Sail Chat - 15th September
Portents were good for sailing at the club on Sunday, with a decent wind from the South West at around 6 knots plus gusts. In fact in the AM it was briefly squally such that my boat managed to pull the rope tie down out of its seat and Swindon headed for Middlesex. The problem was I was still in her and hadn't noticed until it was too late to avoid the gnarly fig tree which held me in its grip. Fortunately Richard Parslow came to my assistance and pulled me out, and fortunately my painter was equal to the boat length and finally he lofted a postponement flag. Modesty forbids me to mention who came first in the AM Handicap (E to H) except to say Tim Herbert Smith came second by only 20 seconds or so.
It is a sight to behold eight Versas on the pontoon all lined up in chevron military fashion ready for a contest. Apparently another family wants a Comet. Well they went to the right person in George who has some form of Comet radar that detects them lying about random dinghy parks.
Post lunch the course was extended to E I for the GPs Derek & Mary plus Emily & Rob Bunner. Derek retired for 'technical' reasons leaving Emily and Rob to take the honours. Paul Wenneker and Sarah in a club boat completed the field in the GP fleet. The other Rob, R. Heath took Nicola for a spin in Ella (E H) and did what Merlins do, just going faster than everybody.
Meanwhile I was busy trying to keep up with Phil Dalby and Sammy in the Handicap at the time. I kept up for a bit or at least at javelin throwing distance for about three laps before it meant better sense to turn my attention to Tim Herbert Smith who was relentlessly hunting me down. Swindon arrived ahead at the finishing line, just. James Warren and a v. small person took to the water in his Comet but might not have finished. With the Enterprise fleet or most of it in Greece, the blue sails were missing this time.
The workers were Richard Parslow DO on his own, (but he got help as required) Maureen Dance on Time Keeping , Peter Baldwin on Bar and Sereta on Cakes. We always owe the workers our fullest gratitude.
DG
Last updated 2:46pm on 21 January 2025