UKWA/LWA Inlands Sat 14 & Sun 15 June

Oxford Sailing Club

     Oxford SC put on a beautiful sunny day and even an RAF flypast for a superb turnout of 29 Technos, 22 Raceboards, 13 RS:Xs and 5 Formula sailors as well as 30 Juniors sailing on the Team 15 Course, of whom 8 stayed to sail on the Main Course on the Sunday. However, the beautiful sunshine, as sometimes happens, was not accompanied by similarly splendid wind. Race Officer James Palin was at times beset by 120 degree windshifts and wind strengths from zero to 10 knots within seconds of each other, which made it very difficult indeed to set a start line which was going to be viable for more than a few minutes at a time.
     Nevertheless eventually racing did get underway and it soon became clear that at the front end of all the fleets there was a small group of sailors who did not have to depend on luck, but who were able to get a solid grip of the problems presented by the shifting wind and the occasional puffs. In the Raceboard fleet the leading bunch consisted of Rob Kent, Paul Leone, Bob Ingram, Chris Gibson, Tim Gibson and Annette Kent, who between them filled most of the top six places in nearly every race. Just occasionally someone else got lucky, but consistency was the name of the game.
     At the sharp end the event became a duel between Rob Kent on his Tushingham Lightning 9.4 and International Raceboard Class Association President Paul Leone using a Spanish Aerolite 9.5. Rob only once dropped out of the top two places, which was fortunately his discard, whereas Paul, despite his two wins, was forced to count a 4^th place. Their struggle was complicated by the presence of Chris Gibson on his 9.5 Demon and Bob Ingram and Tim Gibson who were Unlimited on Demon 10.25s. Annette performed miracles on her 8.5 Mistral, her best position being a 3^rd.
     As expected Sunday produced even more unpredictable wind, Chris Gibson winning the first of the two races and Rob Kent winning the second, which for everyone except the leading bunch was finished at mark two on the first lap as the wind faded dramatically. This left Rob with a margin of 3 points over Paul Leone, although in the LWA one-day results which did not include Midland sailors Bob Ingram and Tim Gibson, Paul won the event although he and Rob were on equal points.
     In the RS:Xs  Ali Masters (U20) and Ed Strange (U20) battled it out at the sharp end, and by the end of day one they were on the same points, with two wins and a second apiece. Connor Bainbridge (U17) took advantage of the shifting winds on the Sunday, recording two second place wins which brought him well up the field and he ended the day only two points adrift from Ed. Harriet Ellis (U20) and Kate Strange (U15) enjoyed a titanic battle all weekend, finishing on the same points, with the honours going to Harriet on countback. They pipped Polish sailor Jenifer Kesik (U20) by 4 points.
     The Technos, the biggest fleet on the course, were dominated by Sam Sills (U17) with four bullets and a 2^nd, fortunately for him he was able to discard his 11^th. This kept him well clear of George Bowles (U17) who discarded an OCS in Race 1 and managed to finish just two points ahead of a hotly pursuing Matthew Brown (U17). Kieran Martin (U15) sailed very well to record two 4ths and a 5^th which made him first 6.8 and 5^th Techno overall.
     Joanna Evans (U17) recorded a couple of 4^th places and a 5^th but was forced to count a10th and a 13^th, finishing with 36 points, nevertheless she was well clear of Jade Rogers (U15), also sailing a 7.8 on 50 points. Noelle Finch (U15) finished in 15^th place overall, first girl in the 6.8 fleet.
     From the Team 15 Event on the Saturday 8 sailors stayed on to sail on the Main Course on the Sunday. Henry Bloodworth and Alice Butts battled it out in the 4.5s, with the honours going to Henry and Alice finishing First Girl. Oliver Bradley-Baker and Jack Bailey finished on equal points in the 5.5 fleet, with Oliver winning on countback. Emily Hall was First Girl. Kia Bainbridge was the lone 6.8 Open sailor.
     The Formula guys actually did line up for a start late on the Saturday afternoon when it seemed that at last the wind direction and strength was sufficiently constant. The pre-start period received a sudden injection of drama as Dan Simpson sailed back to the jetty, hastily dumped his board and sprinted up the steps to the cheers of the waiting masses, he certainly looked like a man on a mission. Was it a forgotten tally? No, the piece of rope which he was grasping in his hand as he sped back to his board betrayed the fact that Dan was a victim of the notorious Farmoor Reservoir Nibbling Vole whose favourite food is boom clamp ropes. Dan struggled manfully to replace the offending article as the seconds ticked away to the start. Helpful suggestions were made by Oxford SC colleagues on the lines of “Prior Preparation & Planning” but it seemed that poor Dan was doomed to miss the start. Just as all seemed lost he was saved by his fairy godmother when the wind dropped and the race was binned! Such a shame that Mike Simpson, Dan’s dad, was not there to chronicle the spectacle, he would have enjoyed it!
     Thanks go to all the guys at Oxford SC who made us so welcome, and to all those who made the occasion such a success, the boat crews, the registration and shore staff and of course to all the parents who sacrificed their weekend’s weeding to bring their offspring to the event.

RESULTS:
4.5:
1st: Henry Bloodworth; 2nd Alice Butts
5.5:
1st: Oliver Bradley-Baker
6.8 Open:
1st Kia Bainbridge
Techno:
6.8: 1st: Kieran Martin; 2nd: Adam Purcell; 3rd Kieran Burley
       1st girl: Noelle Finch
7.8: 1st: Sam Sills (also 1st Techno overall); 2nd: George Bowles;
     3rd: Matthew Brown; 1st Girl: Joanna Martin
Raceboard 9.5/8.5:
1st: Rob Kent (also 1st overall & 1st Master); 2nd: Paul Leone; 3rd: Chris Gibson (also 1st Vet); 1st Lady: Annette Kent
Unlimited:
1st: Bob Ingram
RS:X:
1st Youth: Ali Masters (& 1st Overall); 2nd Youth: Connor Bainbridge
1st Open: Ed Strange; 1st Lady: Harriet Ellis

UKWA/LWA INLANDS OXFORD SC SAT 14/SUN 15 JUNE 2008 4.5 Fleet Discards:2 Rank SailNo Helm Age Sex R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 Total Nett 1st 4.5 T 852 Henry Bloodworth U15 -1 -2 1 1 1 1 1 8 5 2nd 4.5 T 9688/B3GW Alice Butts U15 F -2 1 -2 2 2 2 2 13 9 5.5 Fleet Discards:2 Rank SailNo Helm Age Sex R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 Total Nett 1st 5.5 T 9694 Oliver Bradley-Baker U15 -2 -2 1 1 2 2 1 11 7 2nd 5.5 T 9786 Jack Bailey U15 M 1 1 2 2 1 -3 -4 14 7 3rd 5.5 T 9774 Robert York U15 M -3 3 -4 3 3 1 3 20 13 4th 5.5 T 808/03 Robert Giffiths U15 4 -5 3 -5 4 4 2 27 17 5th 5.5 T 714 Emily Hall U15 F -5 4 -5 4 5 5 5 33 23 6.8 Fleet Discards:2 Rank SailNo Helm Age Sex R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 Total Nett 1st 6.8 O 679 Kia Bainbridge U15 -1 -1 1 1 1 1 1 7 5 Raceboard: Discards:1 Rank SailNo Helm Age Sex R1 R2 R3 R4 R6 R7 Total Nett 1st RB 9.5 919 Robert Kent M M 2 1 1 2 -8 1 15 7 2nd RB 9.5 1111 Paul Leone M M 1 -6 4 1 2 2 16 10 3rd RB UL 164 Bob Ingram M M 4 2 3 3 3 -6 21 15 4th RB 9.5 0 Christopher Gibson V M 6 3 OCS 6 1 3 42 19 5th RB UL 40 Tim Gibson M M DNC 5 2 4 6 4 44 21 6th RB 9.5 918 Annette Kent M F 3 -12 8 7 5 7 42 30 7th RB 9.5 843 Adrian Rippinston V M -11 7 10 9 7 5 49 38 8th RB 9.5 9383 Andy Lacey V M 9 4 -11 11 4 11 50 39 9th RB 9.5 537 Rod Davis V 5 8 5 OCS 10 12 63 40 10th RB 9.5 580 Russ Canning V M 7 14 7 8 9 DNC 68 45 11th RB 9.5 267 Douglas Starr M M -16 11 6 13 12 9 67 51 12th RB UL 353 Paul Robinson V M 8 -17 14 16 11 10 76 59 13th RB 9.5 531 Jonathan Davis - M 14 -15 13 12 15 8 77 62 14th RB 9.5 9896 Adrian Brearley V M 12 13 16 -19 14 15 89 70 15th RB 9.5 587 Mike Crowther V M 15 -16 15 14 13 14 87 71 16th RB 9.5 416 Alan Jackson V M 13 10 DNC 5 DNC DNC 97 74 17th RB 9.5 666 Dick Pratt V M 10 9 9 DNC DNC DNC 97 74 18th RB 9.5 868 Bill Keeling V M 18 DNC 12 10 17 DNC 103 80 19th RB 9.5 7282 Brian Tilbury V M 17 DNC 18 15 16 16 105 82 20th RB 9.5 9931 Simon Squires M M -19 19 17 18 19 13 105 86 21st RB 9.5 774 Peter Ash ? M -20 18 20 17 18 17 110 90 22nd RB 9.5 538 Janet Pain V F -21 20 19 20 20 18 118 97 DNC/OCS = 23 Techno Discards:1 Rank SailNo Helm Age Sex R1 R2 R3 R4 R6 R7 Total Nett 1st T7.8 60 Sam Sills U17 1 1 1 1 -11 2 17 6 2nd T7.8 422 George Bowles U17 OCS 2 3 2 1 4 42 12 3rd T7.8 453 Matthew Brown U17 M 3 3 2 3 -7 3 21 14 4th T7.8 175 Charlie Money U17 7 6 -11 5 3 1 33 22 5th T6.8 9562 Kieran Martin U15 M -8 4 4 7 8 5 36 28 6th T7.8 9730 Louis Morris U17 M -10 5 10 6 4 6 41 31 7th T7.8 579 Josh Leadbetter U17 M 2 7 -14 9 5 13 50 36 8th T7.8 717 Joanna Evans U17 F 4 13 5 4 -18 10 54 36 9th T6.8 9651 Adam Purcell U15 M 5 10 8 14 2 -25 64 39 10th T7.8 9689 Jade Rogers U15 F 11 8 9 8 -17 14 67 50 11th T7.8 425 Sam Jenkins U15 M 9 -18 6 17 6 18 74 56 12th T6.8 9745 Kieran Burley U15 -25 14 12 10 10 11 82 57 13th T7.8 A/9652 Sam Conroy U17 M -26 9 13 11 12 12 83 57 14th T7.8 9831 Tom SQUIRES U17 M 14 -17 7 13 14 15 80 63 15th T6.8 9703 Noelle Finch U15 F 16 19 -20 12 15 8 90 70 16th T6.8 9597 Stuart Hards U15 M 6 15 OCS 19 9 21 100 70 17th T6.8 155 Sebesatian Cooper U15 -21 11 15 21 16 20 104 83 18th T7.8 653 Nicola Granger U17 F 12 12 17 20 -24 24 109 85 19th T6.8 9731 Laurel Townsend U15 M 17 21 21 -23 21 7 110 87 20th T6.8 956 Saskia Sills U15 F 15 16 22 15 19 -23 110 87 21st T6.8 994 Amy Barratt U15 F 20 26 24 -28 13 16 127 99 22nd T6.8 561 Imogen Sills U15 F 24 22 18 16 25 -26 131 105 23rd T6.8 9640 Conor Wells U15 M 22 23 19 24 -26 17 131 105 24th T6.8 286 Luke Raistrick U15 M 13 20 OCS 22 28 22 135 105 25th T6.8 9747 Max Bushell U15 M 23 25 DNC 18 20 19 135 105 26th T6.8 343 Andrew Robinson U15 M 27 -28 23 25 23 9 135 107 27th T7.8 9710 Riley Harber U17 M 18 24 16 27 DNC DNC 145 115 28th T7.8 699/15/9695 Robyn Robinson U17 F 19 27 25 -29 22 27 149 120 29th T7.8 767 Caitlin Kennedy U17 28 -29 26 26 27 28 164 135 DNC/OCS = 30 RSX: Discards:1 Rank SailNo Helm Age Sex R1 R2 R3 R4 R6 R7 Total Nett 1st RSX Y 41 Ali Masters U20 M 1 -2 2 1 1 1 8 6 2nd RSX O 35796 Ed Strange U20 DNC 1 1 2 5 3 26 12 3rd RSX Y 678 Connor Bainbridge U17 2 5 3 -8 2 2 22 14 4th RSX Y 1641 Jamie Ingram U20 M 4 4 -8 3 3 7 29 21 5th RSX Y 446 Tom Owen U17 M 5 3 4 7 4 -9 32 23 6th RSX O 2/964 Ashley Barratt