Ranelagh Sailing Club London Mid-Week Series - Race 4

It is difficult to imagine a more pleasant evening for messing about on the river than that which greeted the competitors for the 4th instalment of this year’s London Midweek Series. Good humoured banter filled the air as the crews rigged ahead of another classic contest. Whilst her quest to circumnavigate the world in a Wayfarer (one country at a time) has temporarily robbed the event of one of its more colourful helms (see www.fransbigadventure.com), some new faces and new boats have appeared from their winter slumbers. Jamie McEwen and Georgie Sutcliffe were seen putting a previously dormant Firefly together and the beautiful Sarah Edwards had swapped her laser for a National 12. This latter move simply highlights the quality of the Ranelagh venue as she was using it as a training ground ahead of this weekend’s National 12 championships in Weymouth.

Indeed, were Weymouth blessed with beautiful sunshine, a glorious backdrop and the history that flows along the mighty Thames in Putney then it too could make a good claim to being one of the great venues in the sailing world. However, enough of second-rate race tracks and on to the contest that took place on a course that is to sailing what Monaco is to Formula 1.

Described as a race that had something for everybody, it was the start that had something for Jamie and Georgie as they expertly nailed their move from the line. In an unusual light spell they showed the assembled cast how to finely judge their move as the bell went and soared into a comfortable lead by the first mark. So comfortable was their lead that by the second mark they were a clear ½ mile ahead of the chasing pack led by Tim Harrison and Anna Marriot in a classic Merlin with the rest of the fleet strung out along the river like pearls on a string.

Fate however plays an interesting role in the Ranelagh racing and soon this ½ mile was eroded like a log being devoured by hungry termites. Jamie and Georgie could do naught but watch with a sinking feeling in their hearts as Tim and Anna strode mightily past them. As the whole fleet closed the gap on the leaders Chris Gould and Sophie Pickford in another Merlin and Dave and Charlotte Evans in a Lark all moved to within striking distance of the lead. The tension mounted as the second lap began. The crowd on the bank started to pulse and writhe with waves of excitement as places changed more often than costumes at a Lady Gaga gig.

As mentioned earlier, this was a race that had something for everybody and the second lap belonged to Tim and Anna who it seemed had dealt a lethal blow to the ambitions of the other crews. They extended and expanded their lead so that it seemed they might never be caught. Then just as it seemed the race was slipping away from the fleet the river gods rolled the dice once more. Agonisingly short of the end of the second lap the tide gained the upper hand on the wind and the lead was once more up for grabs. At this stage the hand of another force took a part and John and Margaret Stokes in the race box let the competition continue for a further round.

This third lap proved agony for Tim and Anna who slipped from 1st to 5th whilst providing the extra chink of light for Michael John in his Solo as he raced through the fleet into the leading pack. He was closely followed in this surge for the front by the “Enterprise of Love” containing Chris and Alison Edwards. All the emotions in the spectrum were on display with despair, hope, lust and antipathy mixed into the cauldron of human experience that took place in the closing acts of this tragic yet awesome race.

At the bell it was the consistency of Chris and Sophie in their Merlin that pipped the Evan’s lark. Behind the leading pair were the Firefly of Jamie and Georgie and Michael John in his trusty Solo. The agonising wait for the handicappers report was long and painful, that pain being eased by the London Pride that was also the source of the delay. As the pizza was eaten and the beer drunk all the sailors everybody explained how they had been tossed and thrown on an emotional rollercoaster of a race. Finally it became clear that Jamie and Georgie had won with Michael John a close second. The evergreen pairing of Chris and Alison Edwards had snatched 3rd from under the noses of the Evans’s.

The partying carried on late into the night until eventually the last of the bold gladiators slipped home through the first rays of dawn. The next instalment of this gripping adventure takes place on 4th June and the grizzled warriors will once more raise their heads and place their fates in the hands of the Thames. I apologise for the length of this report, but the blame must be laid at the Stokes’s who set a 2 hour race on a Friday night!