'London's Finest' at King George Sailing Club
by Mo Allen 14 Jun 2015 22:36 BST
14 June 2015
London's Finest event at King George SC © Paul Ashton
'London's Finest' is the name of the event held by King George Sailing Club on the 14th June - just one week prior to the London Youth Games which are being held on the weekend of 20/21 June 2015. The event was open to any sailor in any dinghy at only £5.00 per sailor! However, a particular welcome was extended to any sailors who wanted to practice for the London Youth Games or for those that did not quite qualify, but still wanted a chance to race against the Finest Sailors in London.
A full galley service was provided, with the majority of sailors benefiting from a bacon roll before taking to the water for three back to back races. To keep things simple, the race officers provided a simple triangular course making the best of the force 2 to 3 conditions.
Visiting competitors included five Toppers, a Pico and a Laser Radial while King George was represented by an even wider range of boats including 3 lasers, 3 Musto Skiffs, an RS800, a couple of contenders and a Merlin Rocket; widely accepted as the most beautiful boat on the water; albeit owned by the author of this article.
Racing was tight with the second race having to be recalled – a testament to a combination of sharp eyed race officers and a fleet pushing for the best possible start.
Many of the guests didn't realise it, but they achieved something very special in the last race. Vince Horey, normally one of the best sailors at King George, and a former European Fireball champion managed to capsize on the line just five seconds before the start. The photo below shows the whole fleet leaving this top sailor behind – keep a copy of this picture and make sure you show it to Vince next time you see him.
A pasta bolognese meal gave the Race Officer time to calculate the results with the winner's trophy being awarded to the home team of Tony and Sam Cooper achieving 3 bullets in their graduate and beating many faster designs over the water.
The first guest trophy was awarded to Leila Moore sailing a Topper. Leila and all her fellow London Youth Games sailors can now look forward to an exciting competition next week.
Special thanks go out to race team of Rodger White, Keith Humphries and Alan Horey and the Galley team of Sue Allen, Sue Cooper and Amy Allen.