Enterprise Open at London Corinthian Sailing Club

Record breaking April temperatures at the John Underwood Trophy © Jeremy R. Whiting

Record breaking April temperatures at the John Underwood Trophy © Jeremy R. Whiting

John Underwood Trophy

Only a sailor would say it was not looking good. The sun was beating down on the Thames; the temperatures were soaring into the 70s –breaking records for mid-April - but what had happened to the wind? Undeterred the London Corinthian sailors, based at an elegant Georgian clubhouse on the leafy riverside near Hammersmith rigged their Enterprises for one of the leading events of the local riverside calendar the John Underwood Trophy, while dinghies from our neighbouring clubs Strand on the Green, South Bank and Ranelagh arrived, having motored up or floated down the river to join us. Altogether 16 Enterprises waited – and waited and waited - patiently for the wind to kick in and the race officer to start the race.

Finally, it did – a mere force 2 at a push - and the race officer, Rhys Triffitt, promised to do his best to arrange two races. The breeze varied from east to north east and the safety boat driver, Trevor Davies, laid two buoys No1 and No3 on the Middlesex bank giving the sailors a sausage course to starboard at each buoy.

The strong tide made for some vigorous paddling to ensure the dinghies were the correct side of the line for the start, although four dinghies were still over the line when the rest of the fleet were bearing down on them for the start. London Corinthians Alan Beaney and Jess Holley reached No3 buoy first and immediately headed for the bank to beat back down river to No1 closely chased by his brother, David, and Margaret Beaney from Datchet Sailing Club followed by Corinthians Robin Johnson with Beverley Beech, while the rest of the fleet struggled to catch them up. The first race finished after 20 minutes and the leading dinghies waited patiently for the rest of the fleet to cross the line and commence the second race.

The long wait proved unfortunate for by the time most of the fleet was ready again the wind had evaporated and the tail-enders from Race 1 had to be towed back to the start line. Fortunately minutes later, the wind returned – it can often be fluky like this on the Thames - but was still struggling to exceed force 2. So once again, the dinghies headed off on the first beat down to No3 buoy. As the wind now had much more north in it, the fleet split into those who continued beating down the Middlesex bank and those who chose to reach across to the Middlesex bank and re-cross the river to gybe around No1 buoy. Reaching across the river early paid off, and Alan Beaney once again led the fleet at the end of the first lap and maintained his lead to the finish, followed by David Beaney. The three leading boats crossed the line before the wind dropped and the rest of the fleet struggled to finish fighting against an outgoing tide.

Overall Results: