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exciting to see the reactions from all involved. I do wish some of the photos taken had captured OOs’ faces as the starter called “go”. They would have looked fabulously vulnerable as the stroke rushed out to front stops to take a full stroke, before looking left to the starter marshal to check they could go.
As all riggers took a dive to the left and some blade handles momentarily lost contact with fingers, OOs came oh so close, on more than one occasion, to falling into the river.
By race three it had been ascertained that a half stroke to start might get the crews out of the blocks faster, not to
SAILING
By Kate Robinson (W 93)
The OO Sailing Club was among a record 27 entrants for the 25th anniversary of the Arrow Trophy regatta last October at Cowes Yacht Haven. Organising the berthing and racing for such a large fleet was no mean feat.
The weather didn’t look good as we made our way over to Cowes on the Friday night, with gale-force winds and rain forecast for the subsequent two days.
However, the Saturday was not quite as dismal as had been forecast and after a two-hour delay, racing began with a mandatory two reefs. We had a fun day, ending up in our customary middle ranking.
Dinner was held at the Yacht Haven, the large numbers entering the event meaning we had outgrown all the other yacht clubs’ facilities nearby!
The Sunday was moderately less windy, though very wet, but we still had a great day and clawed our way back to finish ninth in the fleet racing.
This year the event takes place on 11th-13th October and should you wish to take part, please contact kate.robinson2011@gmail.com.
OO crew: Rick Crook (B 95), Will Alms (C 10), Caroline Alms (N 12), Kate Robinson (W 93), Ricky Martin (Ldr
SHOOTING
By Giles Hall (L 09)
The annual .22 rifle match against the School took place on 2nd March. As always, this was an enjoyable afternoon and the School performed very well, with great consistency. The afternoon saw several recent OO leavers come back to compete, with Fergus Flanagan (Sc 13) the top shot of the day with an impressive score of 197 out of 200 (the second best was 186). Despite this fantastic effort, the School maintained their recent record of beating the OOs by performing well as a team and winning 1,413-1,385.
On 11th May the Troubleshooters celebrated their 50th anniversary and it was great that some of the founding members – notably Richard Beeby (Lx 68) and Steven Thomas (G 69) – were able to join the celebrations in Oundle, firstly with a shoot at Elmington Range and then with a black-tie dinner in the Laxton Long Room. There
mention keeping OOs breathing!
As all rowers began to tire, racing was wrapped up, a
winner was declared and everything was packed away in time for the sausages to come off the barbecue and be served. After all, there simply is no point in burning calories if you can’t eat three times more straight afterwards! Any athlete, current Oundelian or OO, will tell you that!
I am now excited to explore further opportunities for OSBC and the OO community to unite, as I passionately believe events such as these show why OOs are vital to School athletes’ futures.
08), Nick Ryley (Sc 66), Nick Brown (St A 78), Selina Dicker (D 95), Richard Lewis.
The OO Sailing Club crew in action in the Arrow Trophy last October (left to right): Kate Robinson (W 93), Will Alms (C 10), Richard Crook (B 95), Nick Brown (St A 78) and Ricky Martin (Ldr 08)
was a barbecue prior to the shoot and the annual AGM had one of the best attendances in recent years. The whole day was great fun and a long overdue reunion for some OOs. It was brilliant that the Head, Sarah Kerr- Dineen, and OO President Alastair Irvine (Sc 81) could join us. We hope the success of this event will encourage more OOs to come back and take part in this yearly shooting match against the School.
Every year the School shooting team travel to Bisley in Surrey for the annual schools’ competition, which is held over several days, culminating in the Ashburton competition. The schools’ Veterans’ Match follows this and while the A team scored a respectable 243 in tricky wind conditions at a range of 500 yards, the score was not high enough to regain the trophy, which has been won three times in recent times.
Following the Veterans’ Match, a few OOs stayed on for
the international Imperial Meeting. Steven Thomas was
an impressive 14th in the Grand Aggregate, while Steve www
SPORT
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