Wayfarer race report 14th September 2024
When Luna Azzurra did not get hooted at the finishing line, her helm realised why Francesco Bruni was called up instead to take on the mighty “Sir Bean” (consistent spelling error in the some of the Italian press) in Barcelona. What seemed to be initially a NABAU (not as bad as usual), the result of a cunning plan for a timed south to north drifting in the flooding tide from over the line to position in the last 20 seconds and tack, turned out to be just an OCS. Luna Azzurra helm, looking for pressure (of course), decided then to surprise the Hound and Ubique, heading for the north side and hitting a bubble of non-pressure. Meanwhile, Hound and Ubique, after a more conventional start, were making their way down river along the south shore, un-surprised. Luna Azzurra from then on simply followed, enjoying the weather, dreaming of a spritz, and taking notes for the predicted, inevitable writing of the race report. It was finally a ‘Goldilocks’ sailing day, with HW predicted at 15:43, stable Easterly F4 borderline 5, and mostly sunshine, with perhaps a couple of showers visible in the distance. The wayfarers chose course 45, a good distance race of about 10 miles going three times around 24 from start and from 29 with a stretch to MYA1, keeping well clear of the Dragons down in long reach. Many wayfarers were supporting the Dragon event in various roles and others were suffering from unseasonal colds, hence the low turnout. Ubique led most of the race, preferring the stay close to Hoo Island shore on the way to 24. The Hound, this time crewed by Wild Thing’s Pete, tended to stay more out in the tide. Luna Azzurra followed either boat, and from her position the Hound appeared to have caught up with Ubique at the last turn of 24, and to have moved into first position on the spinnaker run around Mears, as Ubique realised too late that Poseidon had sneakily tied some weed around their rudder.
Hound won. Ubique was very close, just 30 seconds behind, and Luna Azzurra glided about 8 minutes later.
Back to the club, as we approached “l’ora che volge il disio”, our hearts were softened by the sound of jazz in the dimming sunshine.
What a glorious day of sailing.
Alberto Quaglio
Race Report: A Day of Changing Winds and Constant Drama (28.09.24)
The day started with bright blue skies, and with the wind forecasted at 8-10 MPH, course 70 was selected. This route involved a couple of loops between marks 29 and 23, with marks 24 and 26 thrown in for added challenge. As the boats launched, however, the wind dropped, at times disappearing altogether, while the ebbing tide made it tough to stay above the start line. Despite these challenges, all boats were on the correct side as the race began, with Knot Rushin and Hercules Hound taking the early lead, while Ubique and Wild Thing adopted a more cautious start at the rear.
After the start, Moonshine gained ground along the north shore, closely followed by Muffin and Loose Knots, with other boats scattered across the river. As the fleet approached mark 26, the boats lined up across the water, with Knot Rushin holding the lead, Moonshine in pursuit, and Hercules Hound impressively managing both the spinnaker and main sail single-handedly in third place.
At mark 26, Really Rushin led the way, followed by Moonshine, while Loose Knots trailed slightly, heading toward Folly en route to mark 23. Meanwhile, Hercules and Muffin, taking a wider course in the middle of the river, closed the gap. After a tight rounding of the mark, Hercules Hound emerged in the lead, with Still Rushin second, Moonshine third, and the rest of the fleet—Muffin, Loose Knots, Ubique, and Wild Thing—close behind.
The beat to mark 24 was a tactical challenge, with Hercules holding the lead under pressure from Muffin and Rushin Alot. Moonshine had drifted inshore and stalled, dropping to fifth place behind Loose Knots. At mark 24, a scramble resulted in Muffin hitting the mark, allowing Hercules to extend the lead, followed by Really Rushin and Loose Knots in third. After completing penalty turns, Muffin continued to Folly, followed by Moonshine.
On the beat back to mark 29, Hercules stayed south, with Rushin Alot and Loose Knots trailing close behind. Loose Knots opted to tack toward Hoo Island, while Ubique, making steady progress, rejoined the leading group. As the fleet approached mark 29, the wind dropped again, and the tide complicated the rounding. Hercules Hound, Muffin, and Knot Rushin bunched up, with Muffin again infringing and forced to complete another set of penalty turns. Loose Knots, staying closer to shore, made good progress and passed Muffin, while Wild Thing lost ground.
The boats then ran down to mark 26, with Muffin moving into fourth place after passing mark 23 and flying the spinnaker toward Yantlet Creek. Moonshine took a similar course, closing the gap with the leaders. At mark 23, Muffin seized the lead, followed by Hercules, Loose Knots, and Moonshine, with Ubique and Wild Thing trailing.
The final beat upwind was a test of endurance and strategy. Along the shore of Hoo Island, boats engaged in a fierce tacking duel, each opting for different strategies—some short tacking, others heading further out into the river. As boats grounded at times, positions continued to shift. By the time they reached Heartbreak Reach, Ubique had fought its way into a close battle with Muffin for the lead, while Loose Knots settled into third.
In the closing stages, Ubique overtook Muffin to claim first place, with the final order of finish being: Ubique in first, followed by Muffin, Loose Knots, Hercules Hound, Moonshine, Wild Thing, and Knot Rushin.
With four different boats leading at various points and positions constantly shifting, it was an exhilarating race for all. Regardless of finishing position, everyone agreed it was one of the best races on the river.
Mark Penny
Race report for 5th October.
We had 6 players ready to do battle, the wind was a southerly F3, with HW at 15.00hrs.
So we decided to do course 72.
Ubique, Moonshine, Muffin all started on the north shore, with H. Hound not far behind, La Rive & Black Jack chose the middle of the river before coming over to the trots.
There was some close covering going up through the moorings, unfortunately the wind decided to swing round to the SE, so we didn’t get much tacking done.
The course took us to buoys 30, 26, 27, 24, mya1, 24, mya1, 26, 27 & 30, there wasn’t much changes in the pecking order as we came round 30, Muffin led the way, followed by Moonshine, Ubique, H.H, L.R & B.J.
Everyone was waiting for someone to make a mistake, as there wasn’t much opportunity to change places.
It wasn’t until we started coming back up Heartbreak reach, Muffin & Moonshine were battling for 1st, Ubique was covering HH on the South shore to make sure of 3rd, BJ & LR were having their own little battle down the middle to north side of the river and going alot faster than the boats on the southside.
Luckily for Ubique, they just managed to beat BJ by several seconds!!
The finishing order was Muffin, Moonshine, Ubique, Black Jack, H. Hound & La Rive.
All in all it was a pretty enjoyable day.
Chris Parish
Race report for Saturday 12th October.
(For 4th time of asking this season, God I hate doing these☹️)
That was the easy bit 😁.
We had 6 eager Wayfarer’s ready to do battle again, myself in Ubique (with yet another different crew), Moonshine, Hercules Hound, Knot Rushing, Wild Thing & Black Jack.
The wind was F3-4 from SSW, so course 60 was chosen, which was the furthest we have been this season, all the way to buoys 20 & Autumn.
Everyone had a clear start, (no OCS this time). Everyone going straight down the middle using the ebbing tide.
Ubique managed to get in front of the chasing pack, which we held comfortably until buoy 26, closely followed by H.H., Moonshine, K.R., W.T. & B.J.
Then it was a lovely spinnaker leg down to 23, (I think the positions remained the same), then a beat back to 24, some boats decided to keep to the outside of the river, while others were in the middle, it certainly paid to go on the shifts as Moonshine & H.H. managed to just get round 24 before Ubique. As for the other boats I don’t know (sorry!).
We then had another spinnaker leg all the way to Autumn, via 23 & 20, H.H. went over to Hoo Island, while Moonshine, Ubique & the rest of the fleet took a more direct approach to 23, Moonshine rounded 1st followed by Ubique on port, (who had to gybe very quickly), as H.H. was on starboard coming in fast. Unfortunately, Ubique lost control of the spinnaker and had to drop, which let H.H. through, by the time we got everything under control again, we had dropped back significantly ☹️.
After Autumn it was the long slog back to 26 & 30, Moonshine managed to hold on to their lead, but H.H. was breathing down their necks all the way to the line, followed by Ubique, K.R., W.T. & B.J.
Point of note, from 1st to last place, there was only about 4mins at the end.
Also, somewhere along the course, a little birdy tells me K.R. had a close encounter with a navigation buoy, I hope they did the appropriate penalty.
Here ends this lesson. 🍺🍺🍺
Chris Parish