K6 Open at Oxford Sailing Club

by Dave Hall 10 Apr 2019 10:33 BST 6-7 April 2019

Oxford SC provided the only inland event the K6 class have in their calendar. A healthy fleet of 12 boats turned up with boats from as far as Torbay and Essex.

Saturday's weather provided a gusty and typically shifty NE wind ranging from 8 18 knots. Neil Fulcher & Luka Crispin were first out of the blocks winning the first two races. Their march on the last was stolen by Peter & Jasper Kirkby who took the lead from the start winning by quite a margin while the rest of the fleet fought for the minor places. In the background was Harry & George Barker who in the tricky conditions were putting in a constant set of results while most of the fleet were swapping places with the front and the back.

The course was shared with the Contenders and D Ones which made for some interesting manoeuvres as the shifting wind often meant urgent action to avoid fallen boats. Adding to that the fleet did not help itself with Dave Halls daughter Laura falling out the boat and Richard Addison doing a bit of spear fishing with his pole.

The fleet retired to the bar and later to the local pub for food and drink, a tradition that keeps the fleet together socially and means good mannered racing most of the time.

Sunday's wind was from the same direction but considerably lighter. Neil and Luka took the first gun but as the wind dropped it was the local team of Mike Trueman & Martin Gibson who showed the fleet around the reservoir winning then next two races. The rest of the fleet sharing places throughout the race from 2nd to last in the shifty conditions. It was however, once again in the background Harry who with a string of seconds won the event without winning a race. It was a well-deserved victory in very trying conditions.

Overall Results:

Pos	Helm	Crew	Club	Sail No	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	Harry Barker	George Barker Miles Roebuck	Oxford	105	2	2	‑8	2	3	2	11
2	Neil Fulcher	Luka Crispin	Stone	222	1	1	6	1	‑7	5	14
3	Mike Trueman	Martin Gibson	Oxford	172	‑6	5	3	6	1	1	16
4	Dave Hall	Laura Mold	Blackwater	142	5	‑9	4	3	4	3	19
5	Fraser Elms	Georgie Smith	Hayling Island	166	‑7	3	5	7	2	4	21
6	John Tabor	Dan Robins	Oxford	122	3	‑7	7	5	5	6	26
7	Tim Williams	Rob Gutteridge	Oxford	189	4	8	‑9	4	6	8	30
8	Julian Cook	Caroline Aisher Hugo	Royal Torbay	164	8	6	2	8	(DNC)	DNC	37
9	Peter Kirkby	Jasper Kirkby	Queen Mary	216	9	4	1	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	40
10	Paul Owen	Amy Owen Ollie Owen	Oxford	124	‑11	11	10	9	8	7	45
11	John Adcroft	Steve Dewberry	Aldeburgh	109	10	10	11	10	10	(DNC)	51
12	Richard Addison	James Bennett	Queen Mary	10	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	11	9	9	55