Photo: Nick Elsdon
Over the weekend of 17th and 18th March, the sailing first team competed in ‘The Big Lash’ hosted by Liverpool and Manchester. The team consisted of Matt Goacher and Jo Bradley, Sam Edom and Annie Brough, and Radheeka Jirasinha and Charlie Williams. The event comprised a full round robin of 15 teams with a semi-final and final to finish the competition.
Light winds on Saturday proved difficult for the team, scoring a solitary win against Sheffield 2 and losses to West Kirby, Oxford 1, Oxford 2 and Sheffield Old Boys. The team travelled back to Manchester for the St. Patrick’s Day social in a disappointed, but positive mood knowing that they had faced some of the top teams.
Sunday morning dawned with perfect sailing conditions and combined with a solid win against Sheffield 3, the team were in high spirits. Old rivals Sheffield 1 were up next and were leading after 3 legs, but this was converted by Radheeka and Charlie. Showing fantastic rules knowledge to force Sheffield to do 2 penalty turns. Unfortunately Matt and Jo also had to complete penalty spins but excellent speed from Sam and Annie saw the York team emerge in a winning combination at the finish. A clean sweep of all Sheffield Uni teams provided plenty of banter back ashore. Manchester 2 were quickly beaten before Shallumni proved to be too good for York but another tight race against Leeds finished in York’s favour to continue a good day on the water.
The final two matches of the weekend were a daunting prospect for York. Against Liverpool, winners of the BUCS/BUSA final Northern qualifiers and Manchester. York upped their game however, putting in two exceptional performances. York were leading Liverpool until the last leg when a crossover between two races allowed Liverpool to snatch a narrow victory. York started well against Manchester, with great speed giving them the lead. Well executed team racing moves by both teams shifted the lead numerous times but Matt and Jo managed to sail past a Manchester boat with good downwind pace to set up a competitive finish. Sam and Annie managed the race well to finish 1st, meaning the battle for 3rd would decide the race. The hours of practice in training proved beneficial as Matt and Jo sped past the Manchester President, demoting him to 4th by a matter of centimetres. York finished 1,3,6 to claim an incredible win to finish off a brilliant day on the water.
York finished 9th overall and the 5th University team. The Big Lash represented a vast improvement on the BUSA qualifiers a few weeks ago and the team should be proud of accomplished performances against some top teams in the country. The future looks good as the team heads towards a highly competitive Roses, especially with the re-introduction of a second team.