Great spectating and close racing, with the outcome decided on the final beat of the fifth race!

Nine fleet champions from across the Club met bright and early on Saturday morning, ready to race LR Scows over a series of five races to decide the winner of the coveted title of Club
 ‘Champion of Champions’.
 
Despite the light and variable wind of 3-5 knots, the wind direction was good - coming from N to NE it meant that the breeze in the river off the Clubhouse was relatively undisturbed, although there were still plenty of shifts and ‘gusts’ to be optimised and the competitors swapped boats after each race to minimise any equipment advantage.  With nine competitors and eight boats, each competitor sat out one race.
 
Each of the five races started on the Club line with marks rounded to port and an initial run down to a leeward mark off the Dan Bran pontoon, before a beat (with the gently flooding tide) back up to near the club start transit posts and a short reach across the river to a mark near the Fortuna South post before a final short run down to the finish line.  
 
With Rory Paton (XOD) sitting out the first race, Olympian Vita Heathcote (J80) made a strong initial impression with a first, followed by Harry Hutchinson (LAH1) and David King (PY2).  David improved in R2 to take the win ahead of Rory and Tim Mack (Scow Silver), with Vita tied with Nick Ryley and grand-daughter Chloe Eliot (PY1) for 4th and 5th place.  Vita sat out R3 with the win going to Jonny Clegg (Scow Gold) and the ever-consistent Rory notching up another second ahead of Andy Hind (IRC1).  In R4, Vita took the win ahead of Rory in 2nd (again!) and Jeremy Austin (Folkboat).
 
All this meant that going into the final race of the no-discard series, Rory led with three 2nds, half a point ahead of Vita with two 1sts and a 4.5.   On the first run Vita had an early lead on Rory, but he established an inside overlap at the leeward mark and led at the start of the beat.  Vita managed to sniggle through into the lead on the upwind leg, just ahead of Rory, holding on to finish first and winning the Champion of Champions trophy, just half a point ahead of Rory.
 
Overall results were:
 
1            Vita Heathcote - J80
2            Rory Paton - XOD
3            David King - PY2
4            Jonny Clegg - Scow Gold
5            Jeremy Austin - Folkboat
6            Tim Mack - Scow Silver
7            Harry Hutchinson - LAH1
8            Nick Ryley & Chloe Elliot - PY1
9            Andy Hind - IRC2                       
 
At the prize-giving held just after midday, Vita thanked the helpers and competitors for a great morning of sailing, describing the event as the highlight of her sailing year - she’s no longer racing on the Olympic circuit as she's now studying for a degree in medicine at Southampton University.
 
Looking forward to next year, the event will be held on Saturday 17 October and it would be great to see more of the class champions taking part, especially from the junior and youth classes - it was made difficult for them this year by clashes with external training and race events. 
 
PETER SAXTON
Rear Commodore Sailing