Minima YC May Merrie - Bank Holiday Race 2008

Minima’s Bank Holiday race this year was dedicated to raising money for the RNLI, with the open competition dubbed the RNLI Round the Island Race; more properly, Round the Islet, as the island in question is called Ravens Ait, measures about 100 yards by 50, and is situated in the Surbiton reach of the Thames. Ait or Eyot is Thames-speak for small island.

A brisk north-easter had competitors wondering if the lifeboats’ services might not be required in earnest, as balloons handed to your correspondent by the fund raising team for boat decoration purposes promptly blew away, but in the event there were no capsizes, although several crews came close. It probably made force 3-4 at times, which is Thames-speak for howling gale. Certainly some of the Ents were close to planning, which is a rare treat for us river folk.

The race was dominated on the water (although not after Minima’s handicappers had done their calculations) by two A Raters from Thames Yacht Club, Lady Iona and Lady Jane, which was no suprise as the course was six circuits of the aforementioned Ait, which is right on Thames’s doorstep. Their shorter-masted competitors strove to get in the way at times, as the channels round the island were cramped for space, but the Rater helms threaded their way without much difficulty through the 15-strong fleet and displayed a sound understanding of the racing rules.

Typically for the river there was as much excitement dodging the bank holiday cruiser traffic as there was from other competitors, with the Raters, Merlins and Enterprises sorting themselves out into small groups in that order fairly soon into the race. For once there was enough wind to blow the diesel fumes away.

The race raised some £2,000 for the RNLI, largely thanks to Barclay’s Bank and Legal & General, who matched pound for pound sponsorship raised by employees who took part. Organiser Giles Hobart was rewarded for his efforts with victory in the Minima May Merrie Trophy. His Topper, biblically, was last on the water, first on handicap.

Prizes were presented by the Mayor of Kingston-upon-Thames, Councillor Shiraz Mirza, whose cheerful speech stressed the value he felt river recreational activities represented for the borough, hopefully a good omen for Minima’s attempts to acquire its freehold from its landlord, Kingston Council.

Results (Minima unless stated):

RNLI Trophy.
1 Ben Marshall, Alex Cane (Merlin); 2 Martin Hunter, Sue Williams, Alistair McDonald (Thames, A Rater); 3 Dennis Lockwood, Erica Bishop (Merlin).

May Merrie Trophy.
1 Giles Hobart (Topper); 2 Andy Banks, Jackie Griffin (Enterprise); 3 David Cane, Valerie Edwards (Enterprise).

John Forbes, Minima