Abingdonian 2017

12 The Abingdonian National Schools’ Sailing Match Cold, clear skies provided good conditions for the National Schools’ Sailing Match Racing on the 5-6 November 2016 in Portland Harbour. Two teams from Abingdon, helmed by Tom Savidge and Arthur Bruce, clashed with teams from around the UK in technical, exciting racing. Arthur’s team took eight victories from eight races on day one to put them at the top of the leaderboard. Winds increased to provide tricky conditions on day two as both teams won their respective races to progress to semi-finals. In the semi-final, Abingdon A had a close fought match against Abingdon B with a total of four penalties given, two to each team. This ended in a photo finish as Abingdon A did their final penalty around the pin mark and quick boat handling allowed them to win by less than a foot and become finalists. Abingdon B faced MCS in the play off for third place and narrowly missed out on podium position. In the finals, which were the best of three races, Abingdon A suffered their first loss of the competition in their second race. With both teams head to head in the last leg and the fate of winners’ trophy at stake, Abingdon’s excellent spinnaker work by Giles Oldershaw and trimming by Daniel Neild resulted in a filled kite as a gust hit within a few boat lengths of the finish. This allowed them to overtake and win by half a boat length, sealing the victory for the team and the school. Daniel Neild, VIIM