Thames A Rater Nationals at Bourne End Week

Light winds for the Thames A Rater nationals © Melanie Hardman

Light winds for the Thames A Rater nationals © Melanie Hardman

Another wet and blustery one!

So I will confess that I had been looking forward with great delight to Bourne End Week this year, with a clear thought in my mind that the weather couldn't be as dreadful as 2007. Oh how wrong could I have been. From day one it appeared that the rain filled clouds were to be consistent visitor throughout the week; but first we were treated to a rather blustery grey sky and being that this was the first day ofBEW all the helms and crews were eager to make the first start line. This where is really went wrong from the start; I think I remember at least two Raters capsizing prior to the start but I was concentrating on managing the jib at the front of Jonathan Smith's Scamp; which was to be my home for the next four days. I have to tell you I have never seen a Rater capsize before and boy was I going to get my own personal fill of this event in addition to witnessing what I think was the entire fleet getting their feet wet at some point on Saturday. I felt for the rescue boats; they didn't know which way to turn first. The most memorable collective capsize event was in the afternoon of Saturday whereby we had managed to start very successfully and heading towards the downstream mark when a whole series of Raters capsized before rounding the mark; the mast of one, which we never really did figure out which, came very close to decapitating Jonathan Smith before landing on the stern deck of Scamp. As we rounded the mark and started our leg back to the club house we also capsized again; thankfully this time we managed to bring her back up without sinking and having to retire as had been the case in the morning. By this point I think that Osprey, Atlantis,Ulva , Lady Jane had already toppled over and we decided to moor up to make repairs and pump out Scamp; and sit out the worst of the weather. Gradually various boats retired and were towed home; but the best of that had to be Atlantis who definitely got their tax payers worth from the Environment Agency who arrived just in time to tow her home and provide TedCocker and Jono Warren with special blue "Environment Agency" sweatshirts and the blue flashing light to signify their prescence; but the most memorable scene was that of Julian Smith stood on the stern of Atlantis with her decks just below the water line a la Captain Jack Sparrow steering his boat home to port just as she sinks below the blueCaribbean seas/grey murky waters of the River Thames. Jonathan Smith did kindly offer his brother some of his well loved air bags from Scamp "just in case". Boys I want those shirts; we're going to get "Rescued by the Environment Agency: BEW 2008" printed on the back! All humour aside; with only minor equipment failures everyone made it home safe and sound; and there was mass recanting of stories in the bar that night.

Sunday proved to be much quieter than Saturday; which enabled the fleet to take the racing much more seriously. However Monday arrived with the full force of a true and proper Spring Bank Holiday; Wind, Gusts and Rain, Rain, Rain! The first race was cancelled; socompetitors either elected to mill around the clubhouse, go back to bed for a few hours of well earned kip (my personal favourite) or venture further afield. As the approach to the second race came quickly upon us and the weather not looking like it was going to improve the Race Officer decided to postpone the Commodores Cup until Tuesday; as you can probably imagine at this point the queue at the bar increased and we all settled in for an afternoon of being dry and warm. A collection of few hardy sailors including Kevin Pearson, Ted Cocker and Nick Fribbens organised the team racing in the Laser Pico's that Adrian Hart had arranged for Junior Bourne End week. The Rater fleet was represented in excellent form by Chris Martin and Martin Hunter; with Martin as he realised that the fleet wouldn't be wining the team racing this year lit up a cigarette in what can only be described as true "Hamlet" style as he relaxed on the back on the Pico!

As the morning of the Queens Cup, the most prestigious race in the Rater calendar, arrived the weather could not have been any different; after four days of rain the river was running a quite a pace and there was NO wind, can I say that again; NO wind at all. So here the rumours started flying; "they're going to cancel", "it's going to be run tomorrow instead", "did they really change the rules, so that the four hour limit doesn't apply?". Thankfully as 12:30 came closer the wind began to pick up; but an incident with a Merlin trying to cross the rail line as the train was approaching caused a whole heap of mess; as many of the competitors were left on the Sin City side of the line; whilst the ever efficient train driver had to stop and fill in copious amounts of paperwork for the Elf and Safe Tea Brigade. Which did leave some of us rushing to make the downstream start; of the 9 mile race. Jonathan Smith and Scamp got a perfect start, with Martin Hunter in Spindrift not far behind. Scamp gradually lost out to Spindrift which left the Smith brothers to fight it out in 2nd and 3rd positions; on the next leg it all changed again as Lady Jane and Osprey came hurtling back upstream. Scamp got herself together to pass Lady Jane and Osprey and make significant roads into Spindrift's lead; but not enough as Martin Hunter won the Queen's Cup for the 9th time and the Thames Championships for incredibly the 10th time.

Results:

Sunday 18th May: Rathbone Rose Bowl
1st: OK, Vanessa Pilon
2nd: OK, J. Portsmouth
3rd: Thames A Rater, Melanie Hardman

Saturday 24th; Clayton Jackson Cup
1st: Kingfisher, Martin Paul Collen, Terry Curtis, Roland Gadsby
2nd: Spindrift, Martin Hunter, Jeremy Kearns, Julian Cocker
3rd: Scamp, Jonathan Smith, Melanie Hardman, Jens Sorenson

Sunday 25th: Scamp Cup
1st: Atlantis, Julian Smith, Ted Cocker, Richard Munday, Jono Warren
2nd: Spindrift, Martin Hunter, Jeremy Kearns, Julian Cocker
3rd: Kingfisher, Martin Paul Collen, Terry Curtis, Roland Gadsby

Monday 26th
No racing

Tuesday 27th: Commodores Cup (postponed from Monday 26th)
1st: Spindrift, Martin Hunter, Jeremy Kearns, Julian Cocker
2nd: Lady Iona, Alistair McDonald
3rd: Scamp, Jonathan Smith, Melanie Hardman, Jens Sorenson

Wokefield Cup
1st: Osprey, Paul Browning, Graham Bartholomew, Justin Dunn
2nd: Vagabond, Paul Armitage, Louise Wilson, Jan Dent, Miles Palmer
3rd: Spindrift, Martin Hunter, Jeremy Kearns, Julian Cocker

Wednesday 18th: Queens Cup
1st: Spindrift, Martin Hunter, Jeremy Kearns, Julian Cocker
2nd: Scamp, Jonathan Smith, Adrian Hart, Jens Sorenson
3rd: Osprey, Paul Browning, Graham Bartholomew, Justin Dunn

Vintage Rater Tropy: Queens Cup
Scamp, Jonathan Smith, Adrian Hart, Jens Sorenson

Thames Champion
1st: Spindrift, Martin Hunter, Jeremy Kearns, Julian Cocker
2nd: Osprey, Paul Browning, Graham Bartholomew, Justin Dunn
3rd: Kingfisher, Martin Paul Collen, Terry Curtis, Roland Gadsby

Dunn Cup
Kingfisher, Martin Paul Collen, Terry Curtis, Roland Gadsby