RS Vareo open meeting at Oxford Sailing Club

RS Vareo open meeting at Oxford SC © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

A fleet of twelve RS Vareos made the trip to Oxford Sailing Club at Farmoor reservoir to attend the Vareo and K6 open. When I say, "made the trip", this was true for five boats, there was a strong home water contingent of seven boats.

With a good forecast for Saturday and the expectation that the wind would drop off and swing around to the north on Sunday, Miles Roebuck and the team really pulled out the stops to ensure that we had four races on Saturday. Given the fantastic weather, high teens with 20mph gusts, I for one knew about it that evening.

The first race set the tone for the weekend with Luke Fisher leading home, Michelle Collier-Brooks in second and Nick Crickmore in third - the eventual overall 1,2,3. But it certainly wasn't all one-way traffic, with most of the fleet at one time or another snagging a top four finish.

Home sailor Tom Laidlar got a second and fourth and had the potential to do more on the Sunday, however this was his final day of racing as he has now gone to join the RAF. Paul North had a mixed weekend but at least got that elusive first place to deny Luke Fisher a clean sweep.

Rob Howard travelled the furthest to the club, 5 1/2 hours from Sunderland, although Owen balding travelling back to Shoreham overnight probably clocked up a similar sort of mileage. It was great to see them on the circuit.

RS Vareo open meeting at Oxford SC - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Home sailors Nigel Fawlk, Terry Brooks, and Paul Kettle enjoyed having new competition and learning new tips and modifications.

Apparently, it's the honour of the sailor with the worst set of results to do the write up. I guess the rationale is that I can see all the other boats albeit, in my case, not very close up. To be honest it doesn't matter where you finish in the fleet when you've got a friendly bunch of sailors, a cracking boat, a great stretch of water and fantastic conditions - it's just a pleasure to be on the water. Overall, a fantastic weekend's sailing.

Many thanks for Michelle for organising the event, providing the prizes and, in the words of Owen, Miles and Alistair, running a slick event. Thank you also to the race officer and all the volunteers and members of Oxford Sailing Club who gave up their time to make the event happen.

See more photographs by Timothy Olin www.flickr.com/photos/141388522@N05/with/55219996671

Overall Results:

RS Vareo open meeting at Oxford SC - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk