Varsity Match Racing at the Royal Southern Yacht Club

Varsity Match Racing at the Royal Southern © Anthony Butler

Varsity Match Racing at the Royal Southern: The Oxford Seconds team with their prizes (Oliver Granville, Kathryn Twemlow, Bramwell Blower, Glen Gowers) © Anthony Butler

Varsity Match Racing at the Royal Southern: The victorious Cambridge Firsts team (Josh Flack, Hugo Sloper, Tim Gratton, Lisa McDanell) receive the Eurynome Bowl from RSYC Vice Commodore Chris Mansfield © Anthony Butler

Cambridge Firsts won 4 – 1 and Oxford Seconds won 4 – 2 in the Varsity Match Racing held at Royal Southern YC, Hamble in J80s with spinnakers on Tuesday 1 July 2014. After some practice on the Monday afternoon, the event was sailed in classic South Coast sea breeze conditions on the Tuesday, with the wind building to well over 20 knots for the final races – resulting in flag 'G' going up to signal 'no spinnakers'. Each race consisted of two rounds of a simple windward – leeward course, with the J80s showing off their planing capabilities on the running leg.

In the main competition Cambridge opened with a win, but then lost a race – mainly due to main sheet gear failure. However, helmsman Josh Flack brushed this setback aside and showed superior windward skill to take the next three races and secure the Eurynome Bowl for Cambridge. In the second's competition Cambridge won the first two races, but then lost the third – mainly because of miscounting the number of laps. Oxford helmsman Oliver Glanville capitalised on this Cambridge error and, showing better windward speed as the sea breeze built up, went on to win the next three races and so retrieve honour for Oxford.

A big thank you is due to organiser Colin Hall, Race Officer David Arnold and his team, Chief Umpire Chris Simon and his team, and everyone at Royal Southern for running such a successful event and providing clockwork organisation. It is only the second time in 102 years that Oxford and Cambridge have met in a match racing contest. The first ever Varsity encounter took place as a best-of-three match races in dinghies on the River Ouse at Ely in 1912, but adopted a team racing format the following year (1913). This team racing format has continued until the present day, interrupted only by war years, making it the oldest continuing team racing event in the world.

Thanks to the Royal Southern – some 102 years after the first Varsity Match Race, could this be the start of something new?