Vintage Twelves at Henley
7 Vintage National 12s made their way to Henley on the 14th
September for an afternoon of racing with competing boats varying between N504
and N2802.
In the first race, John Meadowcroft crewed by Mandy Thornton in N504
led off the line and to the 1st buoy. However, by the 2ndmark, Brian Herring in N1673 crewed
by Ros Stevenson had overtaken on the inside. He was closely followed by Dave Croft, crewed by Abbie Croft in
N2304 and Alan Cadwallader in N2802 crewed by Stephen Gent. The next beat saw Meadowcroft regain the
lead, and during the long run back to the club a vicious gust took Herring for
an early bath. At the bottom mark,
Croft regained the lead which he held from Meadowcroft and Cadwallader until
the finish.
For the 2nd race, N504 now sailed by John Thornton and Katy
Meadowcroft had a good start and by the first mark had a good lead over the
rest of the fleet. However, on the run
back down Croft made it into the lead, with Ken Goddard, in N2300 crewed by
Karen Cadwallader making it into third place, positions that were held to the
finish.
After a short tea and cake break, it was back to the sailing with 2nd
place still up for grabs. Herring lead
off the start, but the early leaders stopped at the first corner allowing N504
(now back with John Meadowcroft and Mandy Thornton) to sneak through into the
lead. This was extended through the
race with Crofts getting into 2nd place.
1st |
N2304 |
Lysistrata |
Dave Croft |
Abbie Croft |
Henley |
2nd |
N504 |
Wanton |
John Meadowcroft |
Mandy Thornton |
Henley |
3rd |
N1673 |
Let’s Go |
Brian Herring |
Ros Stevenson |
Winsford Flats |
National Twelve Open Meeting at Henley
Sunday 15th September was the National 12 Open Meeting for
National 12s at Henley Sailing Club. With a fleet of 16 boats and a reduced
river level, the OOD decided to split the fleet into four flights for the
racing.
The first race started in a light breeze and both fleets were quite compact. There were holes aplenty, so keeping a good look out was as important
as sailing! In the first flight, Dave Wilkins crewed by wife Frances and
sailing in a borrowed twelve (N3460), led off the line and held off Gerry
Ledger and Liz Ross all the way to the finish.
In the 2nd flight, which was very line shy, Geoff Camm crewed
by Katherine Ingham in another borrowed boat, N3469, also managed to work his
way into the lead up the first beat. John Thornton crewed by Mandy Thornton in
N3468 worked their way up through the fleet to finish second, closely followed
by Stephen Gent and Vivian Roberts in N3221.
After lunch, reports of wind further up river convinced the OOD to have
one race up river to a committee boat finish and then start the last race
starting from the committee boat to race back to the Club for tea.
The Wilkins again showed good boat speed in the 1st flight
with close racing against the Thorntons pursued by Dave Greening crewed by
daughter Josie in 3471. In the other
flight, Camm again took the gun from Dave Croft crewed today by Caroline Croft
in N2935 to leave the 3rd race as the decider!
The 1st flight was the competition for 3rd place
with Will Henderson crewed by son Arthur
getting the early lead,the Thorntons and Ledger were always on his heels
but only managed to get close enough to scare Henderson at the finish. In the 2nd flight, a start line
incident between the Meadowcrofts and the Wilkins allowed Camm to get
away. Croft and Wilkins gave chase but
Camm always had speed when required.
Back to the Clubhouse for a full Henley Tea on the lawn – with lots of
thanks to Jeff and Jane Manning and their race team for all of their hard work
during the day.
1st |
N3469 |
Thanks for all the Fish |
Geoff Camm |
Katherine Ingham |
Shoreham |
2nd |
N3460 |
Feeling Frantic |
Dave Wilkins |
Francis Wilkins |
Spinaker |
3rd |
N3418 |
New Isabelle |
Will Henderson |
Arthur Henderson |
Salcombe |
4th |
N3468 |
Pillow Fight |
John Thornton |
Mandy Thornton |
Henley |
5th |
N2935 |
Close to the Edge |
Dave Croft |
Caroline Croft |
Henley |