Solo Spring Championships at Oxford Sailing Club

On March 31st, 55 Solo sailors emptied jerry cans of fuel into their cars and made the trip to Oxford Sailing Club for the National Solo Spring Championship.

The weather was kind with a light northerly breeze which tested the competitors light air skills and patience. In the boat park proud owners showed off their new Solos’, over 100 new builds a year and a few dozen of them were here! The new North 3dl sail was also making it’s appearance and there were a plethora of alloy stocks.

Race 1

The heavily port biased line produced the recall and the inevitable black flag. With 2 mins to go the pin was still favoured…but then the wind shifted. Those who had studied their racing textbooks bailed out and headed back up the line on port looking for a gap to cut their losses. A few hung on to the hope that the wind would switch back, and it did, right on the gun. Jon Clarke, using a new Edge Odl4 laminate sail, tacked, looked under the boom and saw the whole fleet below him. Will Loy, also using the Edge and also sporting the N.S.C.A headcam rounded second with Stuart Bush in third to complete a first mark Edge 123. Stuart worked his way through to the front and despite some close racing with Richard Pye, took the bullet. Jon held on to 3rd with Nigel Davies 4th and Tim Davison 5th. Some of the main contenders were unable to break through the fleet and were looking at an early discard.

Race 2

After lunch the fleet re-assembled for race 2 and the wind had weakened slightly. Getting off the line was made more challenging by the port bias and the inevitable crowding. The black flag was on show and hearts fell as the recall flag was hoisted. The dreaded blackboard was displayed and those unlucky souls who were found OCS limped off the course in shame/anger/surprise. Tony cooper, Michael Simms, Richard Pye and Richard Willetts were among the ten caught.

Race 2 proper and this time the class established pecking order was resumed, Pete Mitchell, North Sails jockey in waiting was showing some form ahead of his mentor Charlie Cumbley, Steve Dennison and the consistent Fireball World Champion Tom Gillard in the works P+B Solo. The breeze remained light throughout the race and getting in phase with the shifts was paramount. Dennison, in the works Winder got it right to ghost past Mitchell and take the gun. Tom Gillard 3rd, Cumbley 4th and Chris Goldhawk 5th, completed the top positions.

Race 3

The sky had darkened but the breeze was holding at 6-8mph. There seemed to be a little more breeze at the committee end which spread the fleet enabling a clean start.

There was much still to play for though Simms was in the unusual position of having to count a 13 so was out of the running. Both he and Tony Cooper hit the start line at speed and headed towards the middle of the track. 30 seconds after the start the wind went right and increased to hiking speed, yee haa. Mike Gibson who had started at the committee end in the third row and then gone right hooked into the freshening pressure and rolled over the fleet. Will Loy in the headcam also got into the lift from God and rounded second (again).

Simms was right on their heels and used his devastating downwind technique (going high into the pressure to get up and planing) to roll Loy by the wing mark and Gibson by the leeward mark. The next beat saw the usual suspect come to the fore, revelling in the moderate winds. Simms was already gone though and looked bored with no one to play with. Charlie did his best to plug the gap and Tom Gillard and Chris Brown were maintaining good positions. At the gun it was Simms, Cumbley, Gillard, Brown and Gibson.

Charlie Cumbley had done enough to secure the title with a 4-2 against Tom Gillard’s 3-3.

Stuart Bush was a well deserving 3rd and Pete Mitchell retained his job for another week with a 4th overall.

Many thanks to Oxford S.C for hosting this event, the race management and off the water teams were excellent and the racing was competitive and fair throughout the fleet.

Next stop Weymouth on April 21/22 for the Nigel Pusinelli Trophy.

See you there.

Overall Results: