It may have been labelled Commodores 5 but it was only the 2nd, and the last, for this year. The previous one was back on the 15th of September. Martin Jones won that very convincingly and I came 2nd. So this time I had to beat him if I wanted the trophy.



The Commodores Race is normally held on a rising tide so that the backmarkers get back to the club even if the wind dies. It is supposed to be a race rather longer than ordinary series racing and being only an hour or two before high tide this gives plenty of scope for some interesting courses. The Commodores is also one of the rare events when the slower fleets and the Fast Fleet all compete together and just to make that fair the faster boats leave a half-hour after the slower ones so that by and large all boats are sailing in the same conditions. For those that don’t want such a long race, there is also the Bosuns Race which is run concurrently.



I don’t know what happened this time but low tide was about 13:30 so we were starting on a falling tide and would be beating back against the last of the tide. Low tide means a rather restricted area of water to race in and so basically we were going down the river and than coming back up again. We went as far as 17 and 18 which is halfway down Long Reach which is east of the power station. Of course, the power station no longer exists but the massive jetty is still there.



The wind was from the North West and that means the club is tucked out of the wind under the hill and it was a beautiful sunny day. There was enough wind to really get the Blaze really going in the gust but nothing unmanageable. Perfect you could say but in truth a bit gusty near the club.



There were 5 Blazes out and it was lovely to see Martin capsise in the last minute before the start. I had decided I was going to do my damndest to muck Martin up as much as possible and so it was with a chuckle that I saw him in trouble. Sorry about that Martin but all is fair in love and war. He was quickly up and running though and only just behind and he took a deep leeward route presumably to avoid the lulls caused by the flats on St Mary’s Island. Being in the lead I couldn’t risk that because I didn’t want anybody coming over the top of me on this almost dead run down towards Gillingham. It wasn’t an option anyway because Phil Cope was only a couple of boat lengths to leeward and being lighter than me always a threat at taking my wind.



By the time we got to 29 we were all together. I think John Goudie took the most direct route down Gillingham Reach to 25 which took him out of the tide, Martin took the main channel which kept him in the tide. I compromised and Andy Gibbs played the gust more and got into the lead. When I say played the gusts - he bore away more in the gusts and headed up more in the lulls - this kept him on the plane more but also took him into the shallows and hence out of the tide. It worked for him but it wasn’t very easy to determine what was best because we had a couple of big cruisers going downwind too and they seemed more intent on their gin and tonics than what they were doing to our wind, so most of us suffered blanketing by them at some point or other.



So I think it was Andy Gibbs first around 25 followed by Martin Jones and myself and John Goudie. Phil had dropped back a bit. It was a fetch to 23 I can’t remember who was first around 23 but some chose to bear away and go onto a run, others myself included, gybed here but I soon gybed back as the tide was not as strong as I anticipated. I’m sure Andy was in the lead but as he approached 22 one of the cruisers mentioned before just stubbornly held his course which made it very difficult for Andy to bear away enough to get around 22. I think he did just dive under the bow of the cruiser but that caused a gybe or something, and before I knew it he was recovering and John Goudie and I were past him. That, of course, let Martin escape and I had to contend with John who was mucking me up, probably not realising my focus was Martin and of course John’s focus was me.

By the time we got to the bottom of the course (there were a few gybe marks on the way) John and I were still neck and neck and Martin had built a lead of a couple of hundred metres (maybe more).

Now I felt it was possible I could get back to Martin. John’s boat goes well to windward but I had rounded the leeward mark (18) just ahead and been at pains to make it a good rounding so that John would have to sail in my dirty wind or tack away. I was pointing a little higher than Martin too so I was lee-bowing the tide which although not going faster him I was lifting up on him. I laid Autumn (as we call this small can of a buoy) and yet both John and Martin had to tack for it. That was nice because that cut Martin’s lead in half and put John a 100m behind.



The next leg was a long planing reach to 26. Martin didn’t lose anything on that leg but John planed right up and in front of me. I luffed and then bore away on a nice gust and got back ahead. Then it was a beat up Gillingham Reach again I managed to lee-bow the tide and worked up to windward of Martin’s course. John tacked across to the shallows and then tacked back onto starboard. I was concerned that this might give him the edge, so eventually, I too had to tack and defend my position. I tacked back onto starboard only a boat length and to windward of John, that must have irritated him but I still wanted to catch Martin.



Approaching Hoo Ness which is a corner with a lot of tidal flow around it, I for a moment thought I’d caught Martin but he came across and tacked in the shallows with a 50m lead. My tacking was getting a bit ragged by now (we’d been racing for about 2 hours) so I was tiring. I was also trying to catch Martin and defend from John, two things at once. Thankfully John’s tacking was getting ragged too and he capsised. Martin was intent on avoiding the tide, I realised the tide had diminished to almost nothing so switched to tacking on the shifts and I was getting closer. Somehow I could tell Martin was getting nervous.



It was very shifty now with gusts tumbling down from the hill to the north not to mention some flat spots due to the buildings on St Mary’s Island. I wasn’t going to catch Martin but it was going to be close and then in a lull the boat fell over on top of me. It took me ages to get the boat upright, I was tired, I was on the wrong side of the boat and when I swam around to the centreboard it came up and right over on top of me again. It was hell and made all the worst by each successive Blaze sailing past and asking if I was OK. Even one of the Streakers who had started with us came past to check I was OK. Yes, I was OK, eventually. I haven’t seen the results but I was certainly last of the 5 Blazes and on handicap beaten by a well-sailed Streaker. Well done Martin, I’m glad I kept you honest, you certainly had to work for it, but not the result I was striving for.

Commodores 13th September 2020

What a lovely sunny day and there was enough wind. It was a falling tide all day which is not ideal for a Commodores but at least it was neaps so the flow wasn't that great. The wind was warm and from the SW, chopped up as usual by the buildings on St Mary's Island and the wind is not that good on Gillingham Reach because of the student accommodation in Chatham. Talking of courses it basically took us down river to Autumn, a beat to 22, then MYA1, a fetch to 24 and then back down to 23 and home via 28 and 31.

I just can't tell you what the rest of the fleet were doing – I can only concentrate on the Blazes. I had a disaster at the start when a strap on my buoyancy aid broke and I realised one of the pins was not inserted on my racks. A last minute dash to the shore was required and as the fleet started I started my beat back up tide to the start line. That gave all the Blazes a good head start and it looked like Martin Jones took a small lead. By Gillingham Reach the 4 leading Blazes were all going a bit high on the broad reach to 25. I sailed a more direct course and made up about 100m. I made up another 100m down to Darnet Fort but once we gybed for Autumn nothing changed. I noticed Anna was in our race in the Streaker. /"Good on her/" was my thought, we need more of that sort of spirit.

At Autumn everybody except John Goudie sailed on starboard to the shallows downstream from the fort. Then we beat up the shallows towards 22. John joined us just behind me and we tried to catch Phil Cope. No such luck we both ran aground and Phil stayed well ahead. However on the route to MYA1 he sagged off with the tide and then on the beat we got past. I ran heavily aground trying to avoid the tide on Pinup Reach and John followed but didn't get stuck as firm as I was.

I can't remember how but on the final beat along Gillingham Reach to 28 it was Andy Gibbs, John Goudie and myself. I'm not sure what happened to Andy but by 28 it was neck and neck between John and myself. Fortunately, John rolled in backwards in a lull and I crossed the line ahead and in 2nd place. The others were not far behind but Martin Jones was ashore and it looked like he had changed, so that is a measure of how far ahead he was. Overall the first 2 Blazes were the first 2 boats when the handicaps were calculated. Not a bad result.

Commodores 18 Aug 2019

Windy for some I imagine but for the Blazes that was just right. Plenty of wind for the runs and the boat feeling really powerful upwind. That’s what it was like for the majority of the course but upwind from around 28 and back to the club it was a bit lighter and as always these days, full of holes. I enjoyed it anyway and so thanks go to the safety boats and race officials who organised it. I must mention the course was good and the duration of about 2 hours getting on for the sort of length these races should be. Having said that Richard Smith in his Musto managed it in just an hour and a half.The course was 28p 23s Autumns 22p MYC4s 29s 19p 22s MYA1p 25s H1p 28s 31p and finish. A distance of 12 miles. I have drawn the course on Google Earth and there’s a picture of it if you look on the website under “Events” on the Home page and drill down to Commodores/documents. Sadly there were only 7 competitors and 4 of them were Blazes. As always I can only describe what I saw and I was only looking at other Blazes. Stuart Bailey (756) only got on the water about 30 seconds before the start. I had a good start and tried to keep out of the incoming tide by sailing down the trots the others just went for a direct route. We all arrived at 28 as a bunch, Chris Saunders (778) just ahead by a boat length. I let Stuart get an inside overlap as I didn’t want to be forced to gybe and John Goudie (647) was just behind me. John Goudie went for a swim as we all gybed to get over to the Hoo Island side on our run to Folly Point and then the broad reach to 23. I fancy for a moment I was in the lead but we were so evenly matched on the run to Folly it didn’t really count as a lead.By 23 I was just a few boat lengths behind but we diverged, all taking different routes downwind to Autumn. Stuart got there first, then Chris and then myself as we hardened up for the beat to 22. By 22 Chris had caught Stuart and then we started the long run to MYC4s. This was long because we were bucking the incoming tide but we had enough wind to surf and plane. I had no idea where John Goudie was, just a long way back. I tried really hard to make ground on this leg and that means taking a bit more risk which seemed to be working until I rolled into windward. Unfortunately, a roll into windward means a messy capsize and it took a long time for me to get the boat upright but I did and John Goudie was ahead. On the longish beat to 20 I was back up with him and on the beat to 22 and the reach to MYA1, we stayed close. From MYA1 to 25 I pulled away. From 25 to H1 was a run but I couldn’t see the buoy (its a very small one) and so I went to high searching for it and once spotted I had to bear away onto a deep run this brought John back onto my tail but the long beat to Folly and then up Gillingham Reach to 28 got me well out ahead of him. At the finish Chris was miles ahead (20 minutes), Stuart almost 10 and I was 5 minutes ahead of John. So what started as close racing became quite spaced out. The 3 Fast handicap boats which started 30 minutes after us but did the same course came 1st, 3rd and 4th with Chris in 2nd. So Stuart was 5th, myself 6th and John Goudie 7th. Those that did the Bosuns Race, again only about 7 boats, their results are also published on the website but I haven’t even an inkling of their course.

Commodores No 3.

The forecast was for light winds, but a nice F2 to F3 arrived, from the south. This is generally a good direction for the Blaze, although the wind shadow from Gillingham and St Mary’s Island makes conditions a little awkward at the club end of the course.There were 5 medium fleet boats (3 Blazes, a V3000 and a RS100) and 5 fast fleet boats (4 Musto Skiffs and an Alto). The medium fleet started at 13.30, the fast fleet about 30 mins later.I was a little late launching in Blaze 756, but I managed to arrive at the line just as the start gun went, which was fortunate and only possible due to the help of Steve Tinnans’s whilst launching! Chris (Blaze 778) was first off the line, followed by the rest of us who kept to the north shore in order to progress against the incoming tide. It was a tricky beat to buoy 30 in very shifty conditions, Chris making the most of it to round 30 first followed by me, the V3000 (Martin & Ben), Blaze 617 (David) & RS100 (Richard).It was a fetch from 30 to 24 so all about who could get the most speed. Chris managed to increase his lead by a bit along this leg. We then headed to 23 which was a run, I tend to have good speed downwind so felt I may catch Chris along this leg, however Chris helped me by deciding to skip 23 and head for 22! The V3000 could fly his Spinnaker along this leg so was also going well. Chris’s little excursion allowed me to get ahead, he rounded 23 with the V3000.From 23 we were heading to Autumn via 22, this started as a fetch broadening once past 22. This was an enjoyable leg with clear air and a good F3 at times so good fun. I managed to extend my lead a bit, Chris got away from the V3000 a little, who I don’t think could fly the kite for most of the leg.We then had a short beat across the tide to 20, at which point we started to head back towards the club. Another fetch to MYA1 and then tightening to H1. After H1 we had a beat to SY4, mainly on Starboard tack. My aim was to get back to the main channel in order to get some tidal advantage, which I think worked. Chris and Martin/ Ben (V3000) we’re still close on the water, I also noticed the David (Blaze 617) and Richard (RS100) we’re having a good battle on the water.After SY4 we returned to Hoo bay, buoy H2, which was dead downwind for much of the leg. We then had a beat to 24. Again I headed for the channel in order to get some tidal advantage. All was looking good for me at this stage, a 2-minute lead and the tide with me, but you can never rest with Chris chasing you!! 24 to 28 was a good leg, another reach in good wind. The other battles were still continuing behind me.And then there was the wind shadow of Gillingham again, a dead downwind leg in very little wind, but the tide still with me. Just to add interest a large ship was travelling downriver. It’s funny how at this point you always look back and picture everyone else with lots of wind and going well! But the wind shadow stayed for all I think and I kept ahead, although my lead had reduced slightly I think. At this point you always expect the fast fleet to start passing you, but the only boat I could see was Richard Smith in his Musto.The final Mark was club buoy which was just upriver of the club. My worry was if there was enough wind to get against the tide to the line, however the wind was good and a single tack was all that was needed to finish the race. Chris finished shortly after me, ahead of the V3000, followed by the first Musto. Richard in his RS100 finished 10 seconds ahead of David in his Blaze so they must have had a great race, David finished ahead once times were corrected.So I managed to be 1st overall in Blaze 756, Chris 2nd overall in Blaze 778, then Richard was 3rd in his Musto. It was a course that suited the Blaze, not ideal for any Spinnaker boat, more like that please!!

Sunday 23rd June 2019

We got our money's worth this weekend. It was a Commodores Sunday with Juniors, Women's, Masters etc in the morning and a Commodores in the afternoon, and the wind was a nice f3/4 easterly. For those that can’t enter the special races in the morning, there is the “Scratch Race”. I can’t remember the course except for a nice tight reach from 24 to 23 where it was possible to get the Blaze up on the plane. It wasn’t particularly fast but it’s the sort of leg the Blaze excels at. Stuart Bailey showed the Blazes around the course and I just couldn’t catch him and Chris Saunders. Chris had gear problems and eventually retired so I was the second Blaze. There was a V3000, and Alto and an RS100 but I don’t think they made an impression on the results.The main event was the Commodores but because the Scratch Race was a bit longer than intended the Commodores started late at 1:50 for the slower boats and 2:20 for the fast boats and for those that don’t want such a long race there is the Bosun Race which started at 2:05.The Commodores was a long race for the hiking boats. The height of the tide didn’t allow much deviation from the main channel and hence we had a beat, against the tide all the way to 18. That fetch in the morning race turned into a one sided beat so there was no relief or what must have been a 3 mile beat and with the tide against probably 4 miles through the water. It took nearly an hour. Stuart and myself started on time and in the same place, we didn’t hear the sound signal so there was a bit of discussion between us as Stuart worked into a dominant position just to windward of me. From there he slowly and irrevocably increased his lead. I tried a few tricks like going more into the shallows but if anything they probably lost distance. The rest of the fleet either missed the start or started in the wrong place and so we never saw them. Downwind was entirely running, no chance to get some speed on and not much in the way of waves to try and exploit. I tried very hard to exploit what I could but it was hard work for very little gain.I did have some excitement though. Colin (Blaze 679) had started late and was bored sailing around alone (or was it that his legs were giving out) peeled off from the final part of the beat along Long Reach and started to follow me. It was a run from 23 to 26, with the tide, and he kept up with me about a 100m behind. There was nothing I could do to shake him off. At 26 it was one of those horrible turns requiring a gybe and then a harden up onto a beat. An easy manoeuvre to get wrong even in lightish winds. I always try and separate the gybe form the rounding and didn’t do it very well and I fancy Colin gained on me. Unfortunately, the Musto Skiffs had caught up by this time (they sart a half hour after us) and Colin says he didn’t want to interfere with them so he tacked away which would have put him into more contrary tide. That’s a shame because I was beginning to congratulate myself on getting away from him. We were now near the end of the race with just a run from 23 to 26 again and more running up the river to the club. Possibly 2 miles but all with the tide under us. The final leg was upriver just past the club, left around a club buoy and beat back to the line. That final rounding at the club buoy was another of those nasty gybes and harden up onto a beat affair. Only I couldn’t separate the gybe from the rounding because of moored boats. There was also a Musto coming into the mark and I had put plenty of board down for the beat and this was my mistake I’d applied a bit of kicker. This combination makes the gybe much less tolerant of mistakes and I just got it wrong and dropped the boat in. It wasn’t a disaster as I quickly jumped onto the board and had it upright again but it leaves a taste of disappointment. So that was it from my point of view, thoroughly beaten by Stuart Bailey. Of course, I should feel privileged to race against the guys at the front of our fleet, Chris Saunders - 4th at the Nationals and Stuart Bailey - Buzz National Champion (at least once) but actually what I really feel is, I want to beat them!

Commodores 5 October 14 2018

I could only manage a 6th. Even a good start and sailing as fast as I could and not losing concentration was not good enough on Sunday. I can’t blame the course - I set it! It wasn’t that good actually, the wind was not from the direction I thought it was and so there weren't many beats and unfortunately there were plenty of runs. Which if you have read my other reports is the worse thing for a Blaze. To make it even worse the runs were against the tide! I can therefore only blame myself.The course was 30p, 26p, 23s, 22p, 17s, 18s, MYA1p, 26s, 23s, 27s, 28s, 25p, and finish. It was doubtful about the wind strength and if it would hold, and I was also wondering about the visibility, and so the course was not adventurous about using the creeks and it had some loops in it so that it could be shortened if the wind failed. For instance, it would have been quite easy to put a safety boat by 26 and send us all home from there. Or if that was too drastic put a boat by 28 and send us directly home avoiding the little loop back to 25. None of that was required though, as if anything, the wind increased. The visibility did fade as a light drizzle came down.I couldn’t believe my luck at the start - nearly everybody started at the end nearest the clubhouse. I’ll explain for the beginners at the club. The club lies at the bottom of a hill which is on the north shore of the river. If the wind has got any north in it it is slowed by that hill - so start at the south end of the line. Conversely, the south side of the river, opposite the club, is lined by some tall buildings. If there is any south in the wind it is chopped up by the buildings - so start at the north end of the line. Its a simple rule, keep it in mind for the future. Nobody seemed to have realised that the wind was from a NW or even NNW direction - so I started on the south side of the river. It's also closer to the mark! Naturally, I got to 30 first. Colin Treadwell, in Blaze 679, was the only boat close. John Goudie in his Wayfarer was bound to be a threat and of course, Chris Saunders in his Blaze was always in the back of my mind. There were actually very few boats in this race, 11 in all,  and half of them were fast boats which would be starting a half hour later.Down Gillingham Reach, I had expected a decent reach but it turned out to be a run and of course it was against the tide so I gybed at 30 and headed for the shallows of Hoo Island. Colin tried his luck on the opposite shore and then after a couple of big ships had gone through switched over to my side. He hadn’t suffered at all for that but as the next mark was 26 we both had to cross the tide again. I think the Wayfarer had gained on that leg but the next was a bit of a reach and so I guess Colin and myself pulled away again. I may have pulled a bit away from Colin too and by the time I got to 22 I had a decision to make. I could have headed for the southern shore and run along that or I could harden up and plane across the tide and sail down to 17 in the bay on the north shore. As I could plane I chose the latter and to my relief, Colin followed. I say relief because when you are in the lead you don’t want somebody going off in some other direction just in case they overtake you and you can’t do anything about it. At least if they follow they have to overtake boat for boat.This was all leading to a false sense of security. I was in the lead, all my competitors seemed miles away except Colin and I felt I could stay in front of him. All looked rosy and then in the distance, there was a rose coloured spinnaker catching fast. “Ah yes, the Fast Fleet”. They had started a half hour later and they were getting close. By 17 and 18 Graham Oliver was with me and he was miles ahead of the rest of the Fast Fleet. It was a lovely fetch for me to MYA1. The Blaze is a special boat on a one leg beat, instead of pointing you drive off and the bow lifts out of the water as the speed rises. Once planning you aren’t actually pointing any lower than a normal beat, or barely, and that extra speed means little leeway so you end up very nearly where you would if you pointed and went slower. So from 18 to MYA1 I went at speed and got within 50m of MYA1 requiring just a short hitch to get round and off to 26. I think it was on this leg that Graham actually passed me, I had hopes of making life difficult for him but no chance, he just sailed serenely through to leeward and was gone.There was still lots of the race left, I thought Graham might beat me on handicap but where was everybody else - nowhere to be seen. I won’t bore you with the details of the final legs but on the final beat back to the club Chris Ashby and Ian past me and then Steve Tinnams nearly did but capsised. Meanwhile, another ship came through which rather mucked me about and Colin wasn’t far behind. I couldn’t see the Wayfarer. Surely I thought a good result would be coming my way.It was not to be. So many of the Fast Fleet with their spinnakers had not found the runs against the tide that bad. Chris Ashby won, John Shenton and Steve Offer had done well in their Osprey and came 2nd, Graham Oliver, 3rd, and Steve Tinnams next and to cap it all that Wayfarer was out of sight but close enough to beat me on handicap. So sadly I came 6th and there were only 11 boats so that’s me in the bottom half of the fleet. I can’t even blame the guy who set the course!

Wilsonian SC - Sunday 30th September

Commodores is the format for the day with short races in the morning, for Juniors, Masters Ladies and what we call a “Scratch Race” for anybody else who wants to race. There is actually a trophy for the Scratch Race Series. For these races, the course was to a Club Buoy just upriver, back downriver to 31 (which is just off the club) and then 30p, 27s, and 28s and back to the line.The tide was making, the wind was a light northwesterly and I chose to enter the Scratch Race. I think I had a bad start but managed to win finishing well ahead of the other Blazes. Full marks to the Blaze fleet we must have had 5 boats on the water and we had a keen couple of Blazes doing duties.But this day was all about the Commodores. Well done the Race Officer for setting a proper Commodores course which took us downwind and down the river to buoy 16 and we made our way back via Otterham Fairway Buoy and South Yantlet Creek. Cunningly the RO had set up a loop in Pinup Reach such that he could shorten the course by dropping it out - which he wisely did giving me a race of 2.5 hours which is the optimum time period.What a fabulous turnout the club had, I haven’t seen the results but there must have been over thirty boats out racing. There were about 4 Blazes and about the same number of Musto Skiffs. We had a National 12 and a young lad called Silas in a Tera amongst the fleet of 2000s, a 200, some youths in Laser Radials and all sorts. Silas might have been doing the Bosuns course which is shorter. There was a Wayfarer, helmed by Brian Lamb, which always goes well, but the Commodores is a rare opportunity for the slowest and the fastest to be in the same race and compete on handicap. Some including myself have worried the Commodores Series was dying due to low turnout and thus possibly unpopular. This turnout proved its not the series but the weather that determines the numbers.The course was upriver to a club buoy (rounding to port) and then down to 31s, 30p, 26p, H1s, 16s, OFs (Otterham Fairway to starboard), ST4p, 25s, and home to finish.I started badly, on the gun I was at the wrong end of the line as a gust gave a lift to everybody at the starboard end and I crossed behind the whole fleet - possibly even the Tera. It was crowded at the windward mark so I was still at the back but I dived off to less tide in the trots whilst 2 large ships came up the channel. When I emerged from the trots, behind the ships, most people were behind me but the Wayfarer had pulled out a good lead.Mostly that’s the story of the race for me - trying to catch the Wayfarer - but there is a little twist.Once round 30 it was just plugging the incoming tide and it was a run. Now a Wayfarer has a spinnaker, a run is fast for it. For a Blaze, a run is its worst point of sailing, it's not fast and it's not comfortable either forcing the helm to either stand up which is a bit tippy or kneel which on long runs leads to numb feet and sore knees. But that’s what we had lots of runs. A brief respite from 26 to H1 which was a reach to get around Folly Point and then a fetch to get to H1. From H1 to 16 was a 4.5 kilometre run. Obviously tucking in close to the edge to avoid the tide adds a challenge. I did drag the rudder through the mud near to 22 and hoped for a good reach from 16 to Otterham Fairway Buoy. It was at 16 that the first of the faster boats caught me - Graham Oliver in his Skiff. Also at 16, it was noticeable that John Tinnams had gained on me - either he or his boat has always had good downwind speed.By Otterham Fairway I think I had made up some ground but it was going to be beating all the rest of the race. Brian and his Wayfarer are good at beating so I was resigned to coming 2nd to him, I still tried to catch him though because there would have undoubtedly been a bit of banter if I had. Plus I had pressure from behind in the shape of John Tinnams who if I made a mistake would be up to me in no time. But that is how it finished, and as I landed Brian gave me the news that he hadn’t signed on. My heart lept, “I could have won this”, I thought, conveniently forgetting Graham Oliver. As it transpired I was well away from winning the race. Out of my sight and seemingly a long way back, were people sailing well up to their handicap and when the results were worked out I think I came 6th. Brian would I believe just have won if he had signed on. Graham Oliver was, of course, the deserved victor. I look forward to seeing the results - he probably won by miles.Thanks to all who did duties on the day and made it possible for so many to enjoy the Medway. Thanks particularly to the race Officer who set a course that fulfilled the brief so well, but can I say a prayer, “please less runs”. And Silas deserves a mention he struggled home and finished at 5:30, for him that was a long, long race and the last part against a tide which had turned and was not in his favour - well done.

Commodores June 2018



Where was everybody? Great race, what could be better than fully

powered up in sunny weather. The Race Officer did a good job too, as there was doubt

over the strength of the wind he set a course that was easily shortened if necessary.

31s, 30p, 26s, 29s, 27s, 29s, 24s, 29s, TB3s, 29s, SY4s, 29s,

and finish.



Being an easterly with just a touch of north in it each beat

was a little bit biased to port tack but never-the-less they were solid beats

and those that crossed the tide in Pinup Reach (to 24 and to SYC4) required many

tacks. If you think about, it that was a long beat against the tide to get to

SY4.



Yes the tide was against us on the beats, and with us

downwind back to 29. I should have won the race but its testament to Stuart Bailey's

ability he finished just enough ahead to pip me on handicap. To add insult to

injury there was an Alto out there with Tim and Jo and they just sneaked in between

Stuart and myself to claim 2nd.



I must just mention David Thornilow, was out in his new acquisition - a Blaze

- and he loves it. Both Stuart and I started synchronously on starboard and

headed into the moorings. I got ahead but Stuart took the offshore route to 30

and it was neck and neck. By 26 (at the end of the first beat) I was well

ahead, but by the end of the first run he was close on my tail. A RS100 has a gennaker a Blaze has racks, hence the Blaze is faster on

the beats and the RS100 is faster downwind. Each time we got to the windward

mark I'd be in the lead and each time we got to the leeward mark (29) he'd be

that bit further advanced until I was following him as we rounded but by the

time we got to the next windward mark I'd be back in the lead again. The

trouble was that each time he was that bit closer at the windward mark and so

as we rounded SY4 with the long, long run back to the club we were together and

he hoisted his kite and was gone.



Of course he should be ahead at the finish - his yardstick

is about 20 points faster, but in fact he was just too far ahead and he won -

but it was close.



The race was over 13 miles in length and took about 2 and a

half hours, much of it was beating against the flood tide - so it was a good

work out. A pleasure too as the water was flat and the Blaze was planning to

windward whilst I was fully extended. Sadly all those downwind legs were slow

through the water and the Blaze needs a little more to

really get going downwind at that deep angle. Even the leg from 29 back to the

club was a bit slow for me as there was a merchant ship slowly moving up river

at the same time.



More serious was the lack of boats racing. Low attendance means

the club is not providing what the sailors want. This may be the end of these

slightly longer races. For me they are the best but the club must provide what

people want. I hope the Sailing Committee get some feedback on what people do

want.



 



 

Grey skies, the threat of showers and not much wind greeted competitors for the first Comm's day of the year, but a weak tide and a reliable F.2-3 with the occasional puff meant that good progress could be made and satisfying races had.  At least the dull weather kept most motorboats off the river!



The Comm's course took racers down to 15, back to 22 and down to MYC4 and back, comfortably within 2.5 hours, while Bosun's competitors enjoyed a couple of laps from the club to Gillingham Reach.A straw poll in the club afterwards revealed that many people were happy with the new time scheduling of the races, which means that nobody had to face a return to the club against the tide, especially not as a tail-end Charlie in a falling wind!   The last hour of the race was actually sailed in 'go-anywhere' tidal depth, and that is something that could be factored into future courses to add spice.

If there are any Blazes in the South East who want close racing come and join us at Wilsonian Sailing Club.



Morning Race - this morning was for the Ladies, Juniors and Seniors to have their competition.



For the rest, we have what is called a /"Scratch Race/". No trophy, no points series just a race for those that want one. It was dire, fog and very little wind from the east. The tide was running hard upriver since I think it was Springs only a day or so before. I started and continued as nearly everybody else had given up. At one point I was sailing upwind just a boat length from a mark but unable to round it until I was able to pull up-tide of it enough to bear away around it. After a couple of minutes, I made it but it was frustrating. The only other Blaze failed to start as he couldn’t get over the line.



The afternoon race was one of our Commodores Series. These are supposed to be longer, have a committee boat start and there are two courses one for the fast fleet and one for the rest. We didn't have the committee boat start but the club line was pretty square. Three Blazes, myself (609), John Hewat (732) and Matt (531), I guess the others thought the weather wasn't promising - they missed a great race, full of close encounters.



There were half a dozen 2000, a Buzz, a Streaker and the usual brace of Lasers and some other odds and sods. Most including Matt (531) elected to beat up the shallows, but John and I had realised that the wind had risen and the tidal flow decreased and that it might just be possible to lay the next mark from the line. We were almost completely powered up and with the tidal flow lee-bowing us we did more or less make it direct to the mark. John had to put a little starboard tack in just before the mark and I insisted he /"hold course/" whilst I ducked around his stern and shot the mark.



We then headed for a tidal gate called /"Myers/" I'm not sure why the name but the tide really sluices around that corner. John was on my tail but I didn't want to luff as this might have taken me up under the island where although there was less tide there was also probably less wind. He didn't get over me and when we rounded the corner there was more wind and I was able to just point that little bit higher. I pulled away by about 50m on this next long leg, of about a mile to buoy 26, again it was a fetch.



Now a long beat and we held station until the next mark (buoy 23) where I tacked immediately to cross the flow and get into some shallows. John held on into the bay by the power station and then tacked. A mistake I thought and sure enough, when John joined me on my side of the river my lead was now up to about a 100m.



A large ship was coming down the river and just a bit further to windward we would have to switch back to the north side of the river for the next mark. It would be fatal to be stuck on the south side whilst the ship went by. John lost his nerve before me and crossed. I managed to get a couple more short tacks in the shallows before I went. On the north side, we had to tack against the tide and John, against what I thought was logic, gained.



Rounding the windward mark and reaching across the river John was better than me at switching to reaching mode and got within a couple of boat lengths. But rounding the next mark onto a run (to buoy MYA1) I managed to keep him behind me and then we reached/ran up the river with him only about a boat length behind. He explained later that he daren't take my wind and slow me because Matt was gaining behind so we went upriver to 26 and then 27 before beating back down river to 25.



Being in the lead I had to be very careful but John could try risking more use of the shallows and he forced me to tack on one meeting, but I managed to get to 25 with him on my tail. It was now a long run back up river along Gillingham Reach. I drew away by about 50m and then at Myers we hardened up onto a reach, again John switched to this mode better than I did and made up the difference. Once going I was just as fast as him but it took me longer to settle down. A final run to a club buoy and a port rounding finished the race but on that run, John pulled alongside. I retained the inside room as we gybed around the mark and because I can point (when required) I forced him off to leeward on the next beat up through the trots of boats. That was decisive, giving me a finish time 23 seconds better.



Close combat indeed, no time to let up and every decision and tack vital to get right. John was elated with the battle - I was exhausted. Matt was very close behind. The other boats seemed miles behind but when the results were calculated a 2000 won, I was 3rd and John was 5th. There was sufficient wind for a good race and I was certainly fully powered on most of the beats but there wasn't enough to get the Blazes really planing and so the other boats in the fleet came into the equation.