Laser Midland Grand Prix Round 8 at Blithfield Sailing Club
by Craig Williamson 12 May 2015 17:24 BST
10 May 2015
Lasers at Blithfield © Don Stokes
The sailors were greeted for round 8 of the Laser Midland Grand Prix at Blithfield Sailing Club on Sunday 10th May with free toast, 12 knots of wind and the promise of it building throughout the day.
Race 1 got away with a slight bunch up at the favoured port end. At the top of the first beat Craig Williamson (SHSC/HISC) had a small lead over Oliver Davenport (Redesmere SC) and Rob Lennox (Barnt Green). Throughout the race Williamson extended his lead with Davenport finishing 2nd and Cameron Smith moving through the fleet into 3rd.
Race 2 saw Rich Bennett (SHSC) getting the first beat right to lead around the windward mark followed by Davenport and Williamson. With the breeze building there were some exciting downwind legs with more opportunity for place changes. Davenport and Williamson were fighting for the lead with Smith snapping at their heels. Davenport won the race with Williamson 2nd and Smith 3rd.
The wind built further for the final race and tired legs left a few sailors on the shore. The racing was close early on in the race; however, Davenport sailed fast downwind to extend the lead halfway through the race. Williamson finished 2nd with the Radial of Daniel Wigmore (GWSC) sailing fast in the stronger wind to finish 3rd and Joe Scurrah (Carsington SC) 4th.
Overall Results: (top four)
1st Oliver Davenport (2, 1, 1)
2nd Craig Williamson (1, 2, 2)
3rd Cameron Smith (3, 3, 5)
4th and 1st Radial Daniel Wigmore (5, 4, 3)
More information of the series and full results can be found at sites.google.com/site/uklasermidlandgrandprix2013