Please select your home edition
Edition
SOUTHERN-SPARS-OFFICIAL-SUPPLIER-52-SS 728-X-90 TOP

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

by Simon Hopkins 17 Jul 23:15 NZST 13 July 2024
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.

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.

Overall Results:

PosBoatSail NoHelmClubR1R2R3R4Pts
1Buzz427Rob ClaridgeLymington YC1‑3315
2Mischief425Penny YarwoodUp River YC222‑36
3Mjolnir428Simon HopkinsUp River YC314‑68
4Fun Thing446Andrew YuilleCRSC‑44149
5JayCeeBee3403Martin EvansCRSC5‑85212
6Filmore448John ClaridgeLymington YC‑756516
7 325Paul BevenUp River YC69‑11722
8Fright'ning431Duncan WattsCRSC‑967922
9 407Bryan WestleyChase SC879‑1124
10 337Paul TaylorBurghfield SC‑111081028
11Paprika334Allison HopkinsChase SC‑121112831
12 114Keira SwinneyCRSC10‑12101232
13Bluebell167Elanwy HopkinsChase SC131313(DNC 14)39

Related Articles

Lightning 368 National Championships at Chase
A fantastic weekend of competitive racing, excellent weather, and social fun The 2024 Lightning 368 National Championships, held at Chase Sailing Club on the 14th and 15th of September, was a fantastic weekend of competitive racing, excellent weather, and social fun. Posted on 18 Sep
Noble Marine Lightning 368 Inlands at Oxford
A fantastic turnout of 21 boats greeted by a glass like lake On Saturday 17th August a fantastic turnout of 21 boats arrived at Oxford Sailing Club for the Inland Championship to be greeted by a glass like lake surface without a breath of wind. Posted on 19 Aug
Chase SC to host Lightning National Championships
Alongside D-Zero open meeting in September On the weekend of September 14th and 15th 2024, The Chase Sailing Club will become a bustling hub of competitive sailing as it hosts the Lightning National Championships and Devoti D-Zero Sailing Open. Posted on 2 Aug
Noble Marine Lightning 368 Northerns at West Kirby
A fantastic turnout of 24 boats A fantastic turnout of 24 boats arrived to contest the two-day Northern Champs held on the marine lake at West Kirby SC over the weekend of 20-21st July 2024, including 17 visitors from as far away as Kent and Essex. Posted on 1 Aug
Noble Marine Lightning 368 Southern Championship
Training and Open Weekend held at Up River Yacht Club The latest event of the Noble Marine Lightning Travellers, took the fleet to Up River Yacht Club, for the Southern Championships. Posted on 28 Jun
Lightning 368 Noble Marine Sea Championship 2024
Held during the Lymington Dinghy Regatta The Lightning 368 Sea Championship was once again part of the Lymington Dinghy Regatta held over the weekend of 1st and 2nd June 2024. Posted on 25 Jun
Lymington Dinghy Regatta 2024
120 boats battle it out as the sun shines and the wind blows Once again the Lymington Dinghy Regatta hit its 120-boat entry limit before the weekend of racing. Locals and visiting sailors from as far away as Scotland enjoyed this fun event hosted jointly by the two Lymington clubs every year for the last decade. Posted on 5 Jun
Bartley Lightning 368 Open
A challenging South-Easterly breeze for the fleet Twelve visitors joined a single local boat at the Bartley SC Lightning 368 Open on May 12th. The fleet were greeted with a south-easterly but shifty wind which was to prove challenging for all. Posted on 17 May
Lightning 368s at Winsford Flash
A visiting fleet of 11 boats joined the 3 local boats A visiting fleet of 11 boats joined the 3 local boats for the opening Lightning 368 Travellers event of 2024 at Winsford Flash Sailing Club in Cheshire. Posted on 22 Apr
Lightning 368 Rum & Mince Pie Open
Season ends with Travellers Trophy awarded The traditional Rum & Mince Pie season curtain closing event of the 2023 Noble Marine Insurance Lightning 368 Travellers Trophy series took place at West Oxfordshire SC on Saturday, the 11th of November. Posted on 13 Nov 2023
ETNZ Store 2024 728x90 BOTTOMMotomuck SaltyMuck Static 728 x 90 px BOTTOMLloyd Stevenson - Catalyst Yacht Tender 1456x180px BOTTOM