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IOCA UK Optimist Team Racing Championship at Oxford Sailing Club

by Jamie McEwen 4 Jun 2024 08:41 PDT 18-19 June 2024
IOCA UK Optimist Team Racing Championship at Oxford © OSC

Nine teams, each consisting of four Optimists, gathered at Oxford Sailing Club on 18th June for the second IOCA UK Optimist Team Racing Championship. The weather gods were smiling on us and laid on two days of sunshine and ideal team racing winds, ranging from 5 to 12 knots.

As soon as the box course was set up, racing got under way with a rapid-fire all-sails-all round robin. Competition was strong and enjoyable, with Chris Atkins' team of 4 "pro" umpires, ably supported by parent/sibling volunteers, keeping things legal (and also helping to educate sailors on a few rules).

36 races later, competitors and officials retired to the shore to grab a quick lunch and catch their breath. In the afternoon we launched into another full round robin, which was about half complete by the end of the day.

On the Sunday the second round robin was completed, and then after some hasty sums by the race committee, the fleet was divided (on the water) into Gold and Silver Fleets of 5 and 4 teams respectively. Gold Fleet then had one round robin while Silver had two, with lots of great matches between evenly-matched teams.

At the end of that, the winners of Silver Fleet were "Tango 4": Ruby Coster, Lizzie Hudson, Sean Di Salle and Rupert Garlick.

Meanwhile in Gold Fleet racing was extremely close, with a three-way tie for third place that could only be broken by adding up individual race scores.

Eventually (after further on-the-water sums) the petit-final teams were identified as Parkstone YC (Eliana Edwards, Harry Draper, Fraser Hakes, Tom Keegan) vs the "OAPs" (Ben and William McEwen, Freya Hutchinson, Callum Marshall). Parkstone won two from two to take a well-deserved third place overall.

At the same time, the two top teams fought it out in the final for overall honours and the coveted Ramus Trophy: "Lymingtonish" (Jonny Rogers, Isla Hutchinson, Pippa Shepherd and Leo Gosling) versus "Team Cold" (Finn Ramus, Hugo Fletcher, Laszlo Drummond and Charlie Holland). Lymingtonish took a hard-fought first race, and then in the second race the sailors crossed the line so close that the finish boat had to spend a very careful 10 minutes reviewing the video to determine who had won!

This turned out to be Lymingtonish by a single point, so they took first place overall.

Well done to all the sailors for a great weekend of team racing, which met all the aims of being competitive, educational and fun. A huge thanks to all the organisers and helpers, particularly the umpires, PRO David Baddeley (who stepped in at short notice after the previous PRO was injured) and Oxford Sailing Club. We hope to return around the same time next year!

Overall Results:

Position overallTeam nameSailorRR1 winsRR2 winsGold/Silver winsTotal score
1LymingtonishJonny Rogers77420
1LymingtonishPippa Shepherd77420
1LymingtonishIsla Hutchinson77420
1LymingtonishLeo Gosling77420
2Team ColdFinn Ramus76114.5
2Team ColdHugo Fletcher76114.5
2Team ColdLaszlo Drummond76114.5
2Team ColdCharlie Holland76114.5
3Parkstone YCEliana Edwards66113.5
3Parkstone YCHarry Draper66113.5
3Parkstone YCFraser Hakes66113.5
3Parkstone YCTom Keegan66113.5
4OAPsBen McEwen66113.5
4OAPsCallum Marshall66113.5
4OAPsWilliam McEwen66113.5
4OAPsFreya Hutchinson66113.5
5Smile & WaveMerryn Wealthy45313.5
5Smile & WaveAlex Saunders45313.5
5Smile & WavePatrick di Salle45313.5
5Smile & WaveFelix Garlick45313.5
6Tango 4Rupert Garlick21510.5
6Tango 4Sean Di Salle21510.5
6Tango 4Ruby Coster21510.5
6Tango 4Lizzie Hudson21510.5
7Team FLOJWill Fuller1338.5
7Team FLOJBeth Llewelyn1338.5
7Team FLOJDarcy O'Donnell1338.5
7Team FLOJFreddie Jones1338.5
8HISC HornetsJack Ward2215.5
8HISC HornetsFinley Browne2215.5
8HISC HornetsWilbur de la Haye2215.5
8HISC HornetsRufus de la Haye2215.5
9Team EastWill Keys‑Batson1035.5
9Team EastRory Luddington1035.5
9Team EastThomas Child1035.5
9Team EastHugh Walker1035.5

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