International Canoe Open at Oxford Sailing Club
by Gareth Caldwell 14 Oct 2015 12:20 BST
9-10 October 2015
International Canoes at Farmoor © Gareth Caldwell
As the mist lifted over Farmoor reservoir, the sun shone to provide excellent birdwatching conditions... and not a breath of wind.
Friday 9th was the designated training day and 16 boats rigged in anticipation of... well, not a lot really! As the day warmed up, jumpers were discarded and discussions around different boat set-ups were initiated. Thanks to Jim Hunt (HD sails) who provided a focus to the thoughts about sail shapes and boat set up.
As the reservoir surface still resembled a mirror, the fleet were treated to an exhibition of algae surfing. This must be a local tradition as I am not sure that it would catch on any further afield than Oxford. It involves standing on a trailer, getting your mates to push the trailer as fast as they can towards the edge of the water, and then using that impetus to launch yourself into the water on your backside - surfing on the thick green scum - to see if you can beat the trailer into at least waist deep water.
The winner, and only participant, was Jim Champ who won the 'I am a member of the Green Party and don't drive a VW' award. In true VW style, his verbal emissions have been deleted.
Then a faint breeze appeared, and thank you to Simon Hotchin who did an excellent job in running over an hour's short course racing and training in very light conditions.
Wind guru proved accurate for Saturday, and the racing started in earnest. A consistent Force 2 enabled four back-to-back races over a triangle/sausage course. Twenty-three boats competed in some very tight racing with big gains to be made at the windward mark where the shifts seemed to be the largest. The races were turned around very quickly, and guarding the left hand side of the beat seemed to be the agreed strategy.
Congratulations to Robin Wood and Steve Bowen who won the IC and the AC fleets respectively. Fittingly, for the two Welsh sailors, the presentation took place conveniently during the half time interval of the Welsh rugby match. Thank you to Salty Yachts for sponsoring the event... the sailing, not the rugby!
Overall Results: (top five)
ICs
1st Robin Wood 329
2nd Gaz Caldwell 353
3rd John Ellis 334
4th Rob Bell 327
5th P Robin 328
ACs
1st S Bowen 310
2nd T Robertshaw 306
3rd A Gordon 288
4th P Allen 296
5th S Kaczor 299