Ranelagh Sailing Club National 12 Open Meeting

Held on Sunday 11th March

13 National 12s gathered on the Putney Embankment on a mild Sunday afternoon to compete for the Ranelagh SC National 12 foot Trophy. The raising of the Thames Barrier had removed most of the normal vicious tidal stream, and combined with a gentle breeze from the South West, this promised some good sailing. The normal Ranelagh course was set, consisting of two buoys, one towards Hammersmith and one towards Putney Bridge.

Despite the lack of tide, the traditional running start was maintained. The Meadowcroft and Burnham team (reunited in a N12 for the first time in over 10 years) in N3429 timed the start well and led off the line. Positions oscillated wildly as gusts of wind from astern reshuffled the pack through out the first run. However experience paid and Will and Robert Henderson in N3418 rounded the bottom mark first closely followed by Ian Gore and Alex Harris in N3441. Despite the directional inconsistencies, the breeze held sufficient strength to provide a rewarding first beat. The first two boats maintained their position with Fran Gifford and Neil Ravenscroft in N3431 rounding in 3rd.

Down the second run Mike Cooke and Alison Martin in N3419 found the best breeze and overtook the leaders to round the bottom mark in the lead. Henderson was not giving up easily and retook the lead in the shifts up the beat. The leading boats were all close as they rounded the second windward mark, with Dave and Rosie Greening in N3461 overtaking Gifford to round in fourth place.

The first four positions were maintained during the third lap as the breeze eased, the rain fell and the Thames Barrier was raised to start the tide coming in (again!). Close racing extended throughout the fleet with frequent place changes as the legendary Ranelagh shifts proved a great leveller.

 Surprisingly the fastest crew around course fourth time around was the moderately large Meadowcroft / Burnham crew, despite the wind becoming even more patchy and shifty their technique moved them up into fourth place. However, the leading trio were not to be caught with Henderson winning by over 3 minutes from Cooke and Martin with Gore and Harris third. 
  
Posn	Sail #	Name	          Crew	Home Club
1	3418	        New Isabelle	  Will and Robert Henderson	Salcombe Yacht Club
2	3419	        How Ace Are Aardvarks?	Mike Cooke and Alison Martin	Nottingham Sailing Club
3	3441	       Matilda	          Ian Gore and Alex Harris	Grafham Water Sailing Club
4	3429	        Fools Gold	          John Meadowcroft and Julian Burnham	Henley Sailing Club
5	3461	        Annie Apple	  Dave and Rosie Greening	
6	3410	        Feeling Foolish	 Bim Daser and Georgie Smith	Ranelagh Sailing Club