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International
Flying Dutchman |
FD Oxford Tankard 1998Oxford Sailing Club - 11/12 April 1998From the FD UK April 98 Newsletter The FD clan gathered at Oxford -
11/12 April 1998 The meal on Saturday evening was of excellent quality and great value providing additional ballast for the gusty conditions on Sunday. Congratulations to John Barker, Peter Doran and Oxford Sailing Club for organising a first class weekend. Julian & Cathy Bridges sailed two excellent races finishing second overall. Peter Daigneault helmed by Stuart Goodes, a leading UK youth sailor, was electric in the last race finishing close astern of Peter Doran and Richard Phillips who won all three races. Contents Report and Results - John Barker...The dreadful road conditions in the Midlands did not prevent the usual FD Die-hards from getting through to Farmoor as usual. Bangor and Derby provided the Northern boats with the balance coming from the South Coast. Diverting off the M 40, Julian and Cathy Bridges entered Southam, only to find some of the local residents being evacuated due to the flooding! Saturday was, as usual, spent rigging, tuning, helping and sailing with some swimming in between. Neil Pye took a Solo sailor trapezing for the first time and gave him a good speed reach.... followed by a swim, but after lunch he came back for more! Race day, Sunday, proved windy, varying from force 2 to 5 with extreme gusts sweeping North to South across the reservoir. Starting after the Club fleets and on the same course, Bridges was first to the windward mark followed by Peter Doran with Andy Moss in third place. Getting close to the Club fleets, Bridges went for the wrong mark, letting Doran three sail reach through into a 20 metre lead. More directional confusion in the fleet led to several retirements, but Doran maintained his lead to finish first, with Bridges second and Stuart Goodes third. Following lunch the same course was sailed again. A Comet capsizing on the line 45 seconds before the start added to the fun and again the battle for the lead was between Bridges and Doran, with Goodes and Matt Stephenson fighting for third place. Retirements for gear failure and swimming meant that the finishing order was Doran, Bridges, Goodes and Stephenson. With two out of three races to count, the overall winner was known but a new course was set for the final race - a long beat, short 3 sail reach and then a long straight run. With the wind now 4 - 5 and heavier gusts coming through, all boats started on the long beat. Bridges was nearest to the first mark when a gust hit him and Doran. Both stayed upright but Goodes was through into a good lead. Doran was after him with Bridges following. The gybe and following run was fast, all crews holding their positions onto the next lap. The long beat allowed Doran to pass Goodes. The rest of the fleet gradually retired, all very, very tired after 3 1/2 hours of racing and also recovering from an excellent 4 course Saturday night dinner at Oxford Sailing Club. All crews received swimming hats plus Easter Eggs with the Oxford Tankards going to Peter Doran and Richard Phillips. Results1 GBR 377 Peter Doran/Richard Phillips 2 GBR 380 Julian/Cathy Bridges 3 GBR 359 Stuart Goodes/Peter Daigneault 4 GBR 338 Matt/Catherine Stephenson 5= GBR 360 Andy Moss/Steve Rockey 5= GBR 356 Neil Pye/Mike Williams Report by John Barker |
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This page was last updated on 06 December 1998 - Please send contributions and comments to Richard Phillips mailto:100446.2371@compuserve.com . For more sailing links see www.sail-cd.demon.co.uk/index.htm |