to line up for the buoy. Gary led the final lap to take an easy win with James second, Andrew third and Jerome fourth.
The sailors retired to the clubhouse for a much needed rest during the lunch break. As the sailors took to the water for the afternoon races, the winds were still very strong, it was going to be a hard afternoon. They lined up at the line with gusts blowing through the start line and Andrew and Martin made the best start with Andrew and Jerome just behind and James trailing after being behind the start line at the horn. At the bend, Gary led with Martin, Andrew and Jerome chasing. They rounded the A buoy together, but on the beats back up the course Andrew capsized in an overpowering gust. Back at the line, Gary had opened up over a minutes lead and James had managed to pass Jerome and moved into third behind Martin. James passed Martin on the tacks back on the second lap and closed the gap to Gary in the lead with Martin having a healthy gap over Jerome. Gary opened the lead up again on the third lap with all five sailors sailing lonely races, but on the fourth lap, Jerome closed the gap to Martin to fight for third place. Andrew capsized again but bravely continued on. Jerome managed to pass Jerome at the end of the fourth lap as Andrew was lapped with Martin and Jerome being lapped on the final lap of the race. Gary finished the race with a seven minute lead over the rest of the fleet with James the only OK not lapped. Jerome was third and Martin fourth.
Gary now jumps into the lead of the Handicap class of the Summer Series with one day of racing left in the Series. James is second four points behind with Andrew third a further two points behind. In the Lightning class, Andrew Yuille holds a healthy eleven point lead over Mary Webb.