News

Except just for once we didn’t.

Instructors and students alike having struggled against on shore winds for the last four or five weeks took a break on Sunday.

However Sandra and Phillip a couple of potential new members turned up for a taster sail so I took the chance of light winds to have a great sail in the Enterprise.

Zoe, Peter and Sam having more or less completed their respective courses also took advantage of a nice breeze to have a “jolly “ in the afternoon.

Eric Finlayson

 

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

Many past students have said this was the best part of the course .
One student might agree ( nice trim!)

Others found getting back to the 2k  almost relaxing .

Students are encouraged to come next Sunday when training could be available subject to demand

Eric Finlayson

 

Sunday 21 April is Easter Day and also the Tamesis Club annual Easter Egg pursuit race.  This race is always a lot of fun and the weather looks like it is going to be beautiful.

There is no class racing but lunch will be served in the clubhouse as usual.

The Easter Egg race is a handicap pursuit, any boat can join in and club boats are available for crews who would like to borrow one.  Slower boats start first with the theory being that everyone finishes together at the end of the race.

The first start will be at 11.00 so please be at the club in plenty of time so that you can rig and get on the water.  The race will finish at 12.30 and positions will be recorded by both the race box team and a group on the patrol boat; to make this process easier, once the finish gun has sounded please remember to hold your position on the course until it has been noted.

There will be chocolaty prizes galore so there is a very good chance that you will go home with a tasty treat!

This is an eggcellent event which is ideal for people who are new to racing so please come along and have a crack.’

Saturday 13th was a very busy day at the club.  The evening event was a very successful ‘Laser’ Quiz Night where fifty five contestants were regaled with questions about local places through to how much we should pay for our River Licence (£41.10 – I just looked it up).

A nine strong team of quiz organisers was led by Jim Green who master minded the whole evening.  The team set the questions and answers, drummed up quizzers, set up the room beforehand, and performed as table match-makers, quizmasters, scrutineers and scorers for which we owe them a huge thank you.

The winning team, ‘Canbury’, received bottles of wine as prizes.  This team included Sally and Adrian Warwick-Haller, Duncan, Clive Mence, Adela, Stewart Colley, Chris Taggart, and Donald and Cherry Forbes.

To the relief of others and resounding cheers, team ‘Shoestring’ was democratically chosen to be next year’s quizmasters!

Many thanks also go to Sophie and her team of cooks and bar staff for keeping us fed and watered.

A milder north easterly let us get a lot done with six boats on the water.

The shore based session concentrated on sail setting (half way between too far out and too far in ) using a tethered boat between the finger jetties .

On Sunday afternoon, 35 members enjoyed a presentation from the RYA’s Chris Simon about the racing rules.  The audience was made up of juniors, novice racers and seasoned regulars; everyone was able to take something from the talk and will feel that little bit more confident when they approach the start line of their next race.  Special mention must go to our juniors some of whom had enjoyed the first race of the new Topper Summer Series fleet race in the morning.  Great to see a new generation of Tamesis racers coming through’.