UKWA Inlands Championships Event 4 & LWA Summer Series Event 6:

Oxford Sailing Club - Farmoor Reservoir:

Photos by Andy Watkinson          Selection 1          Selection2

We seem to have been lucky with the sunshine at Oxford these last few years but not so fortunate with the wind. The event got off to a slow start on the Saturday morning as we had to wait for the wind to decide exactly which direction it was going to blow from. As there was a large element of northerly, -not the best direction for this venue - the wind came round either the left or the right side of the hill. Two courses were laid, one for the Juniors under Tessa Ingram and the main course under James Palin.

There were 34 Raceboards, 23 Technos, 13 RS:Xs, 8 Formulas and 10 Juniors. The main course consisted of sausages and boxes, with the number of sausages been displayed on the back of the committee boat. This caused some confusion in the Raceboard Fleet, some of whose members appear to be having trouble counting up to 2!

In Race Two because of the light winds, the Race Officer decided to shorten the course at Mark Two, at the end of the reach. The first three sailors, Chris Gibson, Ady Rippingston and John Pete decided that they had to do yet another sausage, which left Bill Keeling in fourth place - who couldn't believe his luck -  a clear run to the next mark and the finish line. Having missed out a sausage in Race One, Bill must have been counting on his fingers and by the time they had realise their mistake Bill had pumped his way over the line and was celebrating his first ever race victory in a UKWA event.

Two more lightish wind races were sailed on the first day by the end of which  Paul Leone was leading the Raceboards, (Andy Mexome who had started the day with a win and a 3^rd place having had to depart early), Jamie Ingram the RS:Xs, Kieran Martin the Techno 7.8s and Adam Purcell the 6.8s. Meanwhile the Juniors had completed a total of 9 races!

Hopes were high for some better wind on the Sunday and we were not disappointed, although it was quite cold and sunshine was not part of the deal! However it was more like real windsurfing and the wind got up sufficiently for the Formula fleet, forced to sunbathe on the Saturday, to be able to squeeze in 6 races!

It was all a matter of being in the right place for when the gusts arrived and it was something of a lottery, now the right side would pay off and then the left, you'd get three quarters of the way to the mark only to find that the alternative unlikely choice would turn out to be the correct one! In the stronger winds Raceboards Mark Kay and Rob Kent began to edge out Paul Leone who seemed to suffer more as the wind increased. Youth Sam Jenkins began to pull out the stops and impressed mightily to take 6^th overall. In the other fleets the overnight leaders mostly consolidated their positions and in the Formulas Keith Atkinson dropped only one race to George Riach.

Tessa Ingram managed to fit in nineteen - yes, nineteen! races on the Junior Course, which kept the youngsters busy and no doubt they all fell asleep on the way home!

All in all a very enjoyable event and our thanks go to Bill Proctor and his team at Oxford SC and all the other helpers without whom the event would not have been possible.

 

 

RESULTS:

 

34 Raceboards:

 

1^st                    Mark Kay

 

2^nd                   Robert Kent

 

3^rd                    Paul Leone

 

1^st Youth            Sam Jenkins (6^th overall)

 

1^st Lady            Annette Kent (9^th overall)

 

1^st Unlimited John Pete (10^th overall)

 

1^st Vet             Tom Naylor

 

13 RSXs:

 

1^st                    Jamie Ingram

 

2^nd                   George Bowles

 

3^rd                    Charley Money

 

1^st Girl             Chloe Bennett (7^th overall)

 

23 Technos:

 

1^st 6.8              Adam Purcell (2^nd overall)

 

2^nd 6.8             Robert York (6^th overall)

 

3^rd 6.8             Max Bushell (8^th overall)

 

1^st 6.8 Girl              Imogen Sills (11^th overall)

 

1^st 7.8              Kieran Martin (1^st overall)

 

2^nd 7.8             Jade Rogers (3^rd overall & 1^st girl)

 

3^rd 7.8             Kieran Burley (4^th overall)

 

8 Formulas:

 

1^st Open              Keith Atkinson

 

1^st Master            Tim Gibson

 

1st National             

 

 Chris Bond (3^rd overall)

 

10 Junior Fleet:

 

1^st 3.5              Rebecca Kent

 

1^st 4.5              Sarah Labourne

 

2^nd 4.5                        Zed Spencer-Milnes

 

1^st 5.5              Ruben Lansley

 

For full results please go to www.ukwindsurfing.com or www.results.eskdale.org or www.windsurfingresults.co.uk