Medway Marathon 2002 at Medway Yacht Club

Arriving at Medway Yacht Club early on Sunday morning with a forecast of winds of force 4 to 5, an overcast sky and prospect of rain should have been enough to worry a number of sailors into whether they could manage a full Marathon, but this did not deter the 55 boats that eventually set sail.

Four topper sailors were the first to leave at 10:00 am and were followed by a fleet that included three sailabilty boats from the Arethusa Centre and Tideway Sailing Club.

The 11.00 am start was by far the most popular with 28 boats fighting for a place on the start line. With the South-westerly force 3-4 wind and by now a clear blue sky, the running start was spectacular. The river was wall to wall with colourful spinnakers.

Gillingham Reach saw the Fleet begin to settle down with the asymmetric powered boats in the lead followed by the Wayfarers and a Laser II sailed by father and son, Tony and Mark Owens, that screamed past with all three sails pulling.

The next excitement came in Tanker Reach when the fleet was confronted by a container ship fully loaded several hundred feet high, coming towards them. They managed to avoid any confrontation but the fleet was split when the ship decided to dock!

On reaching Queenborough at dead low water all that was left to do was to beat home; this is where the hard work began. There was some dynamic sailing amongst the Wayfarers in attempts to be the first boat back but the weather conditions favoured the Contender and the Fireball that flew over the finish line after two hours and forty minutes sailing.

When the competitors arrived back on shore every muscle was aching but that was more than compensated by a fantastic days racing and completing the 26 miles in record time.

The Medway Command Trophy for the first boat overall on corrected time was won by Martin Jones sailing a Contender, from the Wilsonian Sailing Club.

Nick Lett sailing an RS300 from the Wilsonian Sailing Club won the Medway Bell Trophy for the Leading Junior sailor.

The Pop Parsons Trophy for the first Junior from Medway Yacht Club was won by Tim Allardyce sailing a Topper.

The Sailability Trophy for the first disabled crew to finish was won by Ms C Grey sailing a Hawk 20 from Tideway Sailing Club.

Richard Stone sailing a Wayfarer was the first boat, on corrected time, from the Medway Yacht Club to finish.

Pip Perry was also presented with a glass as the oldest competitor to compete in the Marathon and at aged 82 he is hoping that it will encourage others to keep sailing!

Overall Results:

More Information:

• Medway Yacht Club