NBYC match report

As summer came to an end an OCSS team made its way to the Norfolk Broads for the annual match against the Norfolk Broads Yacht Club. Hosted by NBYC at Wroxham Broad, this fixture (the Stewart Morris Trophy) has run since 1949. The OCSS team were all racing for the first time for the Society, and before 10am that morning only one of the team had even seen a YBOD (the class of boat used for the fixture)!

After a slightly delayed start due to (perhaps unsurprising) train disruptions the Society team had a couple of minutes on the sail out to familiarise themselves with the boats before racing got underway. The first start saw the Society team use their team racing experience to take control of the start, before a boat handling misjudgement handed the initiative back to NBYC. They held control of the race until just before the finish, where a navigation error handed the win to OCSS.

The next two races followed a similar pattern: Society had an edge in the prestart, but the superior boat handling and speed of the local team got them back into the race. The relatively short course meant that close quarters tactics proved to be the deciding factor, and after some excellent mark traps Society won both races, taking a 3-0 lead.

The breeze continued to build, and so the boat handling skill of NBYC started to tell. Even the prestart became more evenly matched. The Society team raced hard but were outclassed by the experience of the NBYC team. They comfortably won the next three races to leave the score level (3 – 3).

At that point the wind had built significantly: there was even the rare sight of white horses on the broad! The race committee decided that it was too breezy for racing, and the fleet headed ashore. This turned out to be a good decision, as one of the NBYC boats broke their shroud on the sail in.

Safely ashore, both teams headed to the clubhouse for an excellent lunch provided by the club. With scores level, there was some discussion of the tiebreak system. After a quick consultation of the rule book and some maths from the committee, it was worked out the NBYC would win based on having fewer points across the whole match. NBYC therefore reclaimed the Stewart Morris trophy after Society won in 2024 and then no match was held last year.

Thank you to NBYC for a fantastic day, and to the members for trusting their boats to us for the morning. In particular, thanks to David Harston and George Orchard for helping organise the match, and to Erin Pank for running the racing. Looking forward to being back next year to try to reclaim the trophy!

This is the final fixture of 2026, but there is more sailing to come: the inter-generations event at Farmoor sailing club on 3rd October, followed by dinner and the AGM at Cherwell boathouse. Keep an eye out for the dates for next years fixtures being released soon. We are also trying to expand the fixtures list, so if any members think their local club would be keen to race, please get in contact.

OCSS Team

Will Adler, Robbie McDonald, Gordon Cogan Sivarajan, Leah Tavasi, Adam Rathmell, Ewan Gribbin