Nottingham Snakebite - Student Team Racing
by Andrew Kennet 1 Mar 2015 09:05 GMT
21-22 February 2015
Wessex (Southampton) clinch Nottingham's Snakebite in dramatic final with Loughborough
The Nottingham Snakebite was hosted by the University of Nottingham Sport Union Sailing Club at Notts County Sailing Club for the second time since the University moved to it. This is to be the venue for the BUCS/BUSA Team Racing Championships in April, and it proved, once again, to be a friendly, supportive and well-provisioned venue, which bodes very well for the Championships.
What a weekend it has been! This year we saw a wide variety of teams and a whole host of new faces. Friday evening has never failed to disappoint, and this year was certainly no exception. Wessex subsequently reported back on a "huge night of boiler suits, birthdays and boogying". Any headaches were soon removed by the beautiful weather that Saturday presented. Blue skies and perfect wind were a blessing, allowing us to power through the round robin.
Halfway through the day saw very strong starts from a selection of teams: Leeds 1, Loughborough 1, Wessex and Birmingham 3 were all on 4/4. The NOBs (Nottingham old boys) were also on 4/4 at this point, but two consecutive black flags put that record in jeopardy! A particular mention goes to Birmingham 3 who lost their unbeaten run due to what can only described as an unfortunate chain of events, which left them a minute late for their start.
The round robin was cut-off at around 15:30, when all teams had sailed 6 races. Loughborough came out on top with 6/6; joining them in the gold fleet were: Wessex, Leeds, Newcastle 2, Southampton Blue, NOBs and Birmingham 1 who managed to secure a place on points. Sailing continued for another hour squeezing a few more races in for each flight as conditions were predicted to be challenging on Sunday.
All of the teams got involved in the Saturday night's entertainment leaving plenty more sore heads in the morning!
Sunday kicked off bright and early with the first race commencing at 10:00. The wind was great when we arrived at Notts County, but, keeping in mind the building forecast, cut downs got the vote.
Somehow, even after Saturday evening's antics, Wessex absolutely flew, winning all their races in the Gold fleet, leaving them sitting pretty, at the top of the table. The rest of Gold fleet was fiercely competitive, with NOBs finishing 2nd with 75% and Loughborough 1, Southampton Blue and Newcastle 2 all tied on 50% wins in the battle for 3rd place. Loughborough ended up edging it on points and secured their spot in the semi-finals, joined by Newcastle 1 who won the Silver fleet on points over Warwick 1.
The semi's and final showcased some of the best races of the weekend. In the best-of-three semi-finals Wessex just managed to beat Newcastle 1 despite losing the first race, and Loughborough also scraped through in a thrilling final race against NOBs.
With the wind howling and the heavens opening, Wessex and Loughborough took one each for the first two races in the final, taking it down to the very final race of the day (and what a race it was!). Wessex were in a winning 2-3-4 until mark three, which saw a red flag directed their way. Rounding mark 4 in a losing combination, some fantastic work up the final beat saw them overtake Loughborough and end with a 2-3-5 crowning them worthy winners of this year's Snakebite.
The event overall saw some fantastic sailing and a great spirit shown by all the attending teams. The event couldn't have run as smoothly as it did without the tireless efforts of the Notts County SC members. Particular thanks and mentions should extend to the umpires, catering staff and boat lenders, without which Snakebite could not have been the success it was!
Wessex Sailing Club (Southampton University) commented: "....a great weekend! Big thanks to UoN Sailing Club for hosting a cracking event, and we all look forward to being back for BUSA!"
See also www.facebook.com/snakebite2015
The final standings for both the round robin and the Gold, Silver and Bronze flights, before the semis and finals were...
Round Robin:
| Team | Wins | Total Points |
|---|
| Loughborough 1 | 6 | 45 |
| Wessex | 5 | 46 |
| Leeds | 5 | 47 |
| Newcastle 2 | 5 | 51 |
| Southampton Blue | 5 | 56 |
| NOBs | 4.5 | 53 |
| Birmingham 1 | 4 | 55 |
| Birmingham 3 | 4 | 59 |
| Newcastle 1 | 4 | 62 |
| Bristol 1 | 3 | 60 |
| Birmingham 2 | 3 | 62 |
| Bristol 1 | 3 | 63 |
| Bristol 1 | 2 | 63 |
| Warwick 1 | 2 | 64 |
| Kent | 2 | 69 |
| London 2 | 2 | 72 |
| Loughborough 2 | 1 | 78 |
| Bristol 2 | 1 | 78 |
| Hallam | 0 | 77 |
| Kent | 0 | 79 |
| Lancaster | 0 | 82 |
Flights:
| Team | Wins | Total Points |
|---|
| Wessex SC | 4 | 32 |
| NOBs | 3 | 37 |
| Loughborough 1 | 2 | 40 |
| Southampton Blue | 2 | 45 |
| Newcastle 2 | 2 | 47 |
| Leeds | 1 | 42 |
| Birmingham 1 | 1 | 48 |
| Newcastle 1 | 3 | 30 |
| Warwick 1 | 3 | 34 |
| Birmingham 2 | 2 | 40 |
| Bristol 1 | 2 | 43 |
| Bristol 1 | 1 | 44 |
| Bristol 1 | 1 | 51 |
| Birmingham 3 | 1 | 53 |
| Kent | 4 | 35 |
| London 1 | 3 | 35 |
| London 2 | 3 | 35 |
| Lancaster | 2 | 42 |
| Bristol 2 | 1 | 46 |
| Loughborough 2 | 1 | 48 |
| Hallam | 0 | 52 |