Busa

Georgie Corlet writes: “The 2013 British Open Team Racing Championship for the Wilson Trophy was won by Wessex Exempt today (5 May) in a thrilling best of five final sailed on West Kirby’s marine lake. The six sailors overcame stiff competition from 34 teams from as far afield as America, Ireland and across the UK, eventually meeting Grafham Gorillas in the tense final round of the three-day event.

“Wessex Exempt (Ben Ainsworth, Rachel Williamson, Jonathon Pinner, Kerry Capps, Tom Heywood, Catherine Friend) put in a consistent performance throughout the 323-race Swiss League preliminary rounds to qualify for the quarter-finals in second place, having won 14 of their 19 races.

“Home-team favourites and current World Team Racing Champions, West Kirby Hawks, qualified at the top of the Swiss League, subsequently beating Royal Thames Yacht Club 2-0 in the quarters. But a shock 2-1 defeat in the semi-finals saw the home team favourites knocked out of the event by Grafham Gorillas (Tom Mallindine, Jamie Dick, Ben Saxton, Holly Scott, Owain Matthews, Suzy Russell).

“After a solid performance in this morning’s races, Grafham Gorillas found their form when it mattered, storming their way into the final having already beaten RF Hoosiers – over-night leaders who had been hotly tipped for the Trophy final – in the quarter final.

………

“Race one saw a win to Grafham following a penalty on the finish line, but Wessex came back with a stronger start to finish in a 1,3 winning combination in race two. The third race was closely contested, with boats from both teams taking penalty turns on the second leg, but Wessex gained the advantage on the run and held it to the finish.

“The fourth race saw Grafham start strong; taking an early 1,2 combination, they consolidated their win with some text book team racing manoeuvres.

“And so it came down to the final fifth race decider to determine who would be the new Wilson Trophy Champions. With a Grafham boat over the line, Wessex quickly took control, rounding the first mark in a solid 1,2 position which they never relinquished.

……..

“Winners of the Under 21 Trophy was Bristol University, who finished a credible 11th place overall. The Wilson Plate awarded to the first team not to make the quarter-final cut, West Kirby Sailing Club……..”

For the full story, see Final Press Release and the Results
For further details, links to the event media and the Day 1 & 2 reports with photos, see Event Page

195 sailors, in 105 boats and four fleets, competed last weekend in Plymouth Sound for the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Fleet Racing Championships 2012, in conjunction with British Universities Sailing Association (BUSA). The event was hosted by Mount Batten Sailing Centre, in conjunction with a partnership of Plymouth University and its Sports Union, Plymouth Youth Sailing, Plymouth Marine Institute and the University’s Sailing Club, drawing in many volunteers.

In spite of some heavy winds coming in on Saturday, together with large vessel movements, and then a 180 degree wind shift on Sunday between races, all Fleets completed three races over the weekend.

Impressively, the University of Plymouth medalled in every fleet, and were crowned BUCS Fleet Racing Champions 2012. The team competition placed the University of Exeter 2nd, Southampton Solent University 3rd, Bristol University 4th and Loughborough University 5th.

BUCS medals and trophies were awarded at the prize giving and the following summarizes the leaders in each Fleet, together with the BUCS points awarded, together with the allocation of BUCS points to teams.

BUCS Points earned by boat:

Fast Handicap:
1st Michael Matthews & Iain Millar (29er) Loughborough University (12 BUCS points)
2nd Jack Holden & Carla Sheldon (RS200) Southampton Solent (8 BUCS points)
3rd Tim Norris & (RS400) University of Plymouth (6 BUCS points)
4th James Penty & Sam Jacklin (RS200) University of Plymouth (4 BUCS points)

Slow Handicap:
1st Sarah Alton & Harry Derbyshire (420) Cardiff University (12 BUCS points)
2nd Pete McCoy (Finn) University of Plymouth (8 BUCS points)
3rd Nia Jones & Freya Adams (420) University of Exeter (6 BUCS points)
4th Meia Harnett & Ed Riley (420) University of Exeter (4 BUCS points)

Laser:
1st Lorenzo Chiavarini, University of Plymouth (12 BUCS points)
2nd Filip Kobielski, Aston University (8 BUCS points)
3rd Andrew Brown, Newcastle University (6 BUCS points)
4th Cameron Douglas, University of Bristol (4 BUCS points)

Firefly:
1st Craig Dibb & Ali Masters, University of Plymouth (12 BUCS points)
2nd Jason Saints & Lucy Goff, University of Exeter (8 BUCS points)
3rd Phil Sparks & Poppy Maxwell, University of Bristol (6 BUCS points)
4th Chris Rust & James Vineer, University of Portsmouth (4 BUCS points)
Team Trophy and team BUCS points:
1st Plymouth University 20 BUCS points
2nd Exeter University 14 BUCS points
3rd Southampton Solent University 10 BUCS points
4th Bristol University 7 BUCS points
5th Loughborough University 5 BUCS points
6th Portsmouth University 3 BUCS points
7th Surrey University 2 BUCS points
8th Birmingham University 1 BUCS point

See
Full Report
Final Results – Fast Handicap
Final Results – Slow Handicap
Final Results – Laser Fleet
Final Results – Firefly Fleet
Allocation of BUCS Points