We had a grey, damp, overcast day with hardly any breeze at all. A short downstream I mark and E mark upstream was set by Ian and Ben our Race Team. With a lot of stream it was difficult to stay close to and above the line. Eventually we all got away with Stuart and Immy first to the windward mark in their river Merlin. What small whispers of wind there was were coming from the north shore not the south as forecast. Then followed the two Comets, George and Brian and me with Paul and Llew and Jane with Sophie (back from the Caribbean). The Merlin crawled onwards but off Bell Hill all the others stopped, as what scant breeze there was not enough to stem the stream.
After a decent period of about ten minutes we decided to paddle a lap and Llew seemed to agree with that and kept up a permanent chatter mainly about Lego and Catamarans. George followed suit but with real oars and overtook us, the other two stayed put but eventually gave up to. So the RNLI Pennant Trophy was won by Stuart and Immy, taking nearly 50 minutes to do one lap, their resolution and top batten paying off.
Due to the restrictions and common sense we celebrated in airy conditions with delicious home made sausage rolls, mince pies. roasted nuts and mulled wine. The Commodore thanked, the duty team and all present for their support in trying conditions and presented Paul with the Perseverance Trophy. Rob and Jo proclaimed time keeping was a doddle. And then as AA Milne quoth we all went home. There are pictures of all participants on WhatsApp..
Phill