Foxer Vixens Stiletto Cup at Hamble River Sailing Club
by Ian Finlay 29 Jun 2009 17:24 BST
28 June 2009
Wow! What a Scorcher!
A fantastic inaugural event on the Hamble River yesterday as 19 Vixens came to the start line for the ‘Stiletto Cup’.
Racing was held in our usual race area on the Warsash side of the River Hamble opposite the Hamble Town Quay and the beer tent which has been erected for Hamble Week. The three o’clock start was given to offer the best of the high tide and this helped the fleet measurably since the wind was light.
Of the 19 entrants only 5 had any previous sailing a Foxer but the fleet had some high calibre helms. One Olympian, 7 former SB3 sailors and a number of big boat sailors were all eager to enjoy their day and everyone at both ends of the fleet were having fun and learning with each race. Some vixens were making their first outing in a dinghy so for these few, their first tentative moments in the boat must have been a little daunting.
The racing was tight throughout the fleet as the overall points scores show. At the head of the leader board the racing was tight and the winning margin after the four races was only 4 points and there was a battle royal between sailing sisters Sacha and Fleur Oswald with Sacha coming out on top. Lower down the fleet they may not have been tearing round the race track (well, no-one actually tears around anywhere in a Foxer!) and with only one helm capsizing, the girls still managed to impress the predominantly male spectator fleet by showing that you can get through a race unscathed however long it may take. Maybe the boys can take on board Principal Race officer Tony Kilby’s comment that ‘it was the most polite race course I’d ever witnessed’ and hopes some of the regular male Foxer sailors might begin to employ this favourable approach to their racing, too.
Once the four scheduled races were completed the fleet repaired to the Hamble River Sailing Club to recount their experiences over some drinks whilst the race officers added up the points to figure out the results.
The prize giving was held on the sailing clubs perfectly situated deck overlooking the Hamble River in all its glory. The top three sailors each received a prize courtesy of Pigbags Ltd. and the winner, Claudia Schaefer (who had obviously learned a lot about the boats in her role as Principal Race Officer for the Foxer Intergalactic Championship held a couple of weeks earlier) became the first recipient of the Stiletto Cup which had been donated to the event by Ian Finlay Fine Art. Ian also donated a pair of silver LK Bennett stilettos which were given to Beth Filegar, from Virginia, USA, being the vixen whom had travelled the furthest to attend the regatta.
Overall Results:
1st Claudia Schaefer, 7 pts
2nd Sacha Oswald, 11 pts
3rd Fleur Oswald, 18 pts
4th Lizzie Shawcroft, 23 pts
5th Severine Rees-Jones, 26 pts
6th Kirsty Skinner, 28 pts
7th Sarah Norbury, 29 pts
8th Jane McLelland, 30 pts
9th Zoe Dunne, 33 pts
10th Catherine Summerhayes, 34 pts
11th Jennie Austin, 50 pts
12th Kate Buckingham, 51 pts
13th Tasha Ault, 55 pts
14th Ruth David, 56 pts
15th Amanda Marino, 61 pts
16th Suzy Hamel, 63 pts
17th Emily Seel, 63 pts
18th Marie Westcott-Brown, 65 pts
19th Beth Filegar, 80 pts
The Hamble Foxer fleet meet every Sunday morning throughout the year and on Friday evenings during the summer months. If anyone wishes to come and join us please contact the Hamble River Sailing Club (023 8045 2070 or 
