Despite the inaugural meeting of the Ancient Mariners coinciding with the calmest three hours of the summer (gusting 2mph occasionally), six participants (five of retirement age and a younger Tim) turned up and had a good time.

Two pursuit races were undertaken and we had the good fortune to have Janice as race marshall. The early starts that pursuit races afford the Heron (Allan) and Topper (Mark) were, however, not sufficient to beat the four Comets in these conditions.

Much of the time the Comets were close to each other, adding some excitement/challenge, but in the first race Rob had a personalised gust that put him slightly ahead, giving him a clear lead that he did not relinquish. John, Ray and Tim finished in second to fourth place respectively.

Rob retired after the first race (muttering something about being tired after a morning dip in Brockwell Lido) along with Allan (“this boat is just too heavy for these conditions”) but the other four had a good second race with positions as follows: Ray, John, Tim and Mark.

Hopefully the turnout bodes well for future Ancient Mariner races, so if you would like to join them at 2pm on Wednesday afternoons, please contact John to join the WhatsApp group.

(Thanks to John for the race report)