Exeter Excalibur Team Racing at Roadford Lake
by Nigel Vick 23 Mar 2023 03:30 PDT
18-19 March 2023
Exeter Excalibur - the winning Bristol Black team © Nigel Vick
The Exeter Excalibur took place at Roadford Reservoir in Devon. Despite a couple of hours waiting for the wind, 72 races were sailed in a HLS format on the Saturday. Sunday saw the 18 teams split into leagues and a further 45 races sailed despite struggles with the shifting winds. This produced a silver surfer sudden death race between the winners of the Gold and Silver Leagues, which saw Southampton Red knock out Oxford Red with a 2,3,4.
The semi finals were therefore Bristol Black against Winchester Brown and Southampton Red against Oxford Blue. Bristol went through to the final 2:0 but the Oxford/Southampton match required a third, deciding race which was won by Oxford with a 1,2,4.
The final went to three races with the Bristol Black team of Will Caiger, Emily Comins, Jake Hardman, Abi Tuttle, Rory Fulton & Ed Salmon winning the decider with 1,3,6. Oxford Blue were second and, following a black flag hearing, Winchester Brown were third.