Twenty Supernovas braved the gusty conditions to take part in the West Oxfordshire Supernova Open. Fortunately the wind and gusts (mostly!) were from the north allowing Race Officer Henry Ayres to set the best courses for this water.

Race 1 started in heavy wind and after the first beat Cliff Milliner lead ahead of Bruce Howett, Steve Hawley and Richard Pakes. Jeff Tucker and Steve Swaine also started well but were both caught by a gust on the first gybe mark, resulting in Tuckers boat attaching itself to the mark; much excitement followed as the remainder of the fleet gybed around the stricken boats with varying success. Over the next three laps Milliner, Howett and Parkes extended their lead, until Milliner was finally passed on a beat. Pakes and Howett then battled it out over the last two laps, with Howett finally beating Pakes on the last tack, by just one second. Milliner was third, Mike Gibson fourth and local helm Barry Buzzard fifth.

By race 2 the wind had eased slightly giving Buzzard the chance to start on a port end flier and by the first mark only Howett had managed to pass him. Milliner, Pakes, Mark Mason and Mike Gibson closely followed them. The front two managed to pull out a bit of a lead only for Buzzard to drop back mid race, after being caught on the wrong side of a shift. From then Howett extended his lead further to win ahead of Milliner second and Pakes Third. Gibson was 4th followed by Buzzard 5th and Richard Sallis 6th.

Race 3 saw the best and worst of the weather, changing from bright sunshine to a hailstorm and finally the windiest conditions of the day. Gibson took advantage of a port end start to lead all the way and finally won by a margin of 90 seconds, ahead of Pakes. Milliner 4th came out best as he battled with Howett 5th from start to finish. Steve Hawley sailing his new Supernova for the first time, found the right settings to finish 5th and Paul Undrell was 6th.

Overall Bruce Howett had a well deserved victory with two firsts, Richard Pakes was second with four points. Mike Gibson was third on five points beating Cliff Milliner in to fourth on count back.

Full results here

Gallery here