Oxford SC Open March 2007

Oxford S.C. was the venue for the second travellers trophy event of 2007 and a 25 strong fleet arrived eagerly anticipating the summer-like temperatures and 15 mph breeze forecast by the met office. However, by the time they had been waiting by the start area for 30 minutes in a freezing north-easterly gusting to 20+ knots while the committee boat dragged its anchor, most wished they had gone with the dry-suit option.

Race 1 eventually got going with John Browett and Simon Mussell vying for the lead followed by Ben Holden and Richard Gimmler. Despite capsizing at the start Stuart Jones pulled up to the leaders on the second beat by going hard left . Holden swam on the run and Jones managed to get past Browett to win with Gimmler taking third.

The start of Race 2 saw the introduction of the new sport of mast jousting. The clash between the top masts of Graham Scott's Wavelength and Gary Langdown's Avantgarde seemed to be an even match at first but the Italian made spar collapsed soon after the first lap leaving Browett to win from Jones with Tim Holden dropping to third after a capsize.

With the wind increasing and becoming even gustier Race 3 was abandoned at the start.

Sunday dawned with similar conditions and the cold wind was enough incentive for most people with injuries or gear failures from the first day to pack their boats up.

Race 4 started promptly as the Race officer had been given a bigger anchor and Tim Holden and Browett lead the fleet at mark 1. Inspired by the possibilities of the previous days mast - based sport, Ben Holden decided to take it one step further and try and remove the wing bar of a capsized RS600 with his new Avantgarde. Unfortunately the flimsy wing tube won. Meanwhile Scott took the lead when Tim Holden tipped in at the gybe and held it to the finish.

Races 5 and 6 saw Jones stamp his authority on the fleet with two emphatic wins from Tim Holden with Stacey Bray making an appearance at the front of the fleet in his new Chris Somner boat. Elsewhere in the fleet the whole mast abuse thing had got completely out of hand, with people just sailing into Wavelength masts to see if they really were indestructible. Tony White now has a three-piece version- very handy for taking on the plane I suppose....

Results.

Series Place	Sail No	Helm	Club	Series Points	Race 1	Race 2	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6
1	701	Stuart Jones	Datchet	5	1	2	3	1	1
2	2318	Tim Holden	Halifax	9	8	3	2	2	2
3	713	John Browett	Datchet	10	2	1	4	4	3
4	691	Graham Scott	RYA	14	4	RAF26	1	3	6
5	694	Staley Bray	Porthpean	22	9	4	5	DNF26	4
6	2373	Gary Langdown	Highcliffe	26	5	DNF26	10	6	5
7	2376	Nick Noble	Portishead	27	7	9	6	5	9
8	697	Chris Howe	Oxford	29	15	6	8	7	8
9	592	Simon Ramm	Oxford	33	10	8	7	8	DNF26
10	710	Chris Kirk	Queen Mary	44	12	12	11	11	10
11	682	Ginge Linclon	RNSA	48	14	13	13	10	12
12	636	Nick Eggett	Porthpean	49	16	11	15	12	11
13	686	Tony Brooks	Oxford	54	DNF26	DNF26	12	9	7
14	696	Tony White	Lancing	58	13	10	9	DNF26	DNF26
15	674	Richard Gimmler	Whitefriars	60	3	5	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26
16	2347	Martin Jones	Wilsonian	70	11	7	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26
17	675	David Gautier	Datchet	79	DNF26	DNF26	14	13	DNF26
18	2315	Ben Holden	Halifax	84	6	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26
19	670	J Wise	Weston	94	DNC26	DNC26	16	DNF26	DNF26
20	528	Gerald Fitzgerald	Oxford	104	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26
20	684	Sandy Clapham	Yorks Dales	104	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26
20	702	Matt Aston	Datchet	104	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26
20	707	Peter Dives	Eastbourne	104	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26
20	2361	Alan Orton	Porthpean	104	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26
20	2372	Simon Mussell	Highcliffe	104	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26	DNF26

Silver fleet C. Howe 697

Bronze fleet C. Kirk 710

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