Sanders Sails Lightning 368 open meeting at Cookham Reach Sailing Club

Andrew Yuille, overall winner - Sanders Sails Lightning 368 open meeting at Cookham Reach © Adrain Hollier

A short 3-mile drive downstream - or in the case of Upper Thames 1/2 mile tow from the club tender - found the fleet at Cookham Reach for the second day of our southern sojourn.

The wind was definitely up having swung westerly... although that moved between all point of the compass unpredictably throughout the day as the peculiarities of the river venue showed up, as experienced in the past. This saw the fleet a couple down from the previous day with John Claridge and Alison Hopkins both nursing injuries taking the sensible option and deciding to retire.

Caroline, bravely recovering from a little too much sun, helped by the previous night's wine tour as the fleet camped at Upper Thames SC, took to the water in a kill or cure attempt to make it 3 open series event victories in a row.

Race 1 started in strong winds with Simon Hopkins and Andrew Yuille locked together at starboard end of the line, and Jason Gallagher deciding to stay clear of the pair further up the line. This seemed to work as the first series of tacks gave him right of way forcing Andrew and Simon to tack off, as he gained the advantage and the lead. Andrew and Jason continued to battle up the windward leg with Jason holding the advantage until tacking too early for the windward mark and allowing Andrew to come inside and take the lead.

Simon meanwhile was battling with the remained of the fleet having collected most of the vegetation from that stretch of the Thames when he'd been forced to tack off by Jason earlier. Once free of that his strong wind skills came to the fore and Caroline Hollier, Martin Evans and Andy McLeish were left to their own battle as he chased the leaders down.

Meanwhile Jason continued to hunt Andrew and whilst the elastic would stretch it wasn't broken. The final lap saw Andrew covering Jason to keep him behind until some respite following the windward mark saw Andrew lifted clear and maintain the gap until the line with Jason 2nd and Simon 3rd.

Martin Evans - Sanders Sails Lightning 368 open meeting at Cookham Reach - photo © Adrain Hollier

Race 2's start was almost carnage with a massive header hitting the start line just as the hooter sounded. Jason and Simon were forced onto port and somehow threaded the fleet without incident, before things 'settled' down a bit.

Andrew Y and Simon managed to get clear, Jason had got out of position, sailed into a hole and found himself in a battle with Caroline, Martin and Andy M for most of the remainder of the race.

Meanwhile Andrew Y and Simon were trading blows up the course with neither allowing the other any leeway as they continued to cross tacks and change position. However, on the penultimate beat Simon remembered the big wind shift over by the start line went hard left and miraculously it was there giving him a big lift up the river to take the lead which he held to the line.

Meanwhile the battle for third had come down to a battle between Caroline and Jason - Andy M had lost out downwind as he was having to stand due to lack of any padding on his knees and almost got ejected from the rear of the boat with a few gusts.

Jason had got ahead on the last lap to the windward mark and continued to hold Caroline off on the run (Beat, Reach, and all other points of sailing at time) down to the windward mark. As they approached a large barge decide it was going to turn in the river at the mark and compromised Jasons rounding. Caroline took advantage and was back in front. A tacking battle down to the line eventually saw Jason gain the advantage and take 3rd by a whisper.

Paul Taylor - Sanders Sails Lightning 368 open meeting at Cookham Reach - photo © Adrain Hollier

Race 3 saw Andrew Y and Jason make the break on the beat, and they picked up some favourable shifts on their part of the water.

Andrew Y this time pulled free and clear by the end of the 2nd lap with Jason looking to consolidate 2nd while the rest of the fleet looked for an opportunity to put pressure on.

As the race continued the wind on the water became ever more fickle, the gap between Jason and the rest of the fleet continued to narrow, with Simon making rapid ground in favourable lifts where Jason seemed to sail from hole to hole.

On the final run Jason still had the advantage, but Simon just managed to gain mark room approaching the leeward mark to take that away. The final beat up to the line again saw another tacking battle, with Jason throwing some unexpected moves in an attempt to force a mistake from Simon. Whilst it almost worked with Simon nearly swamping his boat at one point, the difference as they crossed the line was a yard in Simon's favour.

With two wins local river Sailer Andrew Yuille won the 2026 Sanders Sails Lightning 368 Cookham Open. Simon and Jason were tied on four points but third went to Simon on account of his win in the second race.

The fleet now travels very far north as they contest the Sanders Sails Northern Championships at Bassenthwaite SC during the final weekend of Bass Week on the 8th and 9th August 2026.

Overall Results:

Andrew McLeish - Sanders Sails Lightning 368 open meeting at Cookham Reach - photo © Adrain Hollier