South Bank Sailing Club Blog

We’re in lockdown, and we can’t sail.  …Or can we?

Jakob caught the action round the buoys in this video (remember when we could sail?!) Watch the video here.    

Goodwin 3, Sunday 8th February 2020. With the wind from the SW and the air sparkling in occasional sunshine, four Lasers & two Solos took to the water on Saturday afternoon last.  Bunched at the start, all boats remained close until stretching out at the second buoy – the gaps would continue to grow throughout the race. A three-buoy course had been laid, with buoys B & C on the Fulham bank.  It was the type of course that could penalise sailors who, for whatever reason, lost time in rounding the marks.  Both Renato on the first lap & Sara (later on) found themselves slipping back in the field, with a challenge to recover lost ground.  Not so Jakob, Henry & Allan who all gradually extended the gap back to the others.  Henry led briefly, but, for most of the race, Jakob was in the lead.  The first lap had taken a little over ten minutes, so the race was lengthened by one lap, from five to six.  The wind freshened during the final 12-15 minutes of the race.  Another l...

Sunday 29th December 2019 – Downriver race. As Ratty said to Mole, “Believe me, my young friend, there is  nothing –absolutely nothing –half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”  And on a bright and warm Putney morning with a stunning river ahead of us, I couldn’t agree more.  Further on in the masterpiece that is Wind in the Willows, an often overlooked passage also came to mind, not verbatim I must admit but certainly enough to reflect upon (I will get to the race report in a minute…) There, sooner or later, the ships of all seafaring nations arrive; and there, at its destined hour, the ship of my choice will let go its anchor. I shall take my time, I shall tarry and bide, till at last the right one lies waiting for me, warped out into midstream, loaded low, her bowsprit pointing down harbour. I shall slip on board, by boat or along hawser; and then one morning I shall wake to the song and tramp of the sailors, the clink of the capstan, and the rattle of the an...

RACE REPORT In the race box:  Joseph Cabon & Elaine Agius In the safety boat: Jen Black & Sara Bennett SBSC sailors shared the river with the rowing club next door, who were having a series of short races, with rowers dressed in Christmas costume. There was really good wind from the west; 11-14 mph with occasional gusts of up to 31 mph.  An elongated triangle course was laid with (in theory) two long reaches & a short run.  Originally six laps long, the race was reduced to four after the first lap. Ben & Sina in the Albacore led virtually from the start, remaining in front on the water throughout. Close behind, & seemingly tied to them with short elastic, was Renato in a Laser radial.  The elastic snapped on the third lap when Renato lost ground tacking to avoid the football club no-go area, and from then on there was a bigger gap between Ben & Sina and Renato.  Allan was third on the water all the way.  Further back there was another short elastic – this t...

Sunday 20th October 2019 The Campbell Downriver originally looked like there was going to be no wind. Then it looked like there was going to be too much wind. But on the day we had perfect sailing conditions, even if a wee bit chilly for those unfortunate enough to find themselves in safety boats. We had a fleet of six single handlers. Renato (In a Laser of course), Sally (in a Laser of course), Jakob (in a Laser continuing to confuse towpath-ers that an Estonian 2012 Olympic sailor was on the loose), Sara and Allan each in their own Solos and finally Chris  in a delightfully looking Streaker (ignorance had me check this was the correct name for a boat…). For the race team and safety boats, we had the splendid support of Ollie Bennett, David Barton-Grimley, Amy Swash and myself (Richard Graham). As my downriver tide predicting history isn’t without a blemish, we made sure the boats were off within a safe period of time from the ‘on the water’ deadline. This is one of the most difficult...

Sunday 27th October It was a beautiful, bright and cool day at Putney reach for this year’s Bernard Driver trophy race, which attracted a healthy nine boats. To fit with the event’s ethos of providing a slightly more challenging race, a ten lap course was set (laps to be reduced if needed) with a view to ensuring 90 minutes or so of racing. The breeze was from a good direction (NW) for a local race on the rising tide, but light at first, so we went for a simple sausage course along the Fulham side of the river. Ben and Sina in the Albacore had an excellent start, getting a number of boat lengths ahead almost immediately. The first lap was overall slow but after the first mark the fleet made its way steadily back against the tide from the Crabtree direction. The Albacore was still just ahead at the end of lap 1 with Allan very close behind in his Solo. Almost twenty minutes had passed since the start, and with a post race lunch planned it seemed a dramatic shortening of the race would b...