Oxford Action

Oxford started off as a very sunny morning and we had 28 sailors signing on! Something of a record for an LWA event.

Race One and Two took place in ideal weather, although towards the end of Race Two there were some rather black clouds which brought in some extra wind to spice up the action.

There were four different winners of the four races today, a most unusual situation, which resulted from the many tricky windshifts with which our sailors were presented. The wind was mostly Force 2 -3, with occasional bursts which allowed us to get in the back straps for the reaches now and then.

Lewis Barnes got it all right in Race One, followed by Rob Kent and Toby Cave. This was to be Lewis's best race of the day. Race Two found Rob Kent first man over the line, with Paul Leone in second and Toby again in third.

Over lunch the black clouds grew more ominous and the temperature dropped, there were rumours of thunder and lightning. Many sailors replaced their shorties with summer suits and some put on spray tops, which was just as well because much of the afternoon turned out to be rainy.

In Race Three Bob Ingram shot to the front and established a commanding lead for which he was not challenged, Toby charted his best race of the day with a second place and Rob filled third.

The last race was a battle between Bob Ingram and Alan Jackson, Alan however was flying and he crossed the line ahead of Bob, with Rob in third and Peter Murray, on his Div II in fourth place, by far his best effort of the day.

Rob Kent won overall but he by no means had it all his own way, gaining only one first place. Toby Cave was the most consistent performer in the rest of the field, his two 3rd places and a 2nd putting him two points behind Rob and a single point ahead of third place man Bob Ingram.

Peter Murray took 7th overall on his Div II and Laura Tait was 25th as the only Techno.

RESULTS: Overall places in brackets

1: Rob Kent

2: Toby Cave (also 1st Youth boy)

3: Bob Ingram (also 1st Vet)

4: Alan Jackson (also 1st Supervet)

First Div II: Peter Murray (7)

First Lady: Annette Kent (9)

First Youth Girl: Alysia Gibson (12)