South Bank Sailing Club Blog

In the race box:      Joseph Cabon and Elena Balycheva In the safety boat: John Parke and George Gaynor The wind played one of its favourite jokes on us.  As the Solo, eight Lasers and two Enterprises took to the water on Sunday afternoon, the wind fell from an ever-present 11-20 mph to approx. 4-7 mph, broadly from the east.  This, coupled with a strong tide, resulted in a slow start to the race when a fast one had been anticipated.  The west bank was the one to be on, and those boats in the middle or the east bank took a long while to round the first buoy.  Renato rounded first and never lost his lead.  With the wind behind them, it was a fast run to the second buoy for all boats.  At which point the field compressed again, contending with strong tide and relatively light wind on the return legs. Renato completed the first lap in a little over 30 minutes.  The next boat was some ten minutes behind.  The decision was made to shorten the race to three laps, and it was again shortened t...

– Race Officers: Sally Pearce – Safety Boat : Dan Johnson and David Joo With a very variable weather report that had been threatening gale force winds and storms not unsurprisingly we had a minimal turnout for Sundays race. So few in fact that we at one point through we were going to have double the amount of safety cover than sailors. The great stalwart Steph and all the way from China the sadly missed Tom Glockner back to brave the Putney waters. Luckily Renato and Olga turned up and Renato selflessly offered to look after the kids to let Olga have a sail. The safety team made the decision that with so few sailors all of which were experienced we could reduce the safety boats to one and Richard Graham (safety boatman 4 ) would sail as well. With 4 boats we now had a race! Then the heavens opened. Race 1: All got off to a good start, but quickly Steph pulled away from the pack creating quite a gap. Tom pulled away as well and Olga and Richard were battling it out for 3rd pl...

Race Officers: John Parke and Emma Koe Safety Boat: Peter Mack and Dom Polizic Even after a prompt briefing helms dallied about so that at the 5min bell 2/3 of them were still on the bank and of course a rowing centre pair chose that moment to go through their fiddling launch across the ramp. We could not see this behind the sails lined up in front of the office and when the 5min bell was rung Stephanie led a protest revolt, which seemed to the elderly and infirm RO to threaten defenestration, pointing out that the ramp was blocked. So a 10min postponement was grudgingly granted. With a SEer blowing straight up the river, right on the nose against the tide, it was always going to be a difficult day so a simple course had been set up and down the Fulham bank. Sure enough many helms struggled to reach the start line. Even Sara, who crossed the line at speed on the windward bank was carried back when the wind dropped and like many of the lasers had to paddle frantically to gain the start ...

Race Officers: Ryan Fuller and Kate Paterson Safety Boat: Andrew Tasker and Ollie Bennett What a stunning day for sailing, the sun was shining and with a gusting 20-knot wind it could be the best SBSC day yet. The start time set at high water and a solid Westerly gave us the opportunity for a long course. A two buoy gate just short of the pier near Hammersmith Bridge and a single buoy beyond the start line opposite the Craven Cottage the course was set. Eleven boats lined up; yet George took a short trip down the course. Which I am sure was planned and just his way of checking the conditions. He managed to gain a useful tow from Andrew & Olly in the safety boat and crossed the line with just minutes to spare. Everything was set for an epic race. Five Four One Go. A couple of boats were super keen and found themselves below the start as the wind shifted around. They all honoured their status by crossing the right side of the line before using the full force of the tide to catch up t...

Race Officers: Carla Canturri Safety Boat: Sara Bennett and Ray Burnet It was an early start of a summery day: moderately high temperatures and a light breeze. The course was set to a boring sausage between two buoys, despite the cries for a more spiced up course… One buoy was laid near “do you see that white building over there, where there is a puff of wind” and another at the Crabtree. Sara and Ray (thanks for volunteering with such short notice) were manning the safety boat and keeping the fleet safe. The start was delayed as many boats were struggling to keep up with the tide. Remember that you are allowed to paddle or to start from the beach as some boats did, next time the RO may not be as nice as ME and will start the race… One Supernova, four full Lasers, three Laser radials, one Albacore and one Topaz took the water. In the meantime in the race box, the RO was left in charge of a nervous little dog, an agreement was reached and she was able to stay out in the balcony if she p...

* Race Officers: John Parke and Jesse White * Safety Boat: Peter Mack and Dom Pizolic The sun shone and the wind was easy, 2-3 N with a bit of E and pretty steady, but most of our keen sailors were in Turkey. The RO opened up waited. It was an opportunity to try and impose his will on the fence defence roses, now coming into flower and looking lovely. At a cost of some blood and tears (in his gloves) branches were pulled down and wired across the gaps. One by one bodies materialised including the two safety boat crew and No. 2 RO. It was going to be just like the old days (very old) two in the office, two in the safety boat and four sailors. The course was debated, how many laps? The Most Important Sailor suggested that if a buoy was laid above the start line so that the race finished up-stream we could finish when convenient, there would be wind to round it, if it was laid well out from the Fulham bank. So we waited to launch for rowers to clear the ramp. Then with two Lasers in the w...

– In the Race Box: Joseph Cabon, Kate Paterson – On the Safety Boat: David Fletcher, Matthew Richardson A three-buoy course was laid that, if the wind had been from the south as forecasted, would have given a long run followed by a long beat back and a short reach. But at the beginning of the race the wind was more SW. So the ten boats started with more of a reach. Renato, Sally and Allan all made excellently-timed starts, closely followed by Stephanie and Tara. Heading back to the clubhouse, Allan hugged the eastern bank and gained a good lead. The chasing Lasers made a fine sight as they beat against the wind and tide, with Tara, Renato, Stephanie and Sally in close contest. After a slow start Carla and Ollie had caught up and were now among the pack. Allan started the second lap in a strong first place, with Tara in second, Renato third then Stephanie. Renato overtook Tara during the second lap and set about shortening Allan’s long lead. The first lap had taken approximat...

– In the Race Box: Emma Koe and Mark Fossick – On the Safety Boat: Hugh Spalding and Lydia Tapping Sunday 3rd of May was first race of the summer season and a few days before the general election. It was a bright spring day, although the prospect of the UK being run by communists hung over us all like dark, brooding storm clouds on the horizon. Cue puns about floating voters, racing towards Westminster, low turn-out etc. The race was a round-the-buoys race with wind coming from the South-west and a very strong ebb tide that would decrease as the race progressed. This means that judging when to tack to pass the upriver buoy would be difficult. Also, sailors had to decide whether to tack down-river or try to close-haul along the river-wall as far as possible. On the safety boat, Hugh placed a three buoy course with one buoy near the tall trees, however the wind kept dropping and he decided to remove this tricky buoy and stick to a sausage shaped course, laid out diagonally acr...