Phoenix Marine Laser Masters Inlands at Oxford Sailing Club

UKLA Masters Inlands at Oxford © Eddie Mays

UKLA Masters Inlands at Oxford © Eddie Mays

The final event of the 2011 series took place at Oxford Sailing Club 29/30 October attracting an entry of 64. The fleets comprised of 26 standard and 38 radial rigs.

Racing on Saturday took place in 15 knots south westlerly, gusting up to 20 knots during the early part of the day, under skies that became increasingly darker as the day progressed. The first start of the day saw a general recall for the standard rigs and the introduction of the black flag for the week end. Off the start line, the right hand side of the course appeared to be the direction to go to reach the windward mark in a good position.

At the end of Saturday's racing Alan Davis had scored three first places to lead the standard fleet with Gareth Greenfield in second on 11 points and Phillip King in third on 12 points. The radial fleet was almost being dominated by one sailor as well, Ian Jones, having scored two first places. However, he was interrupted by Rob Cage in Race 3. Jones still finished the day in front with Cage in second on 5 points and Ian Gregory in third on 11 points.

On Saturday evening a good proportion of the competitors adjourned to the Bilash Tandoori in Botley for what has become a tradition for the Laser Masters when visiting Oxford. Thanks to Jane Middis for organising and extracting the money from everyone. There were even a few who stayed later to visit the local pubs, obviously had not been working hard enough during the day's sailing!

Sunday's racing took place in a lighter wind that started off from the same direction as Saturday but backed to a more southerly direction during the second race. Strength was of the order of 8 to 10 knots, the lighter wind appearing mid afternoon.

In the standard fleet King read the wind shifts to good effect to score two first places and a fourth but Davis did enough to keep ahead scoring 2, 3 and 3, ending the event on 8 points to King's 10 points. Greenfield scored 2, 9 and 1 to finish in third place on 14 points. Meanwhile in the radial fleet there were no interruptions for Jones who scored three first places. Cage managed to keep ahead of Gregory ending the day on 13 points to Gregory's 18 points.

Results: (overall in brackets)