The final event of the year was the Oxford vs Cambridge Varsity Match, this year held at Itchenor Sailing Club in Swallows. Thanks to the incredible organising skills of Blake Tudor (who was carried by Itchenor member Simon Slater and friends), the accommodation, food, weather and boats were all booked well in advance. All Cambridge sailors were put up by generous Itchenor members who all lived within a 10 minute walk of the club, helping to make the event experience even more enjoyable.
After a practise day on the Sunday to get used to the boats, the matches began on Monday under sunshine and 10 knots of breeze. The Open match started well, eventually finishing the day 3-1 to Cambridge with 3 match points. The Women’s match was a closer affair, with blows being traded all day. After completing 4 races on the Monday, the match finished 2-2.
Tuesday saw equally close racing, with a strong sea breeze bringing in 12-16 knots of wind. After a dominant start, the Open match went the way of the Cambridge team, who ended finishing in a distant 1,2,4 (thanks to Blake, Max and Claudia for adding a bit of a gap!).
After a win for Cambridge in the Open event, the Women’s match continued to be close, with each team winning racing winning one race taking the match to a 7th race decider. Unfortunately, despite looking strong for much of the race, the team racing gods did not shine on the Cambridge team and Oxford narrowly won the race, and the 2025 Women’s Varsity Match.
A big thank you to Itchenor who put on an amazing event and a lovely dinner on the Wednesday evening.
