Reading Sailing Club Members

Finally, a return to a Southwesterly wind for the Spring series today. 13 boats took to the water in a Force 3/4 wind. Despite the return of our old faithful wind direction, the shifts were still present.

The Pursuit Race had several close battles, albeit spread across the fleet. Richard, Emily and Hugh, we’re jostling for an advantage throughout the race, Richard however remained ahead at the finish gun.

Up at the sharp end of the fleet, the Solo’s were right on the transom of Chris H in his comet for much of the race. Only Newton managed to get past him, taking 1st in his Solo. Chris H was therefore 2nd. Darren took 3rd.

The Handicap race began with a chaotic start, Mark B tried a port hand flier, but was met by several boats starting on starboard and had to take avoiding action. Darren meanwhile decided not to take part in any of the start procedures, and capsized on the buoy line, producing the only capsize of the day.

Steve S shot off in his Blaze, leaving the rest of the fleet behind. Newton and Hugh followed, fighting for position, with Emily skulking close behind.

Further back, the rest of the fleet were incredibly tight, with 5 boats finishing within 10 seconds of each other.

Steve crossed the line first, followed by Hugh and Newton. On Handicap, Emily took 1st Place in her ILCA 6, followed by Newton (Solo) and Chris H (Comet)

A big thank you to Karen and her team for organizing some great racing today.

A reminder that all of our race teams are sailing club members and volunteers, it costs nothing to thank them at the end of the race to show our appreciation for them giving up their Sunday to run the races for us.

We’re back on Wednesday for the first race of the Commodore’s Cup, with a meal afterwards, hope to see you all there.

Three weeks until our Open Day! Make sure to share with anyone you know who may like to try sailing.

Monday social sailing, a great chance to get out on the water, practice, and meet other people.

Four boats out this week, with plenty of help available for rigging, launching and safety boat cover.

Every Monday afternoon from 13:00-17:00

Another day of shifty winds from the North East as we settle into the Spring Series. A Force 3/4 for most of the race with the odd lull dotted about.

It was great to see 17 boats out today which gave some fantastic racing.

The Pursuit Race started with Adrian in his Avon Scow, followed by Will S in a Topper. They both had a great early race, and it took the rest of the fleet most of the race to get near them. Only in the last minute did Karen get through to finish first in her Comet. Will was second, and Chris H third, also in a Comet. Elsewhere in the race, James P set off too early, who to his credit admitted his error and retired from the race. Darren and Newton in their Solos had a great fight for 4th, but it was Darren who won that particular battle.

An adjusted course for the second race led to a large port end bias, a few in the fleet took advantage of this and sailed clear of the rest of the fleet. Particularly Mark in his Aero, who sailed off into the distance. The pressure must have got to him, as he promptly capsized and ended up retiring.

Hugh and James sailed clear of the fleet, having a great fight the whole way. Not clear enough though, as despite crossing the line 1st and 2nd, the slower boats were too close on Handicap and both were relegated to 4th and 5th.

Will S kept up with the fleet in his much slower Topper, taking advantage of tactics and racing rules to push the much faster boats out at each of the marks.

Will ended up finishing 1st on Handicap by more than a 2 minute margin, followed by Karen 2nd and Newton 3rd.

Thanks to Ron and his team for running the racing today.

Bacon Rolls were also on offer after the racing today, due to popular demand. Made by Ann.

Some lovely sun and force 3 winds from the west today. 11 sailors made it out in some testing winds.

The Pursuit Race was won by Newton (Solo), who extends his lead in the series. Followed by Richard & Louise (2000) and Karen (Comet) in third.

I have no idea what happened in the handicap race, the results haven’t been published due to a query in the results. I’ll leave you to speculate but the only logical explanation I can think of is some form of match fixing by high level figures in organized crime.

Detective Dave is on the case, and the results will be posted in due course.

Plenty of capsizes today, with Ralph, Steve P and Harry P all sampling the water. Rick also had to retire after his rigging broke.

A big thank you to James and his team for organizing the racing and for providing some much needed safety boat cover.

The last Soup Sunday today was Leek and Potato, made by Ann, who also brought cake along.

Congratulations to Reading Sailing Club member and volunteer instructor Emily. Who has been accepted into the British Keelboat Academy. The BKA sponsors and trains young sailors to prepare them for competitive yacht racing. Previous members of the academy have raced around the world including the Vendée Globe and The Ocean Race.

Well done Emily, we are all very proud of you and look forward to seeing where this takes you.

The next round of applications opens in the summer, so if you are aged between 18-25, you can apply. Follow British Keelboat Sailing for more information.

You can find out more about the Keelboat Academy & the training Emily is taking part in here: https://www.rya.org.uk/news/keelboat-academy-2025?utm_campaign=1021603_Member%20News%20-%2028%20Mar%2025&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Royal%20Yachting%20Association%20%28RYA%29&dm_i=7T75,LW9V,39J3GD,1XA94,1

Another day of light winds for the Spring Series. A millpond greeting the 11 racers today with plenty of shifts in the non existent breeze.

The Pursuit Race was won by Karen (Comet), who wasted no time in getting back up to speed returning from her seasonal emigration. Newton (Solo), who, despite heading to the wrong mark, managed to sail back up through the fleet to take second place. Third place was claimed by Richard S (ILCA 6)

The Handicap race was initially led by Ralph, who also managed to miss a mark and subsequently decided he had better places to be and retired. Maybe there’s not enough space to write the course down on these Solo’s!

Karen was therefore first across the line, followed by Newton and Rick (ILCA 7). The only change to the podium once Handicap was calculated kicked was Richard S taking the 3rd place from Rick.

A massive thank you to Steve S and his team who stepped in at the last minute to run the racing today.

The penultimate soup of the day was Carrot and Coriander, made by Ann. All to play for next week as it’s the last Soup on Sunday, and I’ll have no food to report on until the Commodores Cup starts on the 16th April.

Hope to see you all next Sunday for another two races of the Spring Series.

Some shifty Force 3-4 winds in the Spring series today, once again from the North East.

An otherwise cold morning was helped by some sun that was welcomed by the numerous helms that found themselves in the water.

11 Boats took to the water for the Pursuit Race, with plenty of battles being fought. Darren finished first, having passed Newton in the second lap, who finished 2nd, both in Solos. A Solo lockout was prevented by Steve S in his Blaze, who starts last on Handicap, and subsequently made his way up through most of the fleet.

A similar story for the Handicap race, James C and Steve crossed the line several minutes ahead of the rest of the fleet in. James was demoted to 6th on Handicap, whilst Steve took the 3rd position.

Once again, the Solo’s proved dominant. Darren took the win, with Ralph slotting into 2nd.

Thanks to Adrian & Team for an eventful morning of racing, plenty to keep you busy.

The soup for this week was Leek and Potato, made by Dave.

We’re back again next week for some more Spring Series action. Make sure to come down and get some results on the board.

First races of the Spring Series today. Some great weather & a 9kt wind from the North East. 16 boats made it out for some great racing on a challenging course set by Aileen.

The pursuit race was won by Chris H in his comet, who had managed to pass Ron & hold off the Solos further back. The podium was completed by Newton & Darren; both in Solos.

Elsewhere in the fleet, there were several close battles being fought, mainly between the ILCAS.

The Handicap race had a hectic start, Steve S in his Blaze was over & had to cross back through the line. Despite this, Steve worked his way back up through the fleet to cross the line first. Newton, who had a great start and maintained the lead for much of the race, finished second. Hugh crossed the line third. On handicap, Steve was knocked of the podium and demoted to 9th. Newton was 1st overall, Hugh 2nd & Ralph 3rd. Once again, some close racing with boats finishing mere seconds apart.

Soup today was Sweet Potato & Coconut, made by Ann.

A big thank you to Aileen & her team for organising some great racing.

We’re back next week for some more of the Spring Series.

Perfect weather for the weekly Social sailing today.

Now I know what you’re thinking, those aren’t dinghies! Monday afternoons aren’t just for sailing, today was a mixture of paddling, boat maintenance and lots of tea, coffee and cake.

Social sailing takes place every Monday from 1-5pm and there’s no need to sign up. It’s a great chance to meet other members and go for a sail, sort your boat out or just socialise.