Up River Race – 27 Sept report by Camilla Sellars
Race Officer: Gerard Downes, Starting: Gerry Marling-Roberts, Safety Boats: Cassie Strang, Sam van Holthe, Andrew Duncan, Timor Karavan, Charles Cooke-Hurle, Movement of Trolleys: Vova Karavan, Refreshments: Maria Stratton
The annual Up River Race was much anticipated in our household, although when the day dawned, the usual logistical challenges almost defeated us. Thanks must go to Vova Karavan and his trolley transport, saving us all having to make our own arrangements, and leaving me with no excuse to stay at home. In the event, Pippa and I are very glad we sailed, although if we’d managed to inch past Jeremy Bennett to finish in first place then we wouldn’t be having to write the report!
Younger daughter Pippa declared that she would helm Little Shrimp, and I would crew. With a gentle southerly breeze, it turned out to be almost a straight downwinder, and after the start at Needs Ore we didn’t tack once the whole way upriver. There were the usual decisions to be made; Which side of the pontoons? And how daring could we be cutting the corners where it looked a tad too shallow? My suggestions in most cases were swiftly overruled by Pippa, who made some excellent decisions and put me firmly in my place. As we left Needs Ore behind us, Jeremy Bennett was in the lead, followed by Lizzie Anders and then ourselves. The first two scows went one side of the pontoon off Gins and we decided to take the other side. Not long after that, we reconverged with Jeremy in ‘Leeward’ but had somehow lost Lizzie. As we chased Jeremy downwind – true to form, he did indeed stay to leeward of us almost all the way, while ‘Windward’ remained (yes, you guessed it) to windward of us – the gap between us and the remainder of the fleet widened and we spent most of the race in a battle for first and second. We listened nervously for the whoosh of the whole fleet catching us up from behind, but as it happened, that fateful gust in favour of the others never arrived, and we managed to keep our distance. Behind us, a separate mini-race was going on between Bill Osbourne-Young, Red and Cleo Johnson, and Karl and Zoey Liebat, and a few minutes behind them, other small battles were being fought.
So it went on, past Bucklers Hard (where we briefly overtook Jeremy and thought he might have to tack to avoid the riverbank, but he didn’t) and on round a couple more bends (where we were certain that Jeremy had run aground, so we overtook him again) and on towards the finish line where again we were briefly in first place until some dastardly trees thought better of our plan and Jeremy nonchalantly sailed past us. Jeremy Bennett crossed the finish line first, winning the Pleydell-Bouverie Oar, and Pippa and I finished in second place, with Pippa awarded the historic Toddy Spoon as the first lady helm, and in third place was Bill Osbourne-Young.
Maria Stratton and her family were ready to welcome us all with a fabulous spread of tea, cake and Pimms as the assembled sailors gathered to congratulate the prizewinners, thank all of the race crews who had made the adventure possible, and look forward to autumn sailing at the top of the river.
- 544 – Jeremy Bennett – Pleydell-Bouverie Oar
- 561 – Pippa & Camilla Sellars – Toddy Spoon
- 594 – Bill Osbourne-Young
- 589 – Red & Chloe Johnson
- 421 – Karl & Zoey Liebat
- 449 – Ben & Polly Savage
- 464 – Bill Slee & Sophia Moore
- 454 – Kit Fothergill
- 550 – Lizzie Anders
- 600 – Mary Montagu-Scott & Claudia Downes
- 599 – John & Lindy Morgan
- 400 – Miranda Knowles & Geraldine Osbourne-Young
- 301 – Jo Cooke-Hurle & James McStay
- 485 – Lucy Bennett
- 530 – Tim Robinson & Kate Bicket
- 346 – Lara & Sophia Shillito
- 358 – Alexander & Fiona Duncan
- 252 – Simon Gibbs