The Covid pandemic dominated every aspect of life in 2020 and consequently had a huge impact on the members and the sailing at the club.

January

The year started with the river levels very high and the club jetty underwater, after heavy rains throughout December. Much of Marsh Meadow was flooded and the river remained on EA red river conditions for some time.

With the retirement of Tricia Evison from the role of Commodore at the end of 2019, there were changes to the club committee with Nick Reuter taking over as the new Commodore and James Long stepping into the previously unfilled role of Vice Commodore. The new committee met at the clubhouse for the first time at the end of the month, to plan the year ahead and it was decided that the major project for 2020 would be the repair and renovation of the clubhouse cladding which was in a poor state after years of neglect.

Clive and Tricia Evison discovered that Upper Thames Sailing Club were selling a club OK and so Clive and James Long met with Phil Benton at UTSC to inspect the dinghy before deciding to purchase it for the club. After discussion with the UTSC committee, they kindly agreed to donate the dinghy to CRSC to thank us for the assistance we had provided them over the years. The OK, named Naiiad (sail number 1695) joined the club boat fleet, becoming an ideal club boat as it had a fibreglass deck which required less ongoing maintenance. After a thorough clean and a check-over by the two Clives, it was decided that some work would be required to get it ready for the new season due to a broken halyard and rotten mast base.

March

The beginning of the season was approaching, so the club organised a day for members to prepart their boats, making arrangements for maintenance and repairs needed to start sailing. The club members worked on the club boats, giving them a thorough wash, replacing rigging and carrying out necessary repairs. Over the winter months, the club had kindly been donated a Lightning and several Enterprises by members and ex-members over the Winter months and these were re-rigged and cleaned up. A Lightning (pictured below) joined the club fleet and the other dinghies were sold during the forthcoming year.

The first event of the year; the Champagne Party (and race) were cancelled due to the first lockdown restrictions of Covid-19. With uncertainty over the virus’s effects, the committee cancelled all future events until further notice.

April

It was very quiet at the club because sailing continued to be prohibited on the Thames. Clive Evison very kindly volunteered to cut the grass every week as the lockdown prevented the club’s mowing contractor carrying out his work. As the ride-on mower was broken Clive wad forced to use the club’s rotary mower which made the task a day-long job.

Several members started major renovations on their dinghies. After a complete overhaul, the van Wyngaardts finished their Enterprise overhaul. Gary Adshead and James Long began sanding down and revarnishing the wooden decks of their OKs, Gary carried out additional work repairing cockpit, mastfoot and mast adjustments.

Through an offer provided to RYA sailing clubs, CRSC joined online racing via the Virtual eRegatta game. Following a few trial races, CRSC competitors decided to run a virtual race series and met online to compete once or twice a week.

May

The month began with a continuation of the sailing ban.

With the river peacefully quiet due to the ban on river traffic, the local wildlife took advantage and the birds that used the river were seen nesting in locations on the bankside never seen before. A family of Egyptian Geese nested nearby and local walkers stopped to watch the family resting on the club jetty in the sunshine.

James Long and Gary Adshead joined Clive in mowing the club’s lawn and this was made easier by the repair of the ride-on mower. The boats were moved from their berths fortnightly to mow the grass and the club grounds looked spectacular. Work began on the clubhouse cladding once James has managed to source a supply of Cuprinol Ducksback, however supply problems continued to slow progress. The recommended two tins to paint the entire clubhouse only covered one side – the job eventually took seven tins sourced from DIY stores all over Berkshire and Buckinghamshire! Walter Aldridge joined the maintenance crew and repaired several broken panels of cladding.

Following a change in Government policy in the third week of May, sailing resumed and the club permitted members to sail alone – termed “informal sailing” by the RYA. Handwashing facilities were installed outside the clubhouse and guidance was published for members for use use of the club grounds. Unfortunately, the clubhouse remained shut and racing was still to resume.

Excellent weather attracted members to the club for sailing, paddleboarding and kayaking. The club was particularly busy with youngsters enjoying the river in the evening whilst being schooled at home and many parents being furloughed. The club gained many new members, particularly families recognising the amount of fun to be had at the club leading to the sale of a couple of club Lightnings to new members. With river traffic very light, decent wind and sunny weather, the sailing was excellent and the wind direction allowed member to sail to the Bourne End rail bridge and back including Gary Adshead in his newly refurbished OK.

June

After competing for six weeks, the first CRSC virtual series finished with Gareth Jones winning the Virtual Spring Series. The racing was very competitive with six sailors competing in a variety of boat classes from 49er to Offshore Racing yachts.

Marius and Tanja van Wyngaardt gave their restored wooden Enterprise its maiden voyage in front of an appreciative audience and James completed the work on his OK.

Clive, Gary and James continued to mow the grass and Clive Evison began replacing many of the tie-down ropes which had been lost or damaged over the years.

July

The clubhouse opened with limited use for the first time in 2020. Hygiene measures were upgraded to prevent Covid spread with only one person permitted in the clubhouse at a time. The club bar was opened by bar chair Mary Webb and husband Nigel and provided refreshment every weekend until the next lockdown.

The model yachters enjoyed their first “socially distanced” get together of the year which proved very successful, with excellent turnout every Wednesday morning for the rest of the year.

Clive Church started work on various maintenance projects, including the club bar shutters.

August

The Flat Coke Race (a reference to the Champagne Race, cancelled earlier in the year) was trialled on August 2nd, to test the alterations to race rules required for Covid safety. The committee drew up a full set of guidelines for racing and published a Covid safety risk assessment. Social distancing requirements meant that more time was required to get boats in and out of the water as a limited number could be on the jetty at a time and the shoreline had to kept clear of members and public during race starts and finish to ensure social distancing. The safety boat was also disinfected before use and manned by a crew wearing face masks. The trial race was deemed a success and two capsizes ensured that the new safety boat instructions were tested out.

Following a successful trial, the first race series of the year began on Sunday August 9th and continued until September. This unique series was renamed the Summer Frolic and became an all-class Handicap series due to limited numbers. Andrew Boxer (OK 2196) won the first and third races in the first weekend of racing and took an early lead in the series, ahead of Jerome Dreux (OK 2007), Mary Webb (LN 178) and Clive Evison (P 1355). Two new members (James and Daniel Hanrahan) joined the racing in two of the club’s Lightnings.

September

Two coaching sessions were held for novice sailors, with many of the club’s new members attending. With perfect weather for sailing (sunshine and light winds), the session began with some on-shore tutoring, sailing basics including boat tacking before the sailors took to the water in Lightnings and Toppers.

Having been postponed from the beginning of the year due to the first lockdown, the withy cutting finally took place. Richard Cartwright and Mary Webb coordinated proceedings commencing with a riverbank survey from the clubhouse to Andrew’s Beach to catalogued and mark trees and bushes that required pruning. A gang of volunteers invested some serious effort to cut back bankside vegetation and raise the canopy height of larger trees over the 18th and 19th of September. Over the course of the next day’s Summer Frolic, numerous sailors noted immediate benefits from cleaner winds such as the ability to sail closer to the bank to avoid river currents.

Due to the extremely dry state of the cladding timber, the clubhouse required three times the recommended amount of preservative paint.

With four sailors in with a chance of winning the Summer Frolic, the series concluded with an exciting last day’s racing. Andrew Boxer and Mary Webb tied for the lead and Gary Adshead (OK 1996) and Jerome Dreux were also able to win due to the discards required by the two leaders. Mary decided to sit out due to strong winds and Gary went on to impressively win the day’s three races and won the series.

October

Clive Church, Clive Evison and James Long took on the unwelcome task of replacing the clubhouse sewage pipework which had sprung a leak. After replacing the defective pipe, they set about unblocking one of the drains and the job became very difficult, necessitating hours spent under the clubhouse.

The Autumn Series began on October 4th, but was cancelled due to strong river flow and gusty winds.

By the following weekend, the Autumn Series and the Nat Phillips Trophy were combined for a day’s pursuit racing on the river which had now calmed. A small turnout of four boats started without the Lightning fleet and Clive Evison puts on a dominant display, winning all three races with Andrew Boxer second in each race and James Long and Jerome Dreux sharing thirds.

Racing was cancelled the following weekend, but the nine sailors returned on the 25th for the final round of the series, despite strong and gusty winds and strong river current. This would be winner takes all for the Lightning fleet, as no points have yet been scored in the Lightning Autumn Series to win the Cookham Knocker. New member, Duncan Watts (LN 431) took two seconds and a first to win the series ahead of Martin Evans (LN 150), with Daniel and James Hanrahan (LN 281 and 304) tied in third place.

The Handicap races also scored points for the OK Championship and Gareth Jones (OK 2115) took a dominant three wins to take the championship for the second consecutive year. In the Handicap series, Clive’s second and a third in the final day’s racing ensured that he took the Handicap Autumn Series ahead of Gareth with Andrew Boxer third.

November

After Berkshire entered a Tier 4 lockdown and river activity was prohibited the Winter Series was sadly cancelled. Members prepared their boats for Winter earlier than expected and a number of wooden boats were relocated to the clubhouse.

December

Apart from the occasional visitor to check on their dinghy, the club was very quiet with no sailing. Heavy winter rains caused water levels to rise and the jetty disappeared underwater.

Seven teams took part in a Christmas Quiz on December 20th, with the Vice Commodore as quizmaster. Keith Bater and his family performed very well winning the quiz and all participants agreed that more of these events should scheduled in the New Year.

We hope that all our members have enjoyed sailing at CRSC despite the late start and the difficulties this year. Congratulations to all the race winners and competitors and thank you to all for supporting our wonderful club, particularly our volunteer workers, race officers and our new members. We all look forward to sailing with you in 2021. Stay safe!