Easter Sunday brought glorious sunshine, a cheeky easterly breeze, and a good turnout of 15 boats competing in the annual Easter Pursuit Race.
A number of different classes were represented and it was fantastic to see three Topper take to the start line. Well done to all of you for joining in and we look forward to seeing you developing your racing skills every Sunday by competing in the Topper class race that starts at 11.10.
Stewart Colley in his Laser sliced through the fleet and was un-catchable winning in fine style. Ken Duffell and Joe Woods finished in second place well ahead of the other Merlins. David Baker and Jim Green came third on their return to the water after a couple of months away. Tim and Ed Medcalf came fourth in their Merlin ‘Samanda’, just ahead of Barry Mourant and Jon Medcalf, also sailing a Merlin ‘Fair Cop’, who rounded out the top five.
Chocolate Easter Eggs were awarded to the all boats, congratulations to everyone who took part and enjoyed the fun on the river.
There will be several more handicap and pursuit events this year, in addition to the regular Sunday morning and Thursday evening handicap races, and they are a great way to get involved in racing for the first time – any class can enter, bring your own or borrow one of the club’s fleet. Keep reading Tammy Matters or looking at the calendar on the club website for more details.
A big thank you to Peter Johnson, Carolyne Vines, Paul Jamieson and Jim Hamilton for running the race, and to Jo Carstens together with the kitchen and bar team for producing a delicious roast lamb lunch as well as the usual soup and tasty sandwiches.’
Report Tim Medcalf
Final Results:
| Position | Class | Boat number | Boat Name | Helm | Crew |
| 1st | Laser | 208470 | Grebe | Stewart Colley | |
| 2nd | Merlin | 1004 | Avenger | Ken Duffell | Joe Woods |
| 3rd | Albacore | 6813 | Cobblers | David Baker | Jim Green |
| 4th | Merlin | 596 | Samanda | Tim Medcalf | Ed Medcalf |
| 5th | Merlin | 1212 | Fair Cop | Barry Mourant | John Medcalf |
| 6th | National 18′ | 374 | Zephyr | Henry Defries | Mark |
| 7th | Laser | 201014 | Dragon Fly | Rosalind Warwick-Haller | |
| 8th | Laser | 130775 | Chris Taggart | ||
| 9th | Merlin | 3333 | Precious | John Adam | Zoe Adams |
| 10th | National 18′ | 336 | Orion | Alan Green | Susan Green |
| 11th | Merlin | 3686 | Lovebite | Chris Balmbro | William Balmbro |
| 12th | Merlin | 2686 | Broad Scoter | David PJ | Fleur Moree |
| 13th | Topper | 15138 | Ted | Matt Key | |
| 14th | Topper | 37597 | Matt Valentine | ||
| 15th | Topper | 29672 | Maisy Key | ||