Noble Marine Laser Standard Autumn Qualifier at Sunderland Yacht Club

There were 35 Standard Lasers at the first UKLA Autumn Qualifier held by Sunderland Yacht Club. Despite the very light forecast and it being spring tides, the race management team, led by Ken Falcon, did a great job to get four races away over the weekend.

There was a short delay onshore waiting for the wind to become a consistent 5knts, after which Race one started. After a few general recalls, due to the strong tide pushing the fleet over the line, Jack Wetherell made the best start coming off the biased pin end to lead round the windward mark. Sam Whaley and Anthony Parke rounded next, hot on his heels on the top reach. Racing the triangle-sausage course meant there were limited overtaking lanes on the reaches. Jack Aitken got in perfect sync up the second beat to move to third while Wetherell and Whaley held the lead. During the nail biting final run, Aitken made a move, this time charging through to second, Parke also regained third while Wetherell survived to take the win. Lorenzo Chiavarini and Henry Wetherell made good gains around the course to come home fourth and fifth respectively.

Wind conditions were very similar for Race two – around 5knts of wind from 155. The tide had slackened off a lot and was due to turn during the race. Jack Wetherell, once again, got the best of the pin end after a tussle with Parke. The first beat was very tricky with the majority of the fleet tacking on to port soon after the start, only to be caught out later up the beat as the left shift held with increasing pressure also coming from that side. After Wetherell's start, he was able to dig back in to the left to lead around the windward mark. Parke and Chiavarini spotted the pressure and made the most of it to follow in second and third. Again no place changes happened at the front on the reaches. The first three positions stayed the same all the way to the finish, Alistair Goodwin finished in fourth and Sam Whaley in fifth. At the finish the Race Committee signalled no more racing for today and the fleet headed for shore. Wetherell was leading overnight with two first places, Parke was in second with a 3, 2 and Chiavarini was in third with 4, 3.

Sunday started with a change to the sailing instructions. The course configuration had changed meaning the fleet would now race a square followed by a sausage. A smart move by the officials to enable more downwind sailing and ability for places to change. Sunderland was at its best with not a cloud in the sky and warm sunshine; unfortunately, there wasn't much wind. There was another delay onshore until a stable 6–8knt breeze from the south east filled in. Once again, the tide was very strong underneath the fleet. World Champion Nick Thompson executed a brilliant start just up from the pin and played the left to lead around the windward mark. Jack Wetherell and Michael Beckett made good progress up the middle to follow him round. On the first downwind, Chiavarini found some space to the right of the leaders to race through from fourth to first at the leeward mark. Thompson regained the lead at the top of the second beat getting the better of Chiavarini with Beckett still in third. On the final run, Chiavarini and Thompson had a great duel with Chiavarini eventually taking the lead and the race win. Thompson was second, Beckett third, Wetherell fourth and Parke finished in fifth.

Due to the delay in the morning and a cut off time of 14.00, Race four looked likely to be the final race. Thompson had another great start; this time in the middle of the line. Sam Whaley also started well up at the starboard end. The first beat of this race was a lot shiftier then the previous races. Thompson, Henry Wetherell and Beckett made the most of the opportunities to be the first boats around the windward mark in that order. Beckett passed Wetherell on the first run to move in to second while Thompson held the lead. The front three were well clear of the pack, and Chiavarini, once again, made great gains downwind to move from outside the top ten to fourth at the leeward mark. The race would finish with the leading positions unchanged.

Overall, Jack Wetherell won the weekend with Lorenzo Chiavarini second, Nick Thompson third, Anthony Parke fourth and Henry Wetherell fifth. Sam Whaley finished eighth overall to claim the first youth prize. Sunderland Yacht Club and the UKLA team did a fantastic job despite the challenging conditions. The next Laser Qualifier is being held at Paignton on 10–11 October.

Overall Results: (top three)

1st Jack Wetherell, 6pts
2nd Lorenzo Chiavarini, 8pts
3rd Nick Thompson, 10pts

Full results at www.kbsuk.com/laser/events/showrace.asp?EventID=77&RaceURL=%5Bresults%5D/sunderlandstd.2015nh.html