Date

Notes

12/12/21

Rodger organised Christmas nibbles, moved from Wed 15 due to worsening Covid Omicron. The intention was to sail first but there was drizzle at 13:00, 0.6 knot current and only 3 to 7 mph wind; half the forecast, no one wanted to sail. 10 members had Pizzas and Indian snacks.

28/11/21

A fine very cold day with a fairly steady force 1 NW wind; the 0.3 knot current didn't cause a problem.. Eventually there were two sailors who decided they would like some one or two lap races. The last (3rd) race was 2 laps as there was just time before tea for 9 minutss per lap.. There were 11 members for tea and cakes.

21/11/21

The weather forercast was fine cold North 14 to 24 mph wind; on the weather station the wind was half this. But sailing it was any direction and force, very shifty, fluky and gusty.
Nigel and Rodger sailed Bosuns; Nigel did 3 laps in the same time as Rodger did 2 laps, their next laps were the same times. They didn't want to do a second race. Thanks to Mike H for providing home baked cakes, and Peter C for doing patrol boat duties. Di H helped with tea and cakes which were more popular than the sailing; there were 12 members having them.

14/11/21

Fine warm day for fhe first Sunday of the extended sailing seasion. The forecast was N 8-16 mph but at the weather station it was half this and force 0-1 sailing.; there was 0.3knt current. Graham launched his Gull and could only make way upsteam very close to the bank. Nigel decided he would be better working on a patrol boat. No one else wanted to sail. Di Cowley and Jean Maracchi provided cakes for about 14 members.

07/11/21

The last race day in the season's programme was fine and sunny with a 7 to 15 mph NW wind, force 1 to 2 gust 3, rather shifty but a reasonable sail for a change, 7 boats were sailing, 6 racing. There will continue to be tea and cakes at 15:00 on Sundays and there will be back to back racing from 13:00 if conditions are suitable. We will need volunteer OODs and patrol boat helms. Please use DutyMan to volunteer for these roles. The club will not be open for winter Wednesday bar nights except for Xmas nibbles on Wednesday 15 December.

31/10/21

The day started very wet and windy; by the time sailing started the very gusty and shifty force 2 to 5 S wind remained but the rain had stopped. There were 2 capsizes. One boat didn't finish because the helm had a very hard bang on the head that needed treatment.

30/10/21

Fortunately although he day started very wet later it was fine and dry for the 24 members who got a lot done at a work party.

24/10/21

A fine forecast with a 12 to 22 mph South wind. I wondered if it would be too windy for me, but sailing was awful; extremely fluky, very little wind in any direction and there was 0.7 knots current. In the first race I was a few inches from the line at the start but had been lapped before I started. At the 2nd race start my boat insisted on turning downstream and I had to complete the 360 turn to start. In the last race I couldn't avoid running into the back of 2 boats near the bank; a huge boat was passing while I was doing penalty turns and although trying to keep near the bank I couldn't stop my boat turning into its path, fortunately he was very slow and engaged reverse, it was impossible to avoid passing in tront of him in contact with his bow.

17/10/21

Although the forecast was a South 8 to 15 mph wind on the water it was a fraction of that in any direction very shifty; awful.

10/10/21

The wind forcast was N 5 to 12 mph but there was was less in any direction and very shifty. There was a bit of stream which made it harder. In the first race Richard thought he may he over the line at the start but it took 10 minutes to cross the line.; he only managed 1 lap while others did 4 laps.
For the 2nd race 7 boats were towed upstream to the Channel Marker bouy. Sailing was much better there and the race back took 20 minutes.

03/10/21

Windy day; SW2-3 gust 4-5; several capsizes. The second race was one lap too long; a squall came through, very wet and and so gusty and shifty it was nearly imposible to sail.

26/09/21

A fine warm day with a SW 8 to 15 mph wind forecast; I was hoping for a reasonble sail. But the wind was much less shifty, variable and patchy. Some boats did twice as many laps as others. Also some weed was pckd up on rudders which killed the speed. There was more gusty wind for the last race and one boat capsized.

19/09/21

The afternoon started very wet and no wind; the 13:00 race was made very short. Fortunately the rain had stopped for the 14:00 race. By the 15:30 race there was even some wind giving a reasoonable sail.

12/09/21

I didn't expect there to be sailing because the forecast was only 1 to 3 mph wind; but it was NE and faily steady that enabled slow progress to be made most of the time.

11/09/21

There were good conditions for the MTT inter club event at Desborough SC.; a fairly steady 9 mph West wind. 5 AQSC were towed to Desborough with masts down because there are low bridges to go under..

05/09/21

Very hot with Force 0-2 E wind; for an Easterly more patchy and shifty than I would have expected.

29/08/21

As a bank holiday weekend no series racing; there was a fun race before and one after tea. A NE 8 to 12 mph wind was a shifty, patchy force 0 to 2. 6 boats raced, 2 cruised and one canoe.

22/08/21

Unusually a steady and consistent WNW 2 gust 3 wind. The Cundy Trophy long distance is usually sailed when there is an Easterly wind but as sailing was good it was run concurrent with the Summer 10 race. The up stream mark was dropped ahead of the lead boat 20 minutes into the race at Rivermead Island at Sunbury. Graham Thompson was 1st on PH (and BH) so won the Cundy Trophy. It was a very enjoyable race.

15/08/21

S to W very varible 8 to 14 mph, force 0 to 2, wind. No one wanted to sail the last race so it was cancelled.

08/08/21

A horrible wet day; no one wanted to sail and all races cancelled.

01/08/21

No wind or current, first 2 races changed to TFC with any propulsion allowed. By 15:00 there was some W wind 0 to 8 moh, very patchy and variable, and the normal 15:30 race was run. At one mark Nigel turned 270 with no change in sail trim. This year most Sundays have had very poor sailing wind.

25/07/21

Terrible, wet most of day. N 0-1 (0-4 mph), very heavy rain, after tea wind died nearly impossible to reach 1st mark, last race cancelled.

18/07/21

A very hot day. Sensible members sought the shaded parts of the quarter deck and a few dogged racers broiled mid-stream. There wasn't enough wind for the 13:00 race. Fortunately a light patchy SSE wind filled for the next 2 races. The committee members present discussed Covid trends. Later the committee decided to abstain from the government's great Covid experiment by prolonging our stage 2/3 protocol for the present. You will find our current guidelines on the website.

11/07/21

Force 0-2, S very variable and patchy,, all over the place, there was more wind than I expectedbut sailing was awful.

04/07/21

Mini open day number 2

30/06/21

Not enough wind for sailing, so I sat around chatting with Don, later David Grigg, Mike H, Jean, Rodger, Gareth and his wife. The apple crumble was good. I needed a good rest, so it was just what I needed. Graham.

27/06/21

A Mini Open Day for members, friends and potential members. Good conditions with a 5-10 mph E to NE steady wind. Attended by 37 people. These included current members, potential members and some of their friends visiting for the first time. A total of 6 boats were used, plus various canoes.

20/06/21

Although there was 0.8 knot current and the wind varied from 1 to 4 mph most of the time sailing was reasonble because it was East to North East and fairly steady.

13/06/21

Hottest day of the year. The lowest wind speed forecast I have seen; 1 mph gust 2 mph any direction. Foretunately at times there was more. There were huge differences in lap times due to some boats having difficulty getting round marks. For the last race boats were towed up to the Channel Marker. Some juniors in Picos had much more fun praticing capsize recovery; a link to some photos taken by Rob Britton https://photos.app.goo.gl/WNdRX89khfVkrmrN9.

06/06/21

With 0.5 knt current it was very hard to make way up stream in the variable N to W, 0 to 8 mph wind. The scheduled series races were replaced with TFC (Training, Fun, Cruising) series races. For the 1st race boats were towed to the Channel Marker to race back. In the last race the lead boat did 5 laps in 24 minutes but couldn't complete the next lap; the race was abandoned at 43 minutes and the last completed lap times used for the results.

02/06/21

The start of Wednesday afternoon activities; there was variety of them and a gentle wind from the East. Nigel and Mike sailed Bosun 34 to the Magpie for lunch. Sonia McGrath and her daughter Isabel kayaked up river with Alastair. Don headed upriver in Aquarius to keep an eye on them. Nigel, Mike and I rearranged some trailers in the trailer park, then I kayaked to Molesey lock in my new kayak. Five of us had food and drink on the quarter deck as the sun set.

30/05/21

At last more like Summer, hot and dry, not much wind, NE to SE 2 to 12 mph;; E component gave better sailing than we have been having. 0.5 knt current.

23/05/21

Nasty day, still like April with heavy showes, 0.7knt current, although the forcast was cool SSW 15 to 30 mph wind; but it was very variable, shifty any direction never above 10 mph but still 2 capsizes.

16/05/21

The weather thinks it is still April with very heavy short showers. The wind was very variable from any direction and often it was hard to make way against the 1 knt current. The 2nd race was very wet.

09/05/21

The forcast was for SE to SW 15 to 25 mph; it was only 7 to 15 mph very variable and patchy. There was some current and it could be deficult to go upstream.

02/05/21

The Met Office forecast was for light winds from directions varying widely during the day. A course was set with an upstream start to a port mark, followed by a downstream starboard and a return to the start line. In the first race Rodger had to be towed up to the start line to be able to start, the wind from the east was indeed very light (the anemometer wasn't rotating) and there was a slight current. The ability to find the wind and keep it powering the sails was critical and the top mark was repeatedly hit while rounding. For the second and third races a strengthening westerly wind with few lulls made for a beat to the port and a run down to the starboard and lap times were greatly reduced. The strength was sufficient for Graham to test and confirm modifications made to the Gull after difficulties experienced during the gusty prior weekend, and also gave subtle pointers, in the form of a couple of capsizes, to Charles, who was sailing a newly acquired Laser for the first time and wasn't used to the jamming mainsheet.

25/04/21

Forecast ENE 15 to 24 mph, fortunately a much better 7 to 14 mph warm and steady breeze gave some close and exciting racing. There were a couple of capsizes and some boats tangled with the Surrey bank and trees. The water is still a little chilly, fortunately for Josh W he only got wet feet. Three canoes were out for a short while until one capsized and got very wet.

18/04/21

Very light air (0-1) made for slow progress, most of it forwards with the occasional drift back. At the upstream gate the wind was usually pointing downstream and at the downstream gate the wind was usually pointing back upstream so mark rounding was easier than expected, albeit slow. During the first race (Sunrise 2) Josh and Mike were very closely matched throughout, with several lead changes. They were each wearing a GPS watch this 3 minute video is rlay of the GPS recording at x 10 speed.
Sunrise Virtual Race Replay: https://youtu.be/A2LkSbmKugo. Josh

11/04/21

Most of the day saw a light breeze (1-2) with a lot of wind shifts. During the otherwise sunny and pleasant afternoon, in race 3 a band of cold and icy rain passed through, with unpredictable gusts to spice up the action. After this rain had stopped the air was very still and it was a crawl to the finish line.
https://youtu.be/ux4-SQP7ckA. Josh

27/03/21

Today should have been the start of the new season racing but delayed for a week due to Covid-19 restrictions. Even without the restrictions we may not have been able to start sailing because the wind forcaste was 20 to 40mph; although it didn't seem that strong.

19/03/21

Today should have been the start of Season Party but cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions.

02/03/21

The Met Office forecast was for light winds from directions varying widely during the day. A course was set with an upstream start to a port mark, followed by a downstream starboard and a return to the start line. In the first race Rodger had to be towed up to the start line to be able to start, the winds from the east were indeed very light at the start of the first race (the anemometer wasn't rotating). The ability to find the wind and keep it powering the sails was critical and the top mark was repeatedly hit while rounding. For the second and third races a strengthening westerly wind with few lulls made for a beat to the port and a run down to the starboard and lap times were greatly reduced. The strength was sufficient for Graham to test and confirm modifications made to the Gull after difficulties experienced during the gusty prior weekend, and also gave subtle pointers, in the form of a couple of capsizes, to Charles, who was sailing a newly acquired Laser for the first time and wasn't used to the jamming main sheet.

04/02/21

The water is just over the bank for the full length of the moorings. There were red board warnings for all reaches of the Thames for all of January.

31/01/21

Every lock had a red strong stream warning board for all of January.

01/01/21

Very little wind but as E I expected sailing to be better than it was; patchy and shifty. Very hot.

01/01/21

New Years Day Sail and Pot luck lunch have been cancelled due to Covid-19 as have all events for the foreseeable future .Every lock has a red strong stream warning board.