A lovely looking morning welcomed twenty boats to the club but a shifty breeze made everyone work for their post-race refreshments.

The resurgent Laser fleet fielded a dozen boats and witnessed some classic river sailing.  Marcus Chevasse blitzed the start and never looked back, winning by a handsome margin and leaving many of the regular fleet wondering.

Behind him however, the rest of the fleet demonstrated just why river sailing is so addictive, or frustrating depending on your point of view.

The lead pack that had developed in Marcus’s wake had pulled out a very significant lead over the remaining field and looked certain to pick up the remaining places at the head of affairs.

This feeling of contentment and the expectation of a job well done diminished as the group of front-runners found itself struggling to round the Canbury mark for the final time.

Meanwhile, all of the remaining competitors, along with Henry Medcalf in the lone Topper, were swept up the river from Lensbury and recovered almost a leg’s worth of distance.

Suddenly the whole fleet was together and jostling to be break free from a raft of boats and cross the finish line.  This situation resulted in several canny sailors, notably Stewart Colley among others, moving from a lowly position to an elevated one.  And others making the corresponding journey from the front of the stalls to the cheap seats.

Emerging from this developing lottery, Alden Horwitz maintained his front running position by taking second place, very closely followed by Harry Harris, Neville Upton, and Stewart Colley.

The race was a credit to all sailors and shows the great potential in the Tamesis Club Laser fleet, especially as there are many other helms who may be tempted to join in the fun swelling numbers further.

By comparison, the five Merlins enjoyed a pretty uneventful outing.  Richard and Maddie Harris again took the win with Charlie Morgan and Amanda finally overcoming the fast-starting Ken Duffel and Matthew Valentine for second.

Thanks as ever to the volunteers without whom the racers could not have raced.  Simon Thompson in the box, Carolyne Vine and Johannes Wagner on Flags and Foreshore, and Barbara and Martin Adams in the Patrol Boat.  Also, to Nicky Johnson and Carolyne for running the Veranda Bar which continues to be a most welcome feature of the club’s ‘new normal’.

Seven Lasers, eight Merlins and a Topper enjoyed a dogleg course and a variable westerly.

Jim Hamilton was a comfortable winner in the Lasers, while Richard and Maddie Harris stayed ahead of Matt and Arthur P-J in the Merlins.

The Veranda Bar was open again and provided well-deserved libations to all competitors, many of whom stayed at the club for a picnic or socially-distanced chat long after the buoys had been put away.

Thanks as ever to the volunteers who make racing possible.  This week they were Rupert Fletcher (OOD), Sue Harris (Box Assistant), Paul and Sara Jamieson (Patrol Boat), and Byron Hoo (Foreshore Manager).  Also to Nicky Johnson and Carolyne Vines for running the bar, and to Carolyne for all of the photos.

The July virtual racing series were both run on Thursday evenings.  A select group of skippers pitting their experience against each other in Stars and then Formula 18s.  In the certainty of employing a poor pun, one could say it was clear that two stars had discovered the winning formula.

Andrew Harris carried off the Stars series with a perfect six points and Jodok Gerber did the same in the Formula 18s.  Tom Low and Jodok Gerber took second and third in the Stars with Tom Low again second in the Formula 18s, on this occasion followed by Richard Harris.  Well done to Andrew and Jodok on their victories, to the other podium finishers and to all the competitors who made these series so hard-fought.  It feels like the fleet has come a long way from those early trial races in April.

The full results are below.

Virtual racing is now on a summer break so it seems like a good time to look back on the last four months and try and answer the question ‘who was the best skipper’?

As with many questions of this vagueness, the answer is determined by the tightening of definitions, in this case of the word ‘best’.

Supported in part by our in-house, GCSE Statistics-qualified, Head of Numbers Henry Medcalf, here are some definitions and the resulting answers.

If we look across the 13 truly ‘Open’ series and assume that a skipper needs to have completed at least seven to qualify, we find that Jodok Gerber is the best with an average of 1.71.

Taking the group of diehards who qualified in all 13 series, then Richard Harris emerges at the head of affairs with an average of 3.62 across all events.

Did ‘Experience’ or ‘Youth’ win most series?  Experience won eight, Youth won five.  It is very noticeable that Experience upped its win rate as the months passed, although it could also be the case that Youth had exams to focus on and found better uses for its time as the weather improved.

Does the speed of the boat make a difference?  In the fast boats (i.e. F50s, F18s and 49ers), taking all four series in to account, Richard Harris was narrowly the champion.  The winner in the slower craft (i.e. Stars, J70s and Offshore Racers) was also Richard Harris, again winning by a tiny percentage, in this case from his brother

The Pot Luck Pot sought to answer the question of who was the best all-rounder in three series run using a random selection of boats.  The outstanding skipper was Tom Low.

Many skippers improved over the course of the racing.  The numbers suggest that, if the first half of the season (six races, three to count) is compared to the second half (seven races, four to count) Joe Woods was the most improved skipper.

While the analysis above highlights individual achievements, it is fair to say that, as is the case in real sailing, everyone found someone to compete against and there were many personal rivalries, victories and reverses along the way.

The first season of virtual racing attracted more than 45 club members and created a compelling and engaging esprit de corps at a time when people could have lost touch with each other.

Tamesis Club’s enjoyment of a competition and a laugh with friends won through, and this is something that makes everyone who took part a winner whatever the statistics say about how they finished each race.

Thank you to those who took part, Jodok Gerber for facilitating the Zoom calls, and Henry and Ed Medcalf for helping their father understand the technology.

Unseasonably dreich weather greeted almost 20 boats as the club ran an expanded Sunday morning racing program comprising fleet racing for Lasers and Merlin Rockets, with the addition of a combined Topper and Handicap start.

Given the essentially northerly wind, OOD Peter Fryer opted for a simple port-handed up/down course.

A handful of Lasers started proceedings with Tom Low taking charge and leading from gun to gun.  Behind him, Kaan Yargici and Jim Hamilton swapped places for a few laps with Kaan taking second place in the final reckoning.

The new Topper and Handicap fleet had a select but enthusiastic turn out.  David and Deb Baker crewed their Albacore to a handsome win with the young guns of Matty Key and Henry Medcalf dueling for the remaining places in their Toppers.  Matty won out comfortably but a return match has been agreed.

A field of 10 Merlin Rockets came under starter’s orders.  Team Impey’s ‘Warhorse’, keen to canter with her stablemates, was an early faller while transitioning between the parade ring and the race track.  Nothing that shedding a few buckets of water couldn’t fix however, and she was soon right side up, jostling for position on the line.

The windward mark saw team Harris (‘Passing Cloud’) take the lead followed by team P-J (‘Masquerade’) and team Medcalf (‘Samanda’).  Team Mason (‘Bambusa’) overhauled the Medcalfs on the second lap.

The downwind leg highlighted those crews who are still too diminutive to handle a spinnaker pole.  It is expected that many will be receiving some paternal instruction in this dark art so that speed is maximised for the next up/down course.

At the line, Richard Harris took a comfortable win with the next three boats evenly socially distanced in the order that was established earlier in the race.  There had been some tussles further down the fleet with team McLaughlin (‘Tosca’) emerging best of the rest.

As ever, many thanks to the volunteers without whom the racing would not happen,  Peter and Pauline Fryer in the box, Andrew and Alden Horwitz in the patrol boat, Florian Kruger managing the foreshore traffic, and Nicky Johnson for running the pop up ‘Verandah Bar’.

This week’s pictures were provided by Carolyne Vines and Jonathan Key, thanks to both!

The Teddington Riviera turned on the sunshine this morning as the club put another toe in the water of a return to fleet racing.

In contrast to the boisterous wind of a fortnight ago, the breeze was gentle but still enough to enable some close racing to be enjoyed.

Although some had been put off by the forecast lack of wind, five Lasers took on a dogleg course and there was some exciting competition in the mid-fleet.  Constantin Gerber took the gun, while Ros Warwick-Haller pipped Jim Hamilton for second by the narrowest of margins.  Graham King was a close fourth and Barnaby Jullien persevered for fifth.

The Merlin Rockets were already on the water before the Lasers, marshaled by the Commodore, returned to the land.

Eight crews competed, all benefiting from a combination of youth exuberance and experience.  Some were shaking off the effects of the enforced absence from racing and it took a little for the fleet to find its rhythm.

Richard Harris, as often happens, took a commanding lead with the Masons and Medcalfs managing to also put some distance in to the rest of the fleet; the final one, two, three being decided by mid-race.

The next four boats, representing the teams of P-J. Duffel, McLaughlin and Baker all came home within the space of a minute and had enjoyed some close action in the closing stages.  It was also great to see Team Tugendhat on the water giving their boat a run.

Thank you as ever to the volunteers, Carolyne Vines and Henry Defries running the box, Chris Pollard patrolling the foreshore, Daniel and Kathrin Gerber in the patrol boat and for the photos, and Andrew and Debora Horwitz for ensuring that the club’s grounds and facilities are compliant.

A keen baker’s dozen of skippers joined the first set of races in July’s Thursday evening series.  Six races were sailed, three in Stars and three in F18s.

In the Stars, both Harris brothers and Tom Low shared the bullets with the remaining podium places shared among a number of boats.

The high speed F18s again saw Richard Harris prevail, this time in two races with Jodok Gerber taking the third.

The standings after the very early stages of these competitions are shown below: