Merlin Rocket Sondown Cup and Elizabeth Bowl at Tamesis Club
by John Dunkley 15 Oct 2013 07:04 BST
13 October 2013
Sondown Cup and Elizabeth Bowl at Tamesis © John Dunkley
The Sondown Cup and the Elizabeth Bowl were won by Hampton SC's John Bell and his daughter Olivia sailing Grand Teton (1201) at the Tamesis Club Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller and Thames Series Open Meeting on Sunday 13 October.
The 21 competing boats sailed the first two of the three races in heavy rain of the kind that quickly exposed the deficiencies in well worn oilskins. The cold north westerly wind was, fortunately, only moderate in strength, but generated enough activity to keep helms and crews warm, especially if they were wearing drysuits or wetsuits. The gale force winds that led to the cancellation of many sailing events on the south coast did not move this far inland.
Grand Teton had to work hard for her victory. Richard and Harry Harris in Passing Cloud (1079) had beaten John and Olivia Bell by only 17 seconds in the first race. The second race, held back to back, resulted in a win for Grand Teton, with David Vines and Charlie Morgan second, sailing Elusive (3347), just over a minute behind. Martin Hunter and Kaslia Adamounska took the third race, sailed in almost dry weater in the afternoon, with Ben Hollis and Caroline Croft second in Who Dares Wins (3688). A first attempt to get the afternoon race under way led to a general racall even though the number of participating boats had fallen to 15.
Race Officer John Harris set a long down river course with the Lensbury mark just below the end of Trowlock Island and the Canbury buoy slightly downstream of Steven's Eyot, On the water judging was provided by Chris Simon, who also presented the prizes. John Harris was assisted in the starting box by Margaret Stokes, the club launch was manned by Henry Defries and Marcus Chavasse, and the results were calculated by Vice Commodore Carolyne Vines and Alan Green, Rear Commodore Sailing. Catering was supervised by Nicky Chavasse.
Overall Results:
Sondown Cup
1st Grand Teton (1201) John & Olivia Bell (Hampton SC) 3pts
2nd Who Dares Wins (3688) Ben Hollis & Caroline Croft (Hampton SC) 5pts
3rd Passing Cloud (1079) Richard & Harry Harris (Tamesis) 7pts
4th Elusive (3347) David Vines & Charlie Morgan (Tamesis) 7pts
5th Splatter (1631) Frank Rowsell & Charlotte Coleman (Salcombe YC) 7pts
Elizabeth Bowl
1st Grand Teton (1201) John & Olivia Bell (Hampton SC)
2nd Passing Cloud (1079) Richard & Harry Harris (Tamesis)
3rd Splatter (1631) Frank Rowsell & Charlotte Coleman (Salcombe YC)
4th Quiver (774) Martin Hunter & Kaslia Adamounska (Upper Thames SC)