Over 150 sailors gathered this weekend (4/5th November) to kick of the new university sailing season with it’s fleet racing event. Competitors compete in Laser, Laser II and Firefly fleets as well as in a mixture of boats in a Handicap fleet.
The weekend proved an nervous time for the organizers of the event, The British University Sports Association in association with the British University Sailing Association, as light winds greeted the competitors early Saturday morning, however fair weather prevailed for the weekend, allowing for 4 races to be completed over the course of the weekend, in contrast to the previous few years.
The event also provides a perfect opportunities for university sailors to meet old friends, as the sailors enjoyed a full social program, including the now traditional Saturday night trip to Rondezvous in the center of Weymouth. At the end of the weekend, the results were calculated (available on the downloads page) and the final team prize was decided. This year Southampton successfully broke Exeter Universities Three Year Domination of the event, despite a 1st and 2nd in the Laser fleet for Nick Thompson and Steve Powell. Southampton University finished first, with Bath and Birmingham Univerisities finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively in the team event.
Day Two – Update 05/11/06 15.55
All fleets are off the water (provisional results from all races are on the downloads page). Southampton have won the team prize closely followed by Bath and Birmingham. Full report to follow.
Day Two – Update 05/11/06 10.30
Another glorious sunny morning at Weymouth, after a fun night partying in the Rendezvous night club, teams have had an early start and commenced racing at 10.30am! The race committee are hoping to get in 2 races in the light 3 to 7 knots of breeze. What this space to find out the latest results.
Note: the results from yesterday for the firefly and handicap have been amended. Pictures are available on the BUSA Sport website www.busa.org.uk and will be added to the gallery on this website shortly.
Day One – Update 04/11/06 16.36
All Fleets have now completed one race (results on the Downloads Page). The 2nd and 3rd Races have been abandoned due to the light winds. Racing will start early tomorrow with the race committee hoping to get in at least 2 races and for more wind!
Results in brief:
Nick Thompson from Exeter is leading the laser fleet, Sophie White and Sam Tozer, Exeter, are leading the Handicap fleet in their 29er, Joanne Brigg and Liz Willowa, Southampton, lead the Firefly Class, and Matt Greenfield and Mark Stockbridge, Bath, lead the Laser 2 fleet with team mates Alex Townsend and Mike Parritt closly followed in 2nd place.
Day One – Update 04/11/06 13.00
All the sailors are out drifting around Weymouth Harbour in about 2-3 knot in glorious sunshine.
More results willbe added as they happen.
Nearly 300 sailors will be heading down to and this weekend (4-5 November) for what promises to be an exciting first university sailing championship of the season.
The BUSA Fleet Racing Championships will give students the opportunity to race against each other individually in Lasers, Laser 2’s, Fireflies and a Handicap Class, as well as competing for an overall Universities’ Team Trophy.
BUSA Sailing and BUSA Sport have been working together to try and make this a weekend to remember, especially after the disappointment of last year, when only one race could be completed due to gale force winds.
Defending Champions of the Laser Fleet Stephen Powell and Nick Thompson from will be returning to race against new students and, with forecasts predicting light winds, any fatigue caused by the social at Rendezvous is sure to affect the sailors!
With many ex-Youth Squad sailors (Richard Mason (Laser 2 Fleet, Loughborough), Nick Thompson (Laser, ), Dave Evans (Handicap, ) and Sam Carter (Laser2, Brunel)) actively sailing at BUSA Championships the standard seems set to rise each year. This year, for the first time there will be an on the water Jury, ensuring fair but challenging racing for everyone.
Will take the Team prize for a fourth year in the row? Watch this space!
The latest news, information and the all-important results will be posted on the BUSA website [www.busa.co.uk].
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Notes for Editors
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Sailing is the most successful Olympic sport in this country and is the world’s top Olympic sailing nation. The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is the national governing body for all forms of sailing, windsurfing, and powerboat racing. BUSA is the governing body for University Sailing in the . It is affiliated and supported by the RYA and has British Universities Sports Association recognition for its events.
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A brief history: BUSA sailing was set up in the mid 1960’s. The organisation was run by a small group of students from various universities. At the beginning this Committee of students ran the annual University Team Racing Championships and organized and selected the team for the bi-annual American and European tours.
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In 1991, when the whole University sport structure was changing, BUSA sailing remained independent from both the British University Sports Federation (BUSF) and University Athletic Union (UAU) and was provided with a full time secretary by the RYA funded by the Eric Twiname trust.
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Student sailing was an important development area for the RYA RYA saw student sailing as an important development area and was beginning to support it more strongly and provide coaching in various areas. The 1993 Team Racing Championships were the first for which regional qualifiers were run. With a number of Polytechnics becoming Universities the number of entries to the Championships saw huge growth., so a series of four regional qualifiers were introduced prior to the finals.
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During this period BUSA sailing continued to liaise with UAU and BUSF with an ever-improving relationship and by the time the two organisations merged to form the British University Sports Association, BUSA sailing was a well-recognised organisation with a long established constitution and Championship structure.
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Further information can be found at www.busa.org.uk
Keelboat Racing & Coaching Development Administrator
Secretary to the British Universities Sailing Association
Direct Dial 023 8060 4167
Direct Fax: 023 8060 4290