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Ranelagh is a
London Sailing Club founded in
1889 and offers competitive dinghy sailing on the Thames in
central London. We sail in Putney all year round in any of the above classes and
there is Club handicap racing for any dinghies above 1155 Portsmouth Yardstick and up
to 14 feet overall length. See bottom of page for rates or membership link to
left for pro-rated joining amounts and application form. 2012
Events
Eighteen Merlin Rockets were enticed to Putney by the prospect of a down river race into London in a forecast 15 knots with the sun shining. Well, there were 15 knots sometimes and the sun sometimes shone and we definitely raced down river under a lot of bridges. But there was also sometimes a lot more wind, sometimes a lot less and it also rained and hailed sometimes. So the plan was to start at the club and take the ebbing tide down towards the area of Battersea Power Station, turn round and come back against the end of the ebb and then the start of the flood. The start was delayed to ensure there was enough mast clearance under Putney Bridge, and a rule was in place preventing use of spinnakers until clear of this, the lowest of all the bridges. But the tide didn’t start flooding until we were all back and enjoying a lovely chilli. So it was quite a long race. Well over two hours for most. The results aren’t too important, the general feeling in the clubhouse afterwards was that it had been a fantastic race, sightseeing eight bridges (approximately), avoiding the numerous shallow areas, or not really avoiding them but hitting them quite hard. There were a few capsizes and plenty of fill-ups. The wind was gusty and often came from a minimum of three different directions at once. The fleet at times appeared well spread but then came the bridges! A full concertina effect as the leaders struggled to fight the strong tide, having had to come into the middle of the river to go through the correct arch. While the tide was strong under the bridges, the wind doesn’t quite get all the way through, so sometimes you could get half way through only to drift back again. David Vines and Fran Gifford led for most of the race, at one point overtaken by Andy Dalby and Andrea Ralph, but ultimately built a large enough lead that was too great for the fast approaching Mike Stephens and Jodok Gerber to reel in on the long leg home. MJ Gifford and Jon Ibbotson sailed a great race having not even bothered to take a spinnaker with them, to come 5th and Duncan Salmon appeared to be pretty much last before scooting through to 4th at some point….. Bring on more Down River races was the popular consensus, and a big thanks to the Ranelagh committee for making it possible. Results : 1st 3347 David Vines/
Fran Gifford Tamesis RTYC Merlin Open 13th Nov 2011
London Mid Week
Series starts May 10th at 7pm
Results to date Mike Jackson Lark Open Feb 13th 13.00 start Report & Photos Merlin Open April 3rd 13.00 start Full results National 12 Open
December 5th 11.45 Report & Photos
Martyn Harvey Laser Open June 12th Report and photos Merlin Rocket Silver Tiller Open Meeting February 28th 2010, Results and photos 2010 Fullers London
Pride Mid-Week Series finished on August 17th, congratulations to Chris Whitehouse &
Ellie Bremer!
MEMBERSHIP (pro-rated if joining mid
year) Ranelagh Sailing Club |
Ranelagh Sailing Club
