South Bank Sailing Club Blog

Sunday morning first thing was everything an autumn day should be – blue sky, a slight mist – but not a sign of the wind we were promised on Wind Guru. I got to the club early and John was already there working on his boat and hoping for a sail but by that time, the wind had already made an appearance and John wisely decided against it.  Jane D hoping for her first sail for a while watched the wind speed rise and luckily for me opted to come in the safety boat.  Thanks Jane, not only did you remember all the things I forgot but you make a mean flask of coffee! So safety boat wise, Jane me and friend of Chris and Jan, Stephen in one and Miguel and Rita in the other.  Miguel was trying to study hard during the race for his medical exam this coming week back in Portugal.  With all the later action I’m not sure how much he would have got done… It wasn’t long before people started to arrive and the usual banter about which Laser rig to take began.  Jamie had alr...

Taking club holidays to new heights, Don Henderson, Trish Gutteridge and I, plus another friend from Cape Town have been on safari to Botswana.  No sign of a sailing boat, but definite signs of the most amazing amount of wildlife imaginable. My favorite encounter was early one morning as we set off from our tents in the Moremi Game Reserve for with our guide Charles, whose tracking skills were second-to-none.  After ten minutes driving, he swung our open safari vehicle off the track and bouncing slowly over the ground we landed up by a tree with an extremely handsome leopard sitting up in a branch.  According to Charles he had hidden his kill (most likely an impala) nearby and he had gone up the tree nearby to keep guard over it.  It was just the five of us and we sat there mesmorized for about half an hour watching this magnificent animal.  Quite an amazing experience. Sara.

This week we had sailing on the Wednesday and although it wasn’t scheduled it was  great success. Hakan a new member was introduced to the club for the first time and had a great sail even though he was unfamiliar with the intricacies of rigging the laser and within a few minutes the clew strap came apart but after sorting this out he managed to have a good sail around.  He is from Turkey and has usually sailed a 470 and is excited about the prospect of racing this Saturday either as crew or helm to learn about the river- so if there is anyone interested then please contact him. Roland came down and donned in his new drysuit which he removed from the wrappers just before sailing. He thought that as it was light wind that he might not need it but after a remarkably slow motion gybe capsize manoeuvre he is pleased to report that he is very satisfied with the purchase. Oh and enjoyed he the sailing even though it meant he had to set the alarm clock for the 9.30 start—-the joys...

Friday October 7th 2016 With a fizz stocked fridge, a 90s party mix cued up on spotify and enough canapes to feed the Koe family for an entire year the stage was set for the Website Launch Party. After getting a little carried away with the catering we soon realised that we had over spent and would have to charge people a bank breaking £3 extra. Sally was chosen to collect the money and quickly slipped into some extra tight, wet look leggings to sweeten the deal. It worked like a charm and soon her waist band was rammed full of £10 notes! An eclectic mix of guests showed up smartly dressed and we knew things were getting serious when Allan arrived sporting a red waistcoat and dicky bow – if only I could ever pull off looking that smart. The good ship “party time” rather quickly headed down the treacherous river of debauchery thanks to the free flowing Prosecco which distracted the sailors from being civilised human beings. Many a canape was gobbled and many a good conv...

   (2nd October 2016) The Thames Barrier was up for testing, so the river was more like a trickle and the current was almost non existent. Helping matters was a  positive northerly that meant we had wind down the entire stretch. The name of the game would be to complete the course without smashing into your competitors or indeed running aground! Ray and I decided to use the rare opportunity to set buoy A almost out of site towards Hammersmith Bridge, with buoy B below the Club line, the fleet rounding both to starboard. This made for a long beat leg followed by a steady dead run back. It was good to see four Enterprises in the fleet – a rarity these days; we also had Sara in the Solo and seven Lasers (full rig). http://southbanksailingclub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/20161002_140513.mp4 So after a little wading through mud to get afloat, the twelve boats smacked the start line, all keen to get the advantage of a few cheap metres plus some clean wind. And not unusually, Allan and ...

  The John Cope race is a downriver consisting of two separate races, with the combined results counting for the trophy. We had a variable weather forecast – some sun, some clouds and probably some rain. We also a strong wind of 14 knots with gusts of up to 19, and quite a strong tide that refused to turn on time.   The racers consisted of Allan and Steph (in an Enterprise), Renato and Ben (each in in a Laser), Jamie and Henry (each in a Laser Radial), and Robert and Sina in a 420. The race committee consisted of Richard, David and Will.   The first leg of the race down river started with Renato taking the lead (as you might expect), followed by Henry, Allan and Steph, Ben and Jamie, and then Robert and Sina in the 420. It was a great start and the wind remained strong. By Putney Bridge the running order had evolved. Renato in the lead (see above), followed by Jamie and Ben, Robert and Sina, Allan and Steph then Henry.   Something then happened. Renato took off, with a great gust b...

Wednesday: the new Saturday.       The sun was shining, the wind was breezy and out came a bunch of retired/freelance/truant playing sailors to take on the Thames mid week. With 7 people all eager to take out a single hander an argument quickly broke out over who was going to take which Laser. After a dangerous tournament of rock, paper, scissors Graham conceded and took out an Enterprise with James M as his crew. The rest of us (myself, James D, Roland and new member Amanda) took lasers and Dan J decided to he was ok with being the laughing stock of the river by helming the brightly coloured club Solo named “Joker”. (You can see what I did there – I thank you.) In the safety boat was Ray and David who set a simple sausage course by dropping down 2 markers with remarkable ease. (Something tells me it’s not the first time Ray has dumped a couple of bouys attached to an anchor into a river. Although that’s usually done under cover of darkness so the police say…) Where was I? Oh yes ...