IOCA UK Optimist Team Racing Championship at Oxford Sailing Club
by Jamie McEwen 4 Jun 16:41 BST
18-19 June 2024
IOCA UK Optimist Team Racing Championship at Oxford © OSC
Nine teams, each consisting of four Optimists, gathered at Oxford Sailing Club on 18th June for the second IOCA UK Optimist Team Racing Championship. The weather gods were smiling on us and laid on two days of sunshine and ideal team racing winds, ranging from 5 to 12 knots.
As soon as the box course was set up, racing got under way with a rapid-fire all-sails-all round robin. Competition was strong and enjoyable, with Chris Atkins' team of 4 "pro" umpires, ably supported by parent/sibling volunteers, keeping things legal (and also helping to educate sailors on a few rules).
36 races later, competitors and officials retired to the shore to grab a quick lunch and catch their breath. In the afternoon we launched into another full round robin, which was about half complete by the end of the day.
On the Sunday the second round robin was completed, and then after some hasty sums by the race committee, the fleet was divided (on the water) into Gold and Silver Fleets of 5 and 4 teams respectively. Gold Fleet then had one round robin while Silver had two, with lots of great matches between evenly-matched teams.
At the end of that, the winners of Silver Fleet were "Tango 4": Ruby Coster, Lizzie Hudson, Sean Di Salle and Rupert Garlick.
Meanwhile in Gold Fleet racing was extremely close, with a three-way tie for third place that could only be broken by adding up individual race scores.
Eventually (after further on-the-water sums) the petit-final teams were identified as Parkstone YC (Eliana Edwards, Harry Draper, Fraser Hakes, Tom Keegan) vs the "OAPs" (Ben and William McEwen, Freya Hutchinson, Callum Marshall). Parkstone won two from two to take a well-deserved third place overall.
At the same time, the two top teams fought it out in the final for overall honours and the coveted Ramus Trophy: "Lymingtonish" (Jonny Rogers, Isla Hutchinson, Pippa Shepherd and Leo Gosling) versus "Team Cold" (Finn Ramus, Hugo Fletcher, Laszlo Drummond and Charlie Holland). Lymingtonish took a hard-fought first race, and then in the second race the sailors crossed the line so close that the finish boat had to spend a very careful 10 minutes reviewing the video to determine who had won!
This turned out to be Lymingtonish by a single point, so they took first place overall.
Well done to all the sailors for a great weekend of team racing, which met all the aims of being competitive, educational and fun. A huge thanks to all the organisers and helpers, particularly the umpires, PRO David Baddeley (who stepped in at short notice after the previous PRO was injured) and Oxford Sailing Club. We hope to return around the same time next year!
Overall Results:
| Position overall | Team name | Sailor | RR1 wins | RR2 wins | Gold/Silver wins | Total score |
|---|
| 1 | Lymingtonish | Jonny Rogers | 7 | 7 | 4 | 20 |
| 1 | Lymingtonish | Pippa Shepherd | 7 | 7 | 4 | 20 |
| 1 | Lymingtonish | Isla Hutchinson | 7 | 7 | 4 | 20 |
| 1 | Lymingtonish | Leo Gosling | 7 | 7 | 4 | 20 |
| 2 | Team Cold | Finn Ramus | 7 | 6 | 1 | 14.5 |
| 2 | Team Cold | Hugo Fletcher | 7 | 6 | 1 | 14.5 |
| 2 | Team Cold | Laszlo Drummond | 7 | 6 | 1 | 14.5 |
| 2 | Team Cold | Charlie Holland | 7 | 6 | 1 | 14.5 |
| 3 | Parkstone YC | Eliana Edwards | 6 | 6 | 1 | 13.5 |
| 3 | Parkstone YC | Harry Draper | 6 | 6 | 1 | 13.5 |
| 3 | Parkstone YC | Fraser Hakes | 6 | 6 | 1 | 13.5 |
| 3 | Parkstone YC | Tom Keegan | 6 | 6 | 1 | 13.5 |
| 4 | OAPs | Ben McEwen | 6 | 6 | 1 | 13.5 |
| 4 | OAPs | Callum Marshall | 6 | 6 | 1 | 13.5 |
| 4 | OAPs | William McEwen | 6 | 6 | 1 | 13.5 |
| 4 | OAPs | Freya Hutchinson | 6 | 6 | 1 | 13.5 |
| 5 | Smile & Wave | Merryn Wealthy | 4 | 5 | 3 | 13.5 |
| 5 | Smile & Wave | Alex Saunders | 4 | 5 | 3 | 13.5 |
| 5 | Smile & Wave | Patrick di Salle | 4 | 5 | 3 | 13.5 |
| 5 | Smile & Wave | Felix Garlick | 4 | 5 | 3 | 13.5 |
| 6 | Tango 4 | Rupert Garlick | 2 | 1 | 5 | 10.5 |
| 6 | Tango 4 | Sean Di Salle | 2 | 1 | 5 | 10.5 |
| 6 | Tango 4 | Ruby Coster | 2 | 1 | 5 | 10.5 |
| 6 | Tango 4 | Lizzie Hudson | 2 | 1 | 5 | 10.5 |
| 7 | Team FLOJ | Will Fuller | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8.5 |
| 7 | Team FLOJ | Beth Llewelyn | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8.5 |
| 7 | Team FLOJ | Darcy O'Donnell | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8.5 |
| 7 | Team FLOJ | Freddie Jones | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8.5 |
| 8 | HISC Hornets | Jack Ward | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5.5 |
| 8 | HISC Hornets | Finley Browne | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5.5 |
| 8 | HISC Hornets | Wilbur de la Haye | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5.5 |
| 8 | HISC Hornets | Rufus de la Haye | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5.5 |
| 9 | Team East | Will Keys‑Batson | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5.5 |
| 9 | Team East | Rory Luddington | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5.5 |
| 9 | Team East | Thomas Child | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5.5 |
| 9 | Team East | Hugh Walker | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5.5 |