Invitation Trophy at Oxford University Yacht Club
by Jocelyn Corner 1 Mar 2007 20:34 GMT
24-25 February 2007
Oxford (white) battle Bristol (blue) for a place in the final of the Invitation Trophy at Oxford © Jocelyn Corner
Oxford's prestigious Invitation Trophy is the annual measure of form for the UK's top sailing universities in the run-up to the BUSA Team Racing Championships at Easter, and was brought home for the first time in the five year history of the event by the Dark Blues.
The event, hosted by Oxford University Yacht Club, invites eight of the best to Farmoor Reservoir to compete for the Top Gun Trophy and determines the seeding of teams for BUSA. A fresh breeze on Saturday (24th February) produced a high level of fast and competitive racing, in which the seven teams battled it out for a place in the semi-finals. Close of play on Saturday saw two full round-robins completed and the Oxford First team leading after 47 races.
The Saturday night proved that University sailors party as hard as they compete, with the OUYC AGM and Annual Dinner, hosted by St. Peter's College. The Yacht Club elected a new Commodore on the Senior Committee, Stuart Robinson. Speeches were made by the Captain of Sailing, David Royse, and Ladies' Captain, Nicola Russell.
Racing on Sunday welcomed the eager teams with a fresh force 3-4 which later dropped to a force 2 over lunch. The league was eventually won mid-afternoon by Oxford after four closely-fought round-robins, with traditional rivals Cambridge in second. Bristol and Southampton also made it through, leaving Durham, Southampton 2 and London all watching from the bank. Two best-of-three semis saw Southampton, four-time winners, wipe out Cambridge in just two races (2-0). In the other semi both teams were neck and neck after two races. Oxford beat Bristol in the decider, leaving the final score 2-1.
The wind increased and the skies darkened for an exciting best-of-five final. Oxford Blues won the first two races against Southampton 1, but with the third race going to Southampton, the competition was tense. Textbook team-racing and nifty tactics in the fourth race saw Oxford convert their 1,5,6 into a winning 1,2 combination on the final legs, and so winning 3-1 overall.