Enterprise South East Champs at South Bank Sailing Club
by Chris Phillips 30 Jul 2009 15:30 BST
12 July 2009
South Bank Sailing Club on the tidal Thames in Putney, London, were delighted to host an Enterprise Open and the South East Area Enterprise Championship on Sunday 12 July 2009.
The event was made up of two long distance races followed by a round-the-buoys race, each timed to take advantage of the varying tidal conditions throughout the day.
Long distance racing on the Thames has it all, bridges, shallows, strong currents, pleasure boats and more often than not variable wind patterns, all of which offers a unique challenge to sailors whatever their ability.
Race 1 was down river from Putney to Westminster, a distance of some 6 miles. Starting in a very fickle wind with a following tide, the fleet made a cautious start. Aided by the tide and a freshening breeze good progress was made towards Westminster. By the halfway stage the boats of Beaney and Bird had a good lead on the rest of the fleet, however in the closing stages they both misread the run-in to the finishing line letting Davis through to claim first, followed by Munroe-Faure and Henderson in third.
The fleet was then held for half an hour to wait for slack water prior to the start of Race 2. This in itself was a challenge with busy river traffic to avoid including Tate Gallery’s huge Damien Hurst decorated catamaran and “Duck Tours” amphibious vehicles.
Race 2 was back to Putney and got off to a textbook start in a solid force 4 westerly. The fleet quickly spread out with the front-runners excelling in the long beat back to Putney. In total contrast to heavy winds on the majority of the course that saw a number of capsizes, the closing leg from Putney Bridge to the finish was hampered by the unwelcome shelter of very tall trees lining the Surrey bank. Positions established by the half way stage were held with Beaney 1st, Davis 2nd and Bird, recovering brilliantly from an earlier capsize in 3rd.
After a very welcome lunch break the majority of the fleet was back on the water for Race 3. Whilst the river level was by now much higher and therefore the racing area more exposed, the wind dropped progressively during the course of the race. This made it very tactical and with the last of the flood tide still pushing strongly through the centre of the river most of the fleet electing to hug the Middlesex bank in order to make headway. Beaney finished first by a county mile followed by Chambers and Hodgson.
Overall Results:
Tideway Race Enterprise Open: (combined result for races 1 & 2)
1st Davis
2nd Munroe-Faure
3rd Bird
(3 races, 1 discard)
1st Beaney
2nd Davis
3rd Munroe-Faure
The top junior crew was Master Bird and the top veteran was John Parke.
SBSC were delighted to host the event and look forward to hosting another Enterprise Open next season.