Report for the 8th and penultimate race for the 2019 GW Smith Trophy
Much was riding on this race with a number of places that could change depending on the results. It would have been nice to have had a clear definite wind up or down the river, but we had a soft and gentle south westerly, albeit in lovely evening sunshine.
Thirteen boats started the race and it was unfortunate that a motor barge came through the centre of the line just as we started, putting paid to the cunning plans of those who thought that the advantage lay on the Surrey bank. This didn’t seem to put off the early leader, the RS400 sailed by Griff and Louis Tanner and Tim Medcalf, aiming to cement or even improve his lead at the top of the overall table was snapping at his heels. Tim took the lead during the second lap and sailed off into the distance to win on the water and on handicap. Behind him Ken Duffell and Mattie Valentine in Avenger passed the Tanners in the RS 400 but could not put enough time between themselves and Richard Harris, taking time out of Merlin sailing, who sailed his Laser into 4th on the water and second behind Tim on handicap.
| Merlin | 596 | Samanda | Tim | Medcalf | Veronique | Medcalf | 1 | |
| Laser | 141564 | Trident | Richard | Harris | 2 | |||
| Merlin | 1004 | Avenger | Ken | Duffell | Mattie | Valentine | 3 | |
| Laser | 208470 | Grebe | Stewart | Colley | 4 | |||
| Albacore | 6813 | Cobblers | David | Baker | Jim | Green | 5 | |
| RS400 | 650 | Griff | Tanner | Louis | Tanner | 6 | ||
| Merlin | 1602 | Saltarello | John | Adams | Zoë | Adams | 7 | |
| Laser | 130773 | Chris | Taggart | 8 | ||||
| Merlin | 1773 | Oozlam | Geoff | Bayliss | Ian | Ramage | 9 | |
| Laser | 154695 | Peter | Impey | 10 | ||||
| Mallard | 2 | Mark | Gardner | 11 | ||||
| Laser | 146120 | Storm | Ellen | Schwartz | 12 | |||
| Laser | 171688 | This side up | Tim | Ginn | 13 |
Overall little has changed with the places, except that Tim’s win put the Trophy out of reach of anyone else. However the places behind him are still not settled so still much to sail on the last race of the series on 29th August.
| Class | Sail No | Boat Name | Helmsman | Crew | Points from best 4 races | Current position | |
| Merlin | 576 | Samanda | Tim | Medcalf | Ed Medcalf/Veronique Medcalf | 5 | 1 |
| N18 | 266 | Genevieve | Charles | Fox | Robert Blakebrough, Alden Horwitz | 8 | 2 |
| Merlin | 1978 | Lady Anne | Charlie | Morgan | Humphrey Dorrell, Carolyne Vines | 11 | 3 |
| Albacore | 6813 | Cobblers | David | Baker | Jin Green/Barbara Adams | 12 | 4 |
| Merlin | 1602 | Saltarello | John | Adams | Zoë Adams, Carolyne Vines | 13 | 5 |
| N18 | 348 | Antedote | Chris | Pollard | Caroline Stilwell | 20 | 6 |
| Laser | 130773 | Chris | Taggart | 26 | 7 | ||
| Merlin | 1136 | Shoestring | Peter | Johnson | Paul Jamieson/Carolyne Vines | 28 | 8 |
| Laser | 146170 | Storm | Ellen | Schwartz | 36 | 9 | |
| Topper | 36323 | Henry | Medcalf | 40 | 10 | ||
Note that to provide a decent length race before the late summer sun drops of the horizon , we will be starting at 7.00pm (7.02pm for the N18s).
Sadly this will be the end of the summer evening sailing so let’s provide a good turnout for the sailing and boost the dwindling numbers of supper eaters to show our appreciation of the hard work the catering team put in to making Thursdays such an enjoyable evening.