RC Laser Spring Series Day 1 at Fleetwood Model Yacht Club
by Tony Wilson 22 Mar 2016 06:45 GMT
20 March 2016
RC Lasers at Fleetwood © Tony Wilson
Sunday saw the launch of the four part series for Spring at Fleetwood's model boat lake. It was agreed that the best route around the buoys was a 'W' shape, using the whole lake walking up and down twice, just to give us all a good workout. The light airs 'A' rig were used on by all as the gentle breeze was only wafting at about 5mph.
Peter Isles was the winner of the first 2 races, then it was Mike Parkington's turn to win a couple. By lunch after these 4 races, there was only one point separating these two skippers and John Plant.
After a break for butties and a natter, we returned to using the 'A' rig for a couple more races. By about 2pm the wind picked up enough to threaten the appearance of the B sails. Only Garry Benson was actually quick enough to grab his smaller rig, and while others were still thinking about it, the 2 minute countdown had started again.
With Garry winning this next race, and the rest of the fleet doing the downwind 'A' rig ballet, it was time to downsize for all and rethink the course. We left out 2 of the marks and went for a simple full lake triangle, but in the opposite anticlockwise direction. Some opted to leapfrog the B sails and go straight for the C rig.
The remainder of the day kept pretty consistent in wind strength, with an even mixture of B and C outfits. The smaller, slimmer sail seemed to tack and make way upwind better, while the stubbier fatter B sail gained pace on the run.
Ten races were completed by just after 3pm, with the same 3 individuals that had dominated most of the day taking the top 3 podium spots.
The whole day had ten skippers complete all ten races with virtually no damage or hiccups - a minor elastic break if that counts.
Next race in a week's time.
Day 1 Results: (top three)
1st Mike Parkington
2nd Peter Isles
3rd John Plant
Spring Series Schedule:
- Spring 1 : 20th March 2016...Completed
- Spring 2 : 27th March 2016
- Spring 3 : 24th April 2016
- Spring 4 : 1st May (Laser Northerns)