Hansa Class National TT Series at Oxford Sailing Club
by Richard Johnson 28 Aug 2018 07:49 BST
25 August 2018
Saturday 25th August had a good weather window on a bad weekend, with gales and rain either side of a perfect North Westerly 10-15 knots regatta day.
Fleets were reduced because people were preparing for the Hansa Worlds in Japan but there was good quality racing despite this. A trapezoid course with 5-600 metre beats gave room for strategic place changing by sailors who took advantage of big shifts. On the runs, those who successfully goosewinged their jibs overtook less energetic crews who were not always fully powered up.
The small fleet of 2.3s was dominated by Lindsey Burns (2111), admittedly with a slight advantage over second placed Dan Bainbridge and David Price, who sailed very well but probably weighed twice as much, being two-up. For a change, the 2.3s started first, to prevent faster boats invading their start. This worked very well and meant that all fleets finished the half-hour back-to-back races in close order, allowing a quick turn-round.
The Liberties were down to three, as most of the boats are on a freighter to Japan but racing was close, including one particularly well judged port tack start by Paul Phillips (1733) when a left shift heavily biased the start. Chris Emmett was on great form, with good tactics and excellent sail set, to win overall but Paul and David Durston (1890) were always close, sailing old boats as their race-tuned machines headed east. Paul won the first race and David scored second in the last, despite old, baggy sails!
Starting was sharp in the 303 fleet, which meant close racing and playing the shifts to win. Hall and Arkers from Chesil (2314) started with two wins, a second in the afternoon kept them just ahead of rivals the Ethertons from Frensham, so it all depended on the last race. A big left shift turned the race course on its side but that was just like home for the Ethertons, who won the race to be equal points overall but ahead of the Chesil boat with the last race win.
It was just as close in the 303 singles between Margaret Foreman (2747) and James Woosnam (2554), both from Frensham. James won the first race but started last in the second, due to rigging trouble. By lap two, he had remarkably regained all the distance to Margaret, who won, and was convinced that he would have passed her if there had been a third lap. Again they were equal on points, with two wins and two seconds each but James coped better with the big left shift in the last race, leading Margaret and third placed Jessica Campbell – all the way from Scotland – to win the event
Overall Results:
2.3
1st Lindsey Burns, Frensham
2nd Dan Bainbridge & David Price, Oxford
3rd Gregor Parker, Frensham
303 Singles
1st James Woosnam, Frensham
2nd Margaret Foreman, Frensham
3rd Jessica Campbell, South West Scotland
303 Doubles
1st Peter & Peta Etherton
2nd Phillip Hall & David Arkers, Chesil
3rd Colin Freeman & Paul Kingston, Frensham
4th Paul Pearson & John Haward
5th Steve Kitson & Jane Knight, New Forest
6th Jackie Foreman & Sue Fennel, Oxford
7th Siena Mason & Anna Mason, Oxford
Liberties
1st Chris Emmett, Rutland
2nd Paul Phillips, Frensham
3rd David Durston, Whitefriars