Flying Dutchman Open Meeting at Oxford Sailing Club
by Toby Dale 28 Apr 2003 14:57 BST
The Flying Dutchman class would like to thank Oxford Sailing Club for hosting an excellent open meeting 26/ 27 April.
A brisk Force 3-4 and occasional sunshine greeted the fleet on Saturday. Racing was frantic throughout the three scheduled races with constant pace changing and a different winner in every race. Peter Doran and Richard Phillips emerged as leaders overnight but were being closely pressed by Tony Lyall and Colin Burns while John Berry and Jamie Whitaker were the winners of the second race. Keith Martin and John Lansley kept up the pressure on the front-runners with a consistent set of 3rd places in all Races. Julian and Cathy Bridges were also in the running with a 4,2,4 score line.
Sunday was more overcast and a touch breezier. A change in crews due to other commitments saw Jamie appearing with Julian Bridges who showed a masterful display of heavy weather sailing to take the first two races of the day. Lyall and Burns were second in both.
The final race saw some of the closest racing of the weekend with never more than a few boat lengths between the leaders. The finish was the closest of the weekend with Lyall and Burns just preventing a hard charging Bridges and Whitaker from getting their third gun of the day by less than a boat length.
The final results gave Lyall and Burns the regatta from the Bridges and Whittaker while Doran and Phillips were third.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Type | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | FD | 385 | Tony Lyall | Colin Burns | 8 |
| 2nd | FD | 380 | Julian Bridges | Cathy Bridges/ Jamie Whitaker | 10 |
| 3rd | FD | 377 | Peter Doran | Richard Phillips | 13 |