RS Vareo Rooster National Tour at Oxford Sailing Club

RS Vareo Rooster National Tour at Oxford Sailing Club © Mike Trueman

The weather conditions for this weekend's RS Vareo Open Meeting at Farmoor couldn't have been any more different than last year's Inlands. On Saturday the forecast was mid-teens gusting mid-twenties - I think the Met Office certainly underestimated that. However we had a beautiful clear blue sky and warm sun, always good for swimming!!

The wind from the East at Farmoor comes over a hill, gently kisses the club anemometer, and lands with a large thump in the middle of the lake. I once coined the phrase "Farmoorgeddon" for a particularly windy Novice's race, this was worse. A day for survival.

This year we were sharing the course with the Contenders and the RS600 fleets in their respective opens. As with last year, experienced race officer Miles Roebuck set a marvellous course for all the fleets, and was very specific on starting at the correct, time, regardless of the conditions.

As we got to the start at the far side of the lake, an achievement in itself, we were faced with the enormity of the task ahead of us. We'd already lost Andy Nicoll on the way out. At the precise time specified, the remaining seven of us set out. The wind was strong with ridiculous large gusts and wind shifts.

As we reached the windward mark, we were now faced with the question to spinnaker or not to spinnaker? Leading boats Luke Fisher and Michelle Collier-Brooks, very experienced sailors, had no doubt, flew their kites and blasted off down the lake. The rest of us used various methods. Many flew their kites, with varying degrees of success. I personally went for the one sail option, opting for instability and a dry wetsuit.

RS Vareo Rooster National Tour at Oxford Sailing Club - photo © Mike Trueman

The result of the first race, was more or less the repeat of every race over the weekend. Luke first, Michelle second and Chris Abbott third who, much like myself, after a couple of goes with the kite chose the safer slower route. Thomas Laidlar finished 4th, Russell Howarth 5th, yours truly 6th and Nigel Fawlk 7th. I mentioned everyone, because at this point we started to lose people. Race two we were down to five, race three four.

Day two dawned with the same beautiful weather, looking a lot calmer. I said how calm it was. Chief Safety Boat Officer Alistair Weston replied "It'll get worse". It was a perfect day for sailing. Race four was probably too calm, and with the fleet back up to eight, there were many midfield battles as the top two got away.

The wind had returned at the start of race five, and a better day for sailing an RS Vareo would be hard to find. Michelle managed to pip Luke for the win to stop a clean sweep. Both Thomas and Russell looked particularly rapid downwind.

By race six normal service was resumed. Despite my own poor results, I managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory several times and enjoyed the competitive sailing with a really talented fleet.

Many thanks to Miles, Alistair, Mike Trueman and the rest of the race crew for running a fantastic event with military precision. Thank you to Rooster for sponsoring our national tour. Our next event is the Harken RS Sprints at Rutland Sailing Club 26-27 April. You can enter at registration. The event info is here.

Overall Results: