Thames A Rater Open at Tamesis Club

Spindrift making the most of the light wind at the Tamesis Thames A Rater open © Catherine Kearns

Andrew Harris, Jeremy Kearns and Martin Hunter with the Braganza Bowl and Yates Cup at the Tamesis Thames A Rater open © Catherine Kearns

Spindrift (14) sailed by Martin Hunter, Jeremy Kearns, Chris Downham and Andrew Harris dominated proceedings in a fleet of nine to win the coveted Braganza Bowl and Yates Cup (the latter awarded to the winner of race 3) over the weekend of Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 September. The Redline Sportscars sponsored boat led from the start in all but one race and enjoyed a free reign in clear air and river space to take five bullets in a six race series and podium position at the Tamesis Club hosted Thames A Rater open meeting.

Second place overall went to Osprey (16), sailed by ex-Tamesis member Paul Browning, despite suffering from a back injury, ably crewed by Justin and Bethany Dunn, counting three seconds on Saturday and a second and third on Sunday. Third spot went to Scamp (12), with a third and two fourths on Saturday, sailed by Tamesis Merlin helm Joe McLaughlin, crewed by his brother Tom and fellow Tamesis member Steve Bartlett. Scamp’s owner, Jonathan Smith - Rater winner at the previous weekend’s Autumn Regatta - generously lent them the boat for the Saturday, returning on Sunday to replace Joe at the helm. With a second and third to count on Sunday, Scamp was the first placed wooden boat.

Saturday’s first two races were held back-to-back, followed by race three for the Yates Cup after a 30 minute tea break. In view of the north/north-westerly breeze, race officer Jeremy Vines opted for a downstream sausage course in front of the Clubhouse. Sunday’s race officer, John Harris, contending with a lighter and generally more variable westerly as well as normal Sunday morning club racing, separated the reaching Raters from the Club fleet for races four to six with a downstream sausage course, while giving the Merlin Rockets, Lasers and National 18s their own, slightly longer dogleg course with a beat from the Surrey to the Middlesex bank. Racing was close for second, third and fourth places on the Saturday, with Scamp lying second for most of race two, only for Osprey and Lady Iona, helmed by Thames Vice Commodore Stuart Gurney, with Nick Hoskins and former Tamesis Commodore Doug Pope crewing, to come through on the final lap and push Scamp into fourth. It was good to see Joe helming so well having never sailed the boat before and with little Rater experience.

After drinks in the club on Saturday evening, the Thames Rater party retired to a Thames Ditton hostelry for dinner. Despite the hangovers on Sunday morning, races four and five were held back-to-back, with the climax to the series in race six coming not long after the club boats had come ashore. Martin Hunter, and Jeremy Kearns joined by Andy Harris in place of Chris Downham, won races four and five with Ulva (8), sailed by Tim Carpenter, Lisa Stewart and Karen Armitage, winning the final race on handicap. Despite the lighter and more variable zephyrs, the regatta proved just how fast these graceful Victorian racing machines are.

Commodore Jim Green presented prizes to the first three boats, and there were suggestions that Raters should be invited to next year’s Tamesis Easter Regatta and that a Braganza Bowl type competition for National 18s should be held at Thames. The overall feeling was that the weekend had been a great success for both clubs.

Overall Results: