Lightning 368 open meeting and Derek Bayley Trophy at Cookham Reach Sailing Club

Lightning 368 open meeting and Derek Bayley Trophy at Cookham Reach © Carole Dixon

On 14th July nine visitors from the Lightning fleet arrived at the beautiful Cookham Reach SC to join the four local boats for the annual open meeting held in conjunction with the Derek Bayley Trophy.

However, the wind failed to get the invitation as they arrived to a mirror like River Thames and so the postponement was the first flag of the day. This suited Simon as he had just got off the Red Eye from Toronto and arriving 30 minutes before the first start, thinking he would miss it, had the shock and pleasure of finding his boat already rigged by Penny. We should have taken pictures, it will never happen again. Then again, Robbie still manage the late prize by arriving after Simon!

Race 1 eventually got away with a gentle breeze that made beating against the current very hard but is was Simon and Robbie who met at the first mark, with Robbie on Starboard he forced Simon to do an extra tack which allowed him to round clear and get away on the tide. The extra tack bought Penny right alongside Simon and she sailed through on the run.

Simon then dropped back behind local Andrew Yuille who took the fight to Penny briefly getting ahead before being stuck in no wind at the windward mark. Penny sailed passed and Simon got ahead of Andrew on the run for the finish. Meanwhile Robbie held on for a clear win. Behind these four local Martin Evans followed home ahead of Paul Beven from Up River YC on his first visit to this end of the Thames.

Race 2 was held back-to-back and this turned into a very interesting race. In very little wind it was Penny who go the clear start and found a patch of breeze to sail a long way clear at the first mark. The chasing pack made hard work of it with Robbie getting stuck in the mud at one point, but it was Simon who managed to get clear wind and make second round the mark.

After two laps Penny was half a leg clear of Simon and he was well clear of the pack and heading downwind on the tide when the wind disappeared completely leaving the rest of the fleet struggling to make headway upwind. As Penny headed back up wind she caught the fleet up and fell in the same wind hole allowing Simon to find his own private wind and get right behind her for the run to the finish.

Defying the laws of physics on a light wind run, Simon somehow managed to sneak ahead for the win from Penny. Robbie recovered to take third ahead of Andrew and John Claridge.

The fleet then retired for an excellent Pizza lunch in the sunshine in this lovely setting and were reluctant to go back on the water.

Robbie Claridge, winner - Lightning 368s at Cookham Reach - photo © Carole Dixon

However pizza must agree with Andrew because in a more settled wind off the start line he was away, leaving others to follow in his wake. Penny set off in pursuit ahead of the pack. After a few laps, the Robbie got clear of the pack and started to reel Penny in and their close battle allowed Andrew to hold on for the win. Although Robbie had got through into second upwind on the final run for home, Penny sneaked through to take it off him. Simon bought home the fleet some distance behind holding off a strong challenge from Martin and John C.

Going into the last race there were three different race winners and Penny with a string of seconds, so any one of four could win the meeting. Simon, with jet lag obviously catching up with him, got stuck in the weeds and mud at the start and took himself out of contention early on. It was John Claridge, starting on the far bank, who took the early lead ahead of Robbie and Martin Evans. Penny and Andrew were playing catch up and special mention to Allison Hopkins who had a great first beat and rounded with the chasing pack and yes she was ahead of Simon.

Over the next lap, John lost touch with the leaders and Penny pulled through chasing after Robbie and Martin. Andrew, John and Simon had a very close battle over the next few laps changing positions several times but finished in that order. Up front, Robbie was never headed for his second race win and Martin stayed comfortably clear of Penny in third.

Congratulations to Robbie Claridge whose win in the last race gave him a one-point advantage over Penny Yarwood for the Open meeting win and Simon Hopkins holding a one-point advantage over Andrew Yuille took third. Andrew as the first Cookham boat won the Derek Bayley Trophy ahead of Martin Evan who finished fourth overall.

No rest for the fleet as they now move to West Kirby YC next weekend for the two day Northern Championships.

Andrew Yuille, 4th place and Derek Bayley Trophy winner - Lightning 368s at Cookham Reach - photo © Carole Dixon

Overall Results: