Sail Chat - 12th October

A sunny day, a gentle easterly wind enough to propel the afternoon series dinghies around the I to E course and no danger of mishap. The Morning Handicap broke new territory by fielding no boats at all. However all was not lost as Phil Dalby decided to go full RYA with Topper training. Sammy, Charlie and Olivia the Younger, were taught how to rig a Topper (which is an art in itself in my opinion), and following some manoeuvres (on land), took all three of them to the river. Ever resourceful, Phil zoomed about in Benn 1 setting various marks for the youngsters to negotiate. The afternoon series race was notable in as much as every boat bar one came first. For those unfamiliar with crosswords, it means the list below was everybody by class.

Laser - Roger Ward

Enterprise - Ian and Suzie Peerless

GP - Kevin Anderson and James Moirano (First)

GP - John Hollands and Sue Morley. (Second)

Merlin- Andrew Mills (Solo)

They all started together at 14.50, and the course was shortened in lap 5.

So, a curious day in many respects. However we enjoyed uneventful timekeeping by Maddy and Angela, ADO by Phill Chambers, Tea & Cakes by Amelia with appearances by Maddy and Suzie behind the counter, Bar manned by Colin and Ian flush from his victory as being the leader on the water all afternoon. Lastly I was the DO which didn't help, but I managed not to break anything.

DG

Last updated 9:02pm on 15 October 2025