The morning of 6th September presented us with perfect weather for the 62nd Medway Marathon. The 26 mile course was sailed by 28 entrants with the Half Marathon welcoming 5 entries.
We are very grateful to the volunteers who manned the 7 “guard-boats” as well as three RIBs and two displacement boats.
The southerly wind resulted in the majority of the course being a reach with little opportunity for a beat apart from short distances up the creeks however this did not diminish the enthusiasm of those taking part. Indeed, it got quite gusty on occasions adding to the fun.
There were 4 starts with boats being grouped according to their RYA PY rating providing a less congested start line. The first start was the Half Marathon which was completed by the Laser in 2 hours and 30 minutes, sailed by Patrick Whitton. On corrected time the Half Marathon Trophy went to Kate Leeming in her Topper.
The 3 remaining starts all set off with a superb breeze and all boats completed the course with times between 3 hours 15 mins (a Contender) and 4 hours 30 mins (a Sonata). The overall result on corrected time was 1st: Stuart Bailey and Sophie Wantling in a Laser 2000, 2nd: Andrew Smith in his Laser 2000, 3rd: Ian Foxwell in a Wayfarer.
The race also attracted Wayfarers, Dragons, RS 200, RS Aero, Streaker, Contender, GP14, Folk boats, Alto and a Hartley Zen.
We look forward to seeing all our visitors again next year and wish you all good sailing for the rest of this season.
Philip
