Congratulations to Cambridge Blue, winners of BUSA Team Racing 2016. They beat Exeter 3:1 in the final with Cardiff Black finishing third.

Eighty four teams entered the competition with 28 Teams qualifying for the final which was hosted by Cambridge University SC and sailed at Grafham Water Sailing Club over three days. The Cambridge Blue Team of Tim Gratton, Daisy Baxter, Robbie Gilmore, Cat Wallace, Chris Eames and Rachel Tilley finished in first place at the end of the league with 15 wins in 15 races sailed. 

While they sailed through the (best of three) Quarter Finals they did lose a race to Cardiff Black in the Semi-Finals. Exeter Black also had a difficult semi-final being taken to three races by Cambridge Black. The Finals looked as if they could be close when the teams were 1:1 after two races, but it was not to be and Cambridge Blue won the next two races to take the BUSA Team Racing Title for a third year. Meanwhile in the Peti-Final Cardiff got off to a slow start losing the first race to Cambridge Black before coming back to take the next two races and finish in third place.

 

There is a dedicated site for the event at:- https://www.facebook.com/events/1674771172788929/

All the results, as well as links and videos can be found at:- http://events.ksail.co.uk/2016/BUSAFinals.

Full results can be seen at:- http://www.events.ksail.co.uk/2016/nssa/OverallResult.html

The Exeter Excalibur was also sailed lastweekend and once again, Exeter University Sailing Club’s Excalibur was blessed with plenty of sunshine and blue clear blue skies. Eighteen teams representing twelve different universities from across the South were entered. The very light winds made for challenging racing conditions and the decision to cancel racing for the day was eventually made. Despite the lack of racing, Saturday was universally enjoyed as a fun day by the water for all sailors in the lovely Devon weather. The evening’s social began with all 130 sailors dressed in fancy dress (of varying quality) meeting for a curry in Exeter before progressing onto a night in hole in the Wall & Timepiece.

Racing on Sunday was underway by 10am and the wind created perfect conditions, allowing all teams to compete in eight races each. The conditions were perfect for team racing and created a brilliant chance to practice tactics on the water. This opportunity was particularly welcomed by the numerous teams in preparation for BUSA finals in the coming weeks. Over the course of the day, the racing was incredibly tight between many teams, with just 0.62 points between first and second place. The wind held all day which, alongside the sunshine, made for some perfect conditions and excellent sailing for all teams. It was particularly great to see teams who have just started team racing getting involved with more experienced teams. London Green eventually secured a victory with a 100% win percentage, with Exeter in a very close second. There was also a big Cardiff presence on the leaderboard with Cardiff Orange and Cardiff Yellow taking 3rd and 4th place respectively.

Overall, Excalibur was an exceptional event for all involved. Despite the initial lack of wind on Saturday, Sunday’s conditions more than made up for it and provided great team racing conditions. The event ran incredibly well thanks to the brilliant organisation of EUSC Committee and Exeter sailors were on hand all day to ensure the smooth running of the event. EUSC would like to thank our sponsors Jimmy Green and Timepiece for making the event possible and enjoyable for so many sailors.

The event hosted by Bough Beech Sailing Club saw 25 teams split into 4 seeded leagues for stage 1 and spend Saturday ashore waiting for a wind that never appeared. So it was an early start on Sunday with the first race starting at 0830. The 66 races for Stage 1 were completed by the end of the morning and the fleet split into Gold Silver and Bronze leagues.

Making the cut to the Gold League were Southampton Black, Cambridge Black,Royal Thames Red, West Kirby Hawks, Cambridge Blue, O&CS Society, Royal Thames Blue and the Bandits. After a further 50 odd races the Gold League had Birdham Bandits at the top with 7 wins out of 7 races and Royal Thames Blue in second place with 6 wins from 7 Races. Three teams following were all on 4 wins. 

There was still time for a first to two wins Final between Royal Thames Blue and Birdham Bandits, which the bandits won 2:0 taking the first race with a 2, 3, 4 and the second race 2, 2, 3. Meanwhile, Bronze and Silver leagues continued racing using the HLS system to determine the full results at the end of the days 124 races, all of which can be be seen at http://www.events.ksail.co.uk/2016/uktra/index.html

Photos of the event by Nigel Vick can be seen if you Click Here and will be on Facebook soon.

The old rudder stocks always had the problem of how to get the blade to stay down. Some swear by plastic pins (they flex and break if the blade hits the shore). However, the hole has to be big enough to allow for the flexing of the stock and this weakens the rudder (it was more of a problem with wooden blades). The problem has always been getting the wing nuts tight enough, if you were going to rely on them. One solution, as shown in the photo, is to use a cycle saddle bolt. This has a cam lever on the end so is easy to tighten and should hold the blade down. Potential problems could be the mainsheet catching on the lever and over tightening - the cam is very powerful. So adjustment should be made carefully - you want the lever in close to the stock when closed and you want to make sure there is a good penny washer under the cam or it will just crush the aluminium stock.

The nice thing is that the bolts only cost about £2.00 each on ebay.

Nice to see that the RYA Team Racing page has been updated on their website. The links to calendars all work and there is information on the main Team Racing Events such as the ET and Ladies.