Please select your home edition
Edition
Zhik 2024 December

Cambridge vs. Oxford Varsity Match at Aldeburgh Yacht Club

by Anthony Butler 9 Jul 2013 17:40 BST 3-5 July 2013
Cambridge Mixed Team with Yule Oldham Cup at the 2013 Varsity Match © Anthony Butler

Oxford & Cambridge Share Honours at 2013 Varsity Match

Cambridge ended Oxford's superiority of recent years by winning the 96th Varsity Match held at Aldeburgh YC 3-5 July in Loch Long class keel boats. Oxford Ladies upheld that University's honour by withstanding a strong Cambridge challenge to retain the ladies' title for the fifth year in succession. Each event is decided on the basis of seven races.

Cambridge won the first 2 mixed team races on the Thursday, but Oxford then rode some good fortune well to win the next 2 races on the water – before the umpires deducted half a win for causing damage. The ladies suffered from a failing wind at the end of the day and so only sailed their first 2 races, both won by Oxford.

Friday dawned without a cloud in the sky and the threat of very little if any wind. However, the competitors were favoured with a stable E to NE wind of 5 or 6 knots which was sufficient to run seven good cross-tide races. The ladies started first and Cambridge quickly won two races to square the ladies match at 2-2.

Then the mixed teams took to their boats and, in the first race, Cambridge romped away to an easy 1, 2 win giving them a 3-1½ lead. The next race swung to and fro until the Cambridge second strings established a narrow lead on the final beat – with all 6 boats finishing within a few seconds. A despairing Oxford protest on the finish line was green flagged by the umpires so victory and the Yule Oldham Cup went to Cambridge

Ladies races 5 and 6 went one to each University, resulting in a nail-biting seventh decider. No two-boat team race is over until the last boat crosses the finish line, and this was borne out in the final deciding race when Cambridge tactics gave them an apparently safe 1, 2.

However, one Oxford boat got between them on the final run and sailed well up the final beat to ensure the last boat was a Cambridge one and so enable Oxford to take the series and the O&CSS Ladies Plate

The event was very well run on both sailing and social fronts by Aldeburgh YC, with the Loch Long owners supporting strongly and excellent umpiring by an international team of four.

A gallery of photographs is on the O&CSS website

Related Articles

St. Francis YC announces 2025 Regatta Season
With national and world championships in multiple classes St. Francis Yacht Club, one of the world's premier sailing venues, has announced its action-packed 2025 regatta season. Posted on 22 Jan
Apply now for the Carmela Cup 2025
RYA Two-Boat Keelboat Team Racing Championship is in April Requests for Invite for the RYA Two-Boat Keelboat Team Racing Championship for the Carmela Cup are now being accepted. The Royal Thames Yacht Club will be hosting the Championship at Queen Mary Reservoir, West London, over the weekend of 5-6 April 2025. Posted on 8 Jan
Entries open for Lochan Cup 2025
Women's keelboat team racing at Queen Mary in April Entries are live for the second UK Women's Keelboat Team Racing Championship. The event will be co-organised and hosted by the RYA and Royal Thames Yacht Club at London's Queen Mary Reservoir over the weekend of 12-13 April 2025. Posted on 18 Dec 2024
Firefly dinghy videos from the 1980s and 90s
It's time to dig into the archives again, one year after our first ever video feature It's time to dig into the video archives a second time, a year after our first ever video feature, which happened to be on 1950s Firefly sailing. But this time all we can find is from the 1980s and 90s! Posted on 15 Dec 2024
Applications open for Team Racing Championship
Prince Philip Trophy will be contested at Oxford Applications are live for the RYA/UKTRA National Team Racing Championship for the Prince Philip Trophy. Bringing together the top teams from the UK circuit, the 2025 edition will be hosted for the first time in the event's history at Oxford Sailing Club. Posted on 5 Dec 2024
Loughborough Lemming 2024 Team Racing
24 teams and almost 200 sailors descend upon Burton Sailing Club for the event A record-breaking end to the year for Loughborough Sailing saw 24 teams and almost 200 sailors descend upon Burton Sailing Club for the annual Lemming! Posted on 5 Dec 2024
Royal Hospital School celebrates sailing successes
In Eric Twiname Youth and Junior National Team Racing Championships Royal Hospital School (RHS) in Holbrook, Suffolk, is proud to be celebrating its sailing pupils' success at the RYA Eric Twiname Youth (under 19) and Junior (under 17) National Team Racing Championships. Posted on 3 Dec 2024
The first BUSA tour team... 65 years on
The team of 1959 gathered together again at the Royal Thames Yacht Club The British Universities Sailing Team of 1959 gathered together again on 21st November 2024 in the Royal Thames Yacht Club to lunch and reminisce about their tour of the USA. Posted on 25 Nov 2024
Selection system for 2025 Team Race Worlds
US Sailing announces the requirements for next year's event US Sailing, the National Governing Body for sailing in the United States, is pleased to announce the athlete selection system and requirements for the highly anticipated 2025 Team Race World Championship. Posted on 21 Nov 2024
Spinnaker Sailing Club Firefly Weekend
Twisted Tube random pairs team racing and final event of the Vines Series The weekend of 2nd & 3rd November saw Spinnaker Sailing Club holding their annual Firefly Weekend, two days of action packed racing. Posted on 4 Nov 2024