This weekend sixteen teams from fourteen different universities will compete for the title of BUSA RYA Match Racing Champion 2005 at Rutland Sailing Club. This event provides universities with a chance to compete for British University Sports Association [BUSportA] points and to increase their rankings.
Defending BUSA Champion Andy Cornah, from Southampton University, will face fierce competition, with BUSA Yachting Nationals winner, and current double Youth Match Racing Champion, Nick Cherry, also from Southampton University, looking to add this title to his CV. They will face stiff competition from many of the top University Teams including Mike Henning [Southampton Institute], last years runner-up, sailing with Simon Berry, fresh from coming 2nd at the BUSA Yachting Nationals.
The team from Bristol University under the guidance of skipper Athol King, will also be looking to do well after victory at the BUSA Team Racing Championships at Derwent Reservoir last week. Other teams eager for success at this event includes Oxford and London, who will be hoping to score points after a successful season in the other BUSA events.
The winner of this event will also have the chance to compete in the RYA National Match Racing Finals in October, where they will race against some of the best match racers in the UK.
Radha Balani, Sports Programme Manager for Sailing at BUSportA commented, “this promises to be a great event and we appreciate the time and effort put in by both the volunteers and the British Universities Sailing Association.”
RYA Racing Services Manager David Atkinson commented, “This event looks like it will be a good quality event. With most of the top university teams taking part, I am sure the competition will be fierce.”
Racing commences on Friday 15th April at Rutland Sailing Club and continues through until Sunday 17th April.