Firefly Open at West Oxfordshire Sailing Club

The inaugural West Oxfordshire Sailing Club Firefly Open was held on a blustery Saturday and adopted a sprint format similar to that at the Firefly Inlands last year.

A high points scoring system with the first half of the fleet scoring 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points was used. Soon after the fifth boat had finished, the start sequence for the next race could begin to keep things moving along. Four two-lap races were run in the morning, with a lap taking about 10 minutes. Two two-lap and one three-lap “medal” race with double points were held in the afternoon.

Four visitors made the trip to join five local boats, including some less experienced Firefly sailors taking out club boats in the gusty conditions. Local knowledge of the quirks of the wind was a big advantage with Tony Thresher/Mike Radford leading the first two races by a fair margin with the visitors battling amongst themselves. Subsequent races saw the visitors rapidly tuning in to the lake and pressing Thresher/Radfrod with Steve Greaves/Verity Birch getting clear ahead in race four to take the win.

After a fortifying lunch the fleet set sail again to find that the wind had picked up – at least at the northern end of the lake, although conditions were lighter and shiftier at the southern end. Races five and six saw multiple place changes throughout the fleet with Will Mason/Alannah Witherby and Lucy Boreham/Rachel Crebbin fighting on through the strong gusts.

The lighter crews had the advantage in the south, but Thresher/Radford were able to remain fully powered up on the tight reach back up to the windy north (regardless of how wet his crew was getting) and was able to pull away from Greaves/Birch and Chris Guy/Annie Goss. Thresher/Radford maintained their form in the final race with a close battle between Guy/Goss and Greaves/Birch fighting for second overall.

The fleet then sailed in for tea, homemade cake and prizes.

Local youngsters Tom Lonsdale and Moira Thresher claimed a couple of points and took the junior prize.

Boreham/Crebbin in “Willow” get a “Grace under Pressure” commendation – they had rudder pin issues in the morning and a mainsheet ratchet block shackle failure in the afternoon which was jury-rigged, in the middle of a race. A piece of string just held out to the end of the final race.

Overall the format worked well on WOSC’s small lake and was well received by the competitors. Spectators watching the action from the deck in front of the club house enjoyed the close racing and commented on the friendly Firefly atmosphere off the water. West Oxfordshire SC is looking forward to welcoming a bigger fleet next time.

Overall Results: (high points scoring)