Lightning 368 Rum & Mince Pie open meeting 2025 at West Oxfordshire Sailing Club
by Simon Hopkins & Caroline Hollier 11 Nov 10:09 GMT
Simon Hopkins leads Jeremy Cooper - Rum & Mince Pie open at West Oxfordshire © Adrian Hollier
There were 12 Lightings for the end of season Rum and Mince Pies Open at West Oxfordshire SC. They were greeted to a sunny day but little wind which was coming across the lake so it was going to be a challenging day of light winds and big wind shifts.
Race 1 stated with a biased line, the majority starting on Starboard and it was Ian Ransom who went hard left rounded the windward mark first, closely followed by Jeremy Cooper. Ian led until a coming together with Jeremy letting Caroline through to take lead. As the race continued, Jeremy recovered from doing his turns to take the lead and John Claridge sneaked passed Caroline taking advantage of a shift. Simon recovered from a failed Port end start to fourth.
After a fantastic lunch provided by the Galley the sailors took to the water for two back to back races in slightly more breeze.
Jeremy won the start on the committee boat but Andrew McLeish starting lower down the line came in from the left to round first ahead of Jeremy and Simon and John. As the lap progressed Jeremy took the lead and John passed Simon and then Andrew to try to chase down Jeremy. It was not to be and they finished in this order. In a late charge Jason Gallagher passed Simon and nearly took Andrew on the line.
In the final race Simon sailed Jeremy out of the committee boat end to get the perfect start, but as previous races this did not guarantee the lead it was Jason who led at the first mark, closely followed by Caroline. Caroline passed Jason when he went too low down the reach, and then to make his pain worse Simon also passed Jason on the same leg.
Caroline and Simon extended the gap to the rest of the fleet and were never headed, Caroline winning by several legs. Jason was leading the chasing pack, but with many wind shifts and wind holes it was Jeremy who came home third ahead of John.
The final results saw Jeremy Cooper win the Rum and Mince pies with 2 wins. John Claridge and Caroline Hollier tied on four points but her win in the last race secured her second place overall.
The Rum and Mince Pies at West Oxfordshire SC is the traditional season closing event and Prize giving. The 2025 Travellers series went to Simon Hopkins, ahead of Andrew Yuille and Jeremy Cooper.
Jason Gallagher won the Silver fleet ahead of Andrew McLeish and Allison Hopkins.
The trophy for first Mark 1 Giles boat also went to Andrew McLeish ahead of Clayton Parker and Georgie Parker, who was also first junior.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 410 | Jeremy Cooper | Shotwick SC | 1 | 1 | ‑3 | 2 |
| 2nd | 438 | Caroline Hollier | WOSC | 3 | ‑6 | 1 | 4 |
| 3rd | 450 | John Claridge | R. Lymington YC | 2 | 2 | ‑4 | 4 |
| 4th | 428 | Simon Hopkins | Up River YC | 4 | ‑5 | 2 | 6 |
| 5th | 449 | Jason Gallagher | Denholme SC | ‑6 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 6th | 66 | Andrew McLeish | Up River YC | ‑7 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| 7th | 441 | Ian Ranson | Bolton SC | 5 | ‑8 | 8 | 13 |
| 8th | 437 | Paul Taylor | Burghfield SC | ‑10 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| 9th | 433 | John Butler | Notts County SC | 8 | (DNF) | 10 | 18 |
| 10th | 430 | Graham Lazell | Up River YC | ‑11 | 9 | 9 | 18 |
| 11th | 67 | Marion Tuberfield | WOSC | ‑12 | 10 | 11 | 21 |
| 12th | 49 | Mark Godden | WOSC | 9 | (DNS) | DNS | 22 |