Cup (06/03/10 Sam Littlejohn)
This weekend saw Sam Littlejohn (Bath University), Katie Smorthwaite (Bath University), George Yeoman (Newcastle University), Georgie Akin-Smith (Newcastle University), Owain Matthews (Leeds University) & Kate Robinson (Nottingham University) team up for the first time.
Greeted at Grafham by chilly, but perfect, sailing conditions, Saturday started with a round robin. BUSA got off to a flying start with wins over Edinburgh, West Kirby Hawks and Royal Thames. A succession of 1-2’s from Owain and George secured wins through the majority of races, while “Old Man” Sam caused havoc behind them in order to make sure the results were safe.
However this fail safe plan was undone when BUSA sailed the whole race against Trinity 2s and won 1-2-3, only to find out that the two Irish boats that had gone back were not the culprits of the individual recall and had to count an extra 10 points bringing the first loss of the weekend.
The evening event was the Cambridge club dinner which, as sailing club dinners always do, ended with a great night out, plenty of banter and Exeter showing how a social should be done with Tim Saxton being thrown out the club twice and getting to know the Newnum trophy cabinet a little better.
Sunday morning was not short of arctic, with the car thermometer still reading in the minus numbers. The leagues were split into Gold, Silver and Bronze with the top 3 Gold and top Silver progressing to the semis.
Again the day started well with wins over Edinburgh and the Hawks. However, Royal Thames taught BUSA a lesson on how to start going off the line in a 1-2-3. BUSA then managed to regain composure finishing off with a tidy win over to finish top of the Gold fleet.
The semi finals were between Hawks/Thames and BUSA/Exeter both going to 3 races. BUSA won the first with a scrappy 1-3-4 and then hit a rut with the starting which capitalised on to take the next two races.
The Hawks and Exeter met in the final which was settled in two tight races, Hawks taking both.
Thanks to for a good event and all the umpires.
Wessex Winter Warmer (13/02/10 CC)
Southampton University hosted the Wessex Winter Warmer this weekend at Spinnaker. The Warmer is traditionally one of the toughest events in the team racing calendar and this year the standard did not disappoint, with teams from West Kirby, several alumni teams and some of the best university teams in the UK. The teams were split into two leagues of 8 on Saturday morning and all races were completed leaving West Kirby at the Top of both leagues heading into the gold and silver leagues.
Jesters followed and took casualties, ask Imogen. After the gold league was completed on Sunday morning, West Kirby Hawks, Team 1 (also West
Kirby) and Southampton 1 automatically progressed to the semi-finals and the final place was settled between the Southampton Male Voice Quoir and BUSA men who, after a shocking start on Saturday morning, managed to win the silver league to be awarded a play-off for a place in the semi-finals. BUSA managed to win 2-0 and progressed to face the Hawks.
Although the second race was very closely fought, Hawks won 2-0 and progressed to the final. In the other semi, Southampton 3 lost out to team 1, leaving them to face the Hawks in the final. Hawks won, taking home the toilet seat trophy.
BUSA team this weekend was
Chris Carden and Imogen Stanley
James Goss and Katie Lee
Sam Littlejohn and Katie Smorthwaite
Bristol Brew (07/12/09 – CC)
The Bristol Brew was held by Bristol University at Chew Valley lake this weekend. As usual, strong winds were forcast and the sailors were not disappointed, with gusts of up to 30 kts recorded on the finish boat during Sunday racing.
The teams were split into 2 leagues of 8 on Saturday morning. After a day’s racing, Royal Thames and West Kirby at the top of league A and Oxford University and the Southampton Male Voice Choir leading league B. West Kirby won the super gold league with Royal Thames, SMVC and Oxford trailing.
After a resailed playoff between BUSA Men and Oxford, BUSA Men went through to meet West Kirby in the second semi-final. Royal Thames and West Kirby progressed to the final, where Thames defeated West Kirby in 2 Races, giving them the trophy for the 3rd successive year.
Thanks to Hannah Tattersall and her team of helpers for organising the event, which will be scaled up for the BUSA team racing finals in April.
Final Results:
1st Royal Thames
2nd West Kirby
3rd BUSA Men
4th SMVC
5th Oxford Uni.
Team this weekend was:
Chris Carden (Bristol)
Ben Saxton (Southampton)
Andy Shaw (Southampton)
Anna MacKenzie (Birmingham)
Kate MacGregor (Southampton Solent)
Nicola Brook (Southampton)
Ladies at the Oxford Magnum and RYA Ladies Nationals (30/11/09 – CW)
The last two weeks have been busy for BUSA ladies having competed in both the magnum and the ladies nationals. The magnum was the first outing for the new team, and proved a difficult one with tough competition from many non-university teams as well as strong winds. The team consisting of Imogen Stanley, Emily Crow, Alice Curry, Emma Derby, Ali Mo and Sophie Mear, competed well and learner a great deal form the event to put into practice at later events.
Following the Magnum the Ladies nationals this weekend saw very variable conditions, with very little wind on the Saturday. The team consisting of Claire Walsh, Jasmine Husband, Sophia Parkinson, Liz Teague, Anna Mackenzie and Kate Macgregor performed brilliantly on the first day despite the difficult conditions winning all their races. The second day proved a complete change with gusts of over twenty knots all the teams were tested to the limit. Again BUSA Ladies put in some very good performances but were beaten out of the finals by the Southampton old girls. A well sailed playoff saw BUSA Ladies secure 3rd place. We are all now looking forward to events next term including the snakebite and cam cup where we hope to build on our performances to date.
Oxford Magnum (22/11/09 – CC)
The BUSA mens team, this weekend consisting of Chris Carden (Bristol), Anna Mackenzie (Birmingham), Tom Mallindine (Exeter), Suzie Russel (Exeter), George Yeoman (Newcastle) and Georgie Akin-Smith (Newcastle), showed an impressive performance at the Oxford Magnum. The new team, who had never sailed together before, won 7 out of 9 races in their league to progress to the quarter finals to meet the Cambridge Alumni team, Tabby Cats. After Yeoman’s double take-out at mark 3 the team won the first race, but lost 2-1 to the more experienced team. The rest of the 8 man BUSA team will be rotated for each of the big events this year, and a new line-up will be ready for the Bristol Brew in December.