OH SAILING ASSOCIATION

(OHSA)

The OH Sailing Association met once again in the Solent at the beginning of October for the Arrow Trophy. A great time was had by all, meeting up on the Hamble on Friday morning for a tremendous day out on the water with near perfect conditions. On Friday evening, we all met in West Cowes for dinner. It was good to see crew members who felt that they could at last come back out again following the pandemic, along with some new faces.

Saturday racing was keen with good conditions where the OH boat managed a consistent mid-field result. The regatta dinner on Saturday evening was well supported. Sunday gave some good racing conditions again and there were a few tired-looking faces by the time we got the boat back to Hamble.

We were delighted to be able to make a presence at the OH Societies Dinner in April and very much hope that some of the Harrovians who we talked to will be able to come and join us. This would come on the back of a couple of mailings that we made to spread the word and we are looking forward to sailing with a few new members this year.

We hope that the Belvidere Cup will be held over two days again next year and this will mean that we will be able to enter for a day of J80 racing on Queen Mary Reservoir near Heathrow, which we did a couple of years ago and was great fun.

If you, or anyone you know, would like to come and join in then please do get in touch. We will be meeting again at Cowes in October and I shall be flying the flag for us at Cowes Classic Week in July. I look forward to seeing anyone who can make it.

Just to note that we now have a small fund put aside for the encouragement of younger OHs to join us on the water.

It would be nice to try and find ways to develop a wide scope of events for OH sailors and their families. Some of the things that we intend to explore are a dinner in town ‘out of season’, a range of competitive and social sailing opportunities such as dingy sailing, wind surfing and kite surfing, and a get together of OHs with classic boats. If there is enthusiasm for it, we can look at events for powered craft too. It would be great fun to get the extended families of OHSA members involved. This year is the 30th anniversary of the Arrow Trophy Race Committee, developed from the original gauntlet throw down to Eton back in 1987. A bit more than 30 years since the original race, however, I have approached the Old Etonian Sailing Club and I am waiting to hear if they are up for a rematch. All being well, there will be some fun times ahead!

Please get in touch if you or any of your family would like more information about getting onto the water with the OHSA.

OH SQUASH CLUB (OHSC)

LONDONDERRY CUP FINAL – HARROW V NORWICH RAC, PALL MALL – 31 MARCH 2023

This is the premier public schools' old boys' squash tournament and is one of the oldest tournaments in the squash calendar, dating back to 1934.

First match up in the five-string format saw Harrow’s first string and captain Seigo Masuda (Rendalls 2011³ ) take on his opposite number Ian Cox, a former Norfolk County player. Seigo took the first game to work out his opponent and narrowly lost it 11-7. In the next three games, Seigo exerted his youth and experience to take the match 3-1.

On the adjacent court, Harrow’s fifth string Rob Dale (The Knoll 1992³ ) took on Katie Cox (daughter of Ian Cox) who has a current Ladies PSA tour ranking of 176. This was an extremely well contested match with Rob using powerful cross court drives to create pressure and gain vital court positioning which resulted in a tight 3-1 in Rob’s favour.

Next up was Harrow’s fourth string Davide Bernardi (Newlands 2010³ ) playing against Stuart Cowie, a former world number 41 in the world. Stuart has great hands and the experience of playing at international level, and this was always going to trouble Davide. Davide battled the hardest he has ever had to and retrieved brilliantly, making Stuart work for every point. Stuart prevailed in the end 3-2 but Davide will only get better if he keeps working at his game.

The match was now balanced at 2-1 in Harrow’s favour with a crucial third-string match between Harrow’s Henry Prideaux (Bradbys1992³ ) and Matt Bolt, another Norwich County player who has played at a high level throughout his career. This was another very tightly contested match with great short play touches from both players. Henry’s cool head and calm demeanour carried him through for an excellent 3-1 win and vital unassailable lead to give Harrow the overall win.

Last match on was Harrow’s second string

Alex Titchener-Barrett (Elmfield 1993³ ) taking on Marcus Cowie (brother of Stuart) and former European Under-19 Champion and England player. The opening game was fiercely contested and nicely poised at 7-7 with Alex looking to exert his fitness on Marcus but, again, the former international used his experience and great touch to edge the game. Marcus dominated the second game more comfortably and similarly took a competitively matched third game.

Overall result 3-2 to Harrow.

Harrow have won this prestigious cup in 1939, 1948, 2022 and 2023. Back-to-back victories have never been accomplished in Harrow’s squash history, so to follow up with a successive win was an extra-special achievement.

The Byronics

The Byronics, the LGBTQ+ OH society, will be hosting a joint summer social event on the evening of Thursday 13 July at a central London venue. We will be teaming up with the LGBTQ+ alumni societies from a number of leading public schools including Eton, Radley, Winchester and others. Please save the date in your diary and contact us at harrowbyronics@gmail.com to register to receive final details of the event and further information about the Byronics.

Rory Smith (The Park 2002³ )