South Bank Sailing Club Blog

I thoug ht you’d like to see this original Bob Jackson, capturing the 60th Anniversary Enterprise Tideway race, hosted by Southbank. Bob had a few postcards with him on Sunday, which were eagerly snapped up. We decided the figures, left to right, looked like John Parke, Allan Munro-Faure and – well, maybe whoever is hidden by the sail – you know who you are! If you’d like your own memento, ask Bob if he has any postcards left.    

  If you think the Thames can get windy, spare a thought for Southbank social guru Sally Pearce on board Juno X 34 in the Round the Island Race. Sally tells me winds were 27 knots – gusting 33 – most of the way round. Her crew got …most of the way round. Then they had an argument with Bembridge Ledge cardinal – ‘diving into it at full speed’, as Sally puts it. Having nearly lost the mast, that was Juno X 34 out of the race. Two boats sank (google ‘sinking of the alchemist’ and feel for the guys watching their boat go down). Strangely, Sally’s salutary tale only makes me want to do the Round the Island more!  

The Ruby Bell is a complicated race to get right. It is a downriver where the Race Committee decides where the buoy is to be placed and the sailors decide when they want to start, taking into account the wind patterns and the tide. Each boat has an individual start and finish time and the fastest time wins once the handicap is worked out. The 2016 Ruby Bell was even more complicated due to the fact that the tide at Putney Bridge was only turning at 1:59 pm, Andy Murray was playing on Centre Court at 2pm and France and Portugal were playing in Saint-Denis at 8pm. Given that the Race Committee consisted of two Portuguese (Rita & Miguel Ferreira), a Spaniard (Ana Guyatt) and a Scot (Richard Graham), the point was fair and clearly made that any late starters (or more importantly finishers) were not going to be well received. At exactly 12.46 and 42 seconds Allan and Steph crossed the line in an Enterprise. Given that the sailors could not leave anytime before the official time of 12:15...

Race Officer: Andrea Cox Assistant Race Officer: Caroline Tollemache Safety Boat: Stephanie Tollemache Safety Boat Assistant: Richard Tollemache The sun was out and a SW 3-4 forecast. Steph and Richard laid a course to make best use of the wind conditions, while Mike, Johnny, Elaine, Jamie and Renato took to the water in their Lasers, Allan and Amy in the Enterprise and Sara in her Solo. As the start neared, already delayed to allay the tide, the wind dropped disappointingly and the boats struggled to make it across the start line. Steph and Richard sped back to give people a helping hand while Caroline and I started the count down in the Race Office. As the group turned to cross the line for the start, Sara, Allen & Amy, and Renato led the group down towards the first buoy where the wind filled in. Fingers were crossed that there would be enough wind to sustain the full 4 laps planned. By the end of the first lap, Renato was in the lead, followed by Allan & Amy, Johnny and the...