The weekend away at Farmoor Reservoir for the Oxford Top Gun 2026 was one of the most fun and most intense weekends of sailing of the season. Representing Cambridge Blue at this invitation-only event meant testing ourselves against the absolute best university teams from the UK and Ireland, and this year’s regatta threw absolutely everything at us.
Saturday was pure survival. We started strong, trading punches and finding our rhythm in the shifting, freezing winter gusts. But team racing leaves zero room for error. During a high-stakes, chaotic battle around the mark, a massive gust caught us off guard and sent Robbie swimming. That capsize didn’t just freeze us to the bone; it cost us a critical match and put us on the back foot in the round-robin standings. We weren’t the only ones struggling, though—even the hosts, Oxford Blue, took a swim later that afternoon.
That evening showed what a proper sailing social could be. The dinner at the Cherwell was brilliant and the amount of booze drank was attested by my nearly throwing up in the first roll tack of Sunday.
Ultimately by Sunday, we were playing catch-up. We left everything on the water, tracking our must-win scenarios on the kSail board and executing some clinical 1-2 finishes. Our speed was right up there with the top teams, but that points deficit from Saturday’s capsize ultimately kept us out of the top-four knockout bracket. Trinity and UCD dominated the all-Irish final, and while we didn’t get the silverware this time, proving our pace against this fleet gave us plenty of ammunition heading into BUSA finals.