GJW Direct Firefly Vines Trophy at Itchenor Sailing Club

Firefly Vines Trophy at Itchenor © Philip Pascall

Firefly Vines Trophy at Itchenor © Philip Pascall

The weekend of 29th & 30th of June saw the 4th of the 5 events in the GJW Direct sponsored Vines trophy for the Firefly fleet.

Itchenor Sailing club were the fantastic hosts, having already been abound with Fireflys all week. The National Schools Championships had been hosted by the club for the previous five days, with an impressive fleet of 38 Fireflys from ten different schools competing for the honours. The Firefly fleet was won by Sam Jenkins and Owen Hallett of Magdalen College (results here). Once the juniors had vacated the premises the seniors (some more senior than others) took over.

The sun was shining and a reasonable breeze took the fleet out to the harbour for the relaxed 1pm race. The race got away first time with current and multiple champion Stuart Hudson showing the fleet the way, ably assisted by Jo Findlay. Steve Greaves and Kate Fairclough were passed by ex local Guy Davison showing he'd not forgotten the tidal tricks.

Race two was won at a canter by the light weight pairing of Arthur Henderson and Annie Sibthorpe, justifying why Arthur was chosen to coach the young Firefly sailors the previous week.

The final race saw Greaves and Fairclough learning from their previous mistakes to make them the third different boat to win a race, followed closely by light wind specialist and father and son pairing of Josh and Tristan Richardson.

Sunday morning was a little misty, but the sun quickly burnt that off and a descent sea breeze made for good racing for the final three back to back races. The black boat started day two as it ended day one winning from the consistent Hudson and Findlay. Arthur and Annie won again in race five, with Arthurs mum and dad, Will and Mandy Henderson having a better race in 3rd.

All was to play for in the final race with Greaves and Fairclough initially leading the fleet. Their confusion over the windward mark allowed Hudson & Findlay to slip into a slim lead which they doggedly held on to for the overall win. Greaves & Fairclough did enough to take second overall. Arthur and Annie slipped back in the final race but secured third overall.

A pleasant sail back to the club for tea, cakes and medals topped off a fantastic weekend. Itchenor has been a favourite throughout the 67 year history of the Fireflys and we will be as eager to return again next year.

Overall Results: