Comet Open at Up River Yacht Club
by Alex Gore 26 Jun 05:03 PDT
14 June 2026
Up River Yacht Club Comet Open © Andrew Buchanan
Up River Yacht Club welcomed eight Comets to the River Crouch on Sunday 14th June. The conditions were lighter than the previous day when Eyott Sailing Club had hosted their Open Meeting further up the river.
The wind was still fairly decent however, so the Race Officer set the course for the first race downriver, against the tide, towards Fambridge. The expectation being that, with a nice wide-open area out of the moored yachts, we would get some great reaches.
Unfortunately, however, the wind had other ideas and dropped off considerably and it turned into a longer race than expected, with the emphasis on tidal tactics coming to the fore. Eddie Pope took an early lead and kept that position until the finish. Behind him however, there was lots of place changing, Toby Hancox losing out particularly as the fleet overtook from behind in a completely different wind. Ben Palmer and Alex Gore came second and third respectively.
We all came ashore for a delicious lunch to refuel and hydrate and then launched promptly again to fit in two races back-to-back before the tide went out.
The first mark of the second race was downriver against the tide with the rest of the course then back upriver. However, once again, unfortunately the wind had other ideas and this time it completely dropped. As it took so long to get to the first mark, the tide had then turned meaning that short tacking up the bank was the order of the day. The race was finished as we crossed the club line as it started to become increasingly difficult to make way against the tide. Toby, Andy Dale and Eddie had a great battle with them finishing in that order.
It wasn't a surprise therefore when the Race Officer decided to abandon the last race. Despite this, everyone enjoyed the day and said they were already looking forward to next year!
Overall Results: (top three)
1st - Eddie Pope
2nd - Alex Gore
3rd - Toby Hancox