The weekend of the 13th + 14th March sees the London Duck take place. The event is hosted by the University of London Sailing Club based at BTYC and sailed on the Welsh Harp Reservoir in north London. The number of entries for the 2010 event is limited to 16 teams with racing sailed in the clubs 3 flights of 18 identical firefly dinghies. It is planned that the event will follow a round-robin and subsequent knockout format.
Entries |
Bath University
Bristol University
Bristol University
BUSA Ladies
Cambridge University
Newcastle University
Oxford University
RAFSA
Royal Thames Yacht Club
Sevenoaks School
Southampton University
Team Barracuda
University of London
Wessex Exiles
Report |
A glassy lake and overcast conditions greeted the competitors at the Welsh Harp Reservoir on the Saturday morning and despite the best efforts of the race committee racing could not get underway until midday. When it did 63 races of the 14 team round-robin were completed in a light northerly breeze which gradually built to a steady 6-8knots during the day. By the evening most teams had completed 8 races and the overnight leaders were the undefeated Wessex Exiles team followed by a host of teams on 6/2 records.
Despite a number of hangovers on Sunday morning racing started at 10 o'clock in a stronger breeze of 10-12knots and glorious sunshine. The remanding 30-odd races of the first round-robin were completed by midday and Wessex Exiles continued there good form taking out the first stage with a 13/1 record followed by University of London on 12/2 and a number of teams on 9/4.
Teams were then split into gold, silver and bronze leagues. The four teams in bronze league raced each other twice and those in the silver and gold leagues once. With each league assigned there own flight of boats with the breeze building and the course close to shore the racing made for great entertainment. Competition in the gold league was extremely close and was won by London who came out on top with a 3/1 record followed by 3 teams tied on 2/2 records.
Having won the silver league Cambridge University had a potshot at a semi final place with a playoff against the much fancied Royal Thames Yacht Club Team. With the racing now fully umpired a long deliberation followed after the finish after an incident right on the line as boats 5 and 6 crossed simultaneously- it was Cambridge who went through snatching a 1, 4, 5 by the skin of there teeth.
In the first semi final the Exiles took on there former university and unsurprisingly a third race was needed to separate the two teams- the Exiles eventually clinching it after some strong starting in the final race. In the second semi final London faced the now buoyant Cambridge team and after London took the first race convincingly Cambridge fought back from losing positions in the following two races albeit with some more help from the rulebook to take their place in the final. The final failed to match the previous rounds entertainment with the Exiles starting well in both races to overcome Cambridge with ease and take home the yellow rubber duck.
Despite the postponement on Saturday morning the event was one of the most successful in recent history with every team racing between 17 and 22 times over the weekend. ULSC would like to thank Jo Lucas for her excel wizardry, Amanda Hebbert, all the umpires involved, the onshore helpers, Oxford University, Imperial College and Sevenoaks School, BTYC, various Castaways and everyone else who was involved over the weekend.
Results |
1st Wessex Exiles [18/4]
2nd Cambridge University [16/5]
3rd University of London [15/5]
4th Southampton University [12/8]
5th Royal Thames Yacht Club [11/7]
6th Bristol University [10/7]
7th Bath University [9/8]
8th Oxford University [7/10]
9th Bristol University [7/10]
10th Newcastle University [6/11]
11th Sevenoaks School [8/11]
12th BUSA Ladies [6/13]
13th RAFSA [6/13]
14th Team Barracuda [1/18]
Final |
Wessex Exiles def. Cambridge University
Wessex Exiles def. Cambridge University
Semi final |
Cambridge University def. University of London
Cambridge University def. University of London
University of London def. Cambridge University
Semi final |
Wessex Exiles def. University of Southampton
University of Southampton def. Wessex Exiles
Wessex Exiles def. University of Southampton
Silver/semi final playoff |
Cambridge University def. Royal Thames Yacht Club
Gold League |
1st University of London [3/1]
2nd Wessex Exiles [2/2]
3rd University of Southampton [2/2]
4th Royal Thames Yacht Club [2/2]
5th Bristol University [1/3]
Silver League |
1st Cambridge University [4/0]
2nd Bath University [3/1]
3rd Bristol University [2/2]
4th Oxford University [1/3]
5th Newcastle University [0/4]
Bronze League |
1st Sevenoaks School [5/1]
2nd RAFSA [4/2]
3rd BUSA Ladies [3/3]
4th Team Barracuda [0/6]
First round-robin |
1st Wessex Exiles [12/1]
2nd University of London [11/2]
3rd Royal Thames Yacht Club [9/4]
4th Southampton University [9/4]
5th Bristol University [9/4]
6th Cambridge University [9/4]
7th Oxford University [6/7]
8th Bath University [6/7]
9th Newcastle University [6/7]
10th Bristol University [5/8]
11th BUSA Ladies [3/10]
12th Sevenoaks School [3/10]
13th RAFSA [2/11]
14th Team Barracuda [1/12]
