RC Laser Spring Series Day 4 at Fleetwood Model Yacht Club
by Tony Wilson 23 May 2016 17:32 BST
22 May 2016
A pleasant day of 10-14mph winds seemed the perfect recipe for the 4th race day in the 5-part Spring Series for the Fleetwood Laser gang. Eric Reid was ahead on points from the last 3 outings, but all could change by the end of the day.
Derek Priestly, master of all sailing classes, had brought along his beloved 2014 Nationals winning boat for an airing.
A large rectangular course was decided by the mass and to be completed twice, covering 3/4 of the lake for each lap. The majority had chosen the B sails, while a few battled with A's, but this was just for the first race.
Derek, although winning the first race, unselfishly opted out to be Race Officer and re-jig the course. The same four buoys were used, but we had a crossover drawing a figure of eight pattern to make for a less boring sail.
After the third race, we were led to the club house for an object lesson on 'rounding the mark' (a good time to change down another suit as the wind was picking up). It seemed that a few hadn't quite understood that you may have gone past your intended buoy, drifted back, then continued, but had in effect unravelled. Derek P. kindly illustrated this by letting you imagine you were sailing as if you had a length of string trailing behind you and this string must complete the whole journey around the marks.
Lunchtime was called after a couple more races and, although not actually winning any races, Tony was now well ahead and this was even excluding the dropping of his first discard. Peter Isles was in second place despite having 2 firsts, but it was his bad scores that were letting him down.
The afternoon continued with an even mix of B and C Rigs. Tony, although more than happy with the smaller sail, felt he was slipping and needed a bit more cloth.
He replaced his former storm sail for his baggy 'B' but it was no match up to Peter's pristine favourite sail from his bag selection.
Tim Saam had been able to cadge a couple of goes of Trev's spare boat in the morning while Paul, also a Mustang sailor, had been loaned Derek's prize boat GBR 607 and had endured the full day.
At the end of the day it was Peter that had ruled. He had gained no fewer than 6 firsts from 12 races completed. This had now puts an interesting twist on the series, as we had four different skippers winning each event; Mike Parkington, Eric Reid, Jim Lydon and now Peter Isles on the list. The next event will be interesting as Peter now leads, but there is still everything to play for.
Day 4 Results: (top three)
1 Peter Isles
2 Tony Wilson
3 Eddie Greenwood
The last round in the series will be held next Sunday, 29th May 2016.