The Firefly Class travelled to West Oxfordshire Sailing Club over the weekend of 14/15 October. With ten races scheduled and a full social (and food!) programme, the weekend promised a lot and chief organiser James Ball and his merry band of club volunteers delivered in spades. The 15 competing boats were treated to a classic 'old school' open meeting run by a fantastic club that even ordered bright sunshine and a lovely breeze for both days!
The new format split the weekend into two halves - much like the rugby which the fleet was eagerly anticipating - on Saturday five longer races were to be run utilising many of the marks on the WOSC pond, followed by five 'sprint' style races Sunday morning to accommodate club racing.
With over half the fleet camping lakeside, Saturday evening took on a party feel. A hearty fish and chip supper was enjoyed by all competitors in front of a riveting Ireland vs New Zealand quarter-final match. This was followed by dance floor action and a cheap bar with £3 a pop pints (that's not a typo!). Highlights include Jason teaching Phil some classic Dad dance moves, and young Veronica Bickford dancing with not-so-young Veronica Burrows to the song 'Veronica'.
The sensible members of the fleet retired to their homes/tents/vans after the disco stopped; a select few carried on the after-party in "the lab" until the early hours with - allegedly - plenty of post-party party van rum (say that ten times quick!). The rum turned out to be a good plan to help the campers survive the almost freezing morning temperatures but the sunrise was stunning !
On Sunday morning, the fleet was excited for five short one-lap sprint races, with the starts becoming important and highly contested. The final scorecard was determined by who could keep the most consistent scorecard, and each place was fought for on each leg of the course.
The Firefly class would like to thank WOSC for hosting a great weekend, in particular to James Ball for running the event, Jenna Ball and the rest of the catering team for providing fantastic food and drink, and RO Roger and the accompanying race team and safety crew for providing varied and interesting racing. All the visitors will be coming back for more in 2024!
Overall results:
1. Jenny Smallwood & Phil Aldhous (12pts)
2. Alex Baxter & Bea Burrows (14pts)
3. Barney Smith & Kath Wolfe-Barry (26pts)
4. Jonny & Veronica Bickford (26pts)
5. Jason Aldous & Jo Mason (30pts)
6. Sebi Schmidt & Belle (33pts)
7. James Ball & Eve (33pts)
8. Lucy Boreham & Rachel Crebbin (46pts)
9. Paul Deane (single-handed) (66pts)
10. Keiran Bowsher (single-handed) (70pts)
11. Ben & Veronica Burrows (70pts)
12. Al Vines & Fi Edwards (72pts)
13. Alex Nairac & crew (81pts)
14. Mark Jennings & crew (82pts)
15. Max Tysom & crews (95pts)
The next event on the Firefly calendar is the Inland Championships at Rutland this weekend 21st-22nd October - the final stage of the 2023 Vines Series - before the season wraps at Spinnaker for the Twisted Tube 4th-5th of November.
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