Laser Open at Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club

Laser Open at Leigh & Lowton © Adam Klewin

Laser Open at Leigh & Lowton © Adam Klewin

Despite the busy summer schedule, 21 Lasers and a handful of 4.7s left over from a previous day's training entered the 2016 Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club Laser Open. A steady F3-4 westerly breeze offered a variety of courses including windward/leeward and reaching/blasting around the cans!

Race one developed into a battle between the top 3 of Haydn Griffiths, Hamish Gledhill and Charlotte Greenhalgh sailing a radial and easily matching the heavier full rig sailors. After 4 gruelling laps which included windward legs the length of the Flash, Hamish Gledhill took line honours with Haydn in second and Enterprise Champion Mark Lunn pulling through to third.

Following a refuel and a brew from the famous LnL galley, race two started in similar conditions, despite the gentle breeze on shore which convinced everyone their legs would be offered a rest. Haydn showed his superior upwind speed and led from start to finish. Charlotte, now in a full rig and battling upwind and zooming offwind, chased him hard and by the end of race 2 the pair had pulled a substantial lead on the rest of the fleet. Hamish added a third to his first in race one, setting up nicely a final race hike-off.

Laser Open at Leigh & Lowton - photo © Adam Klewin

Race three and a change of course to a windward leeward the length of the Flash offered greater opportunities for overtaking, despite the groans from a few who clearly want to reach and reach like ducks in a row! Gary Knott and his new blue ish boat (apparently all the new ones are going to be like this?!) finally nailed a start, he was spotted sailing backwards in the other two, and lead from the committee boat end. He was never really challenged, which was good for the race team as his sail numbers are impossible to read (211112 in italics). Charlotte finished a consistent series with another second and Stuart Belfield mastered the long run (remember he only likes reaching) to finish third.

After a lesson in Sailwave and the addition of a few missed competitors the results were in. Haydn Griffiths LLSC won counting a 1,2. Hamish Gledhill West Riding finished second with a 1,3 and Charlotte Greenhalgh LLSC finished fourth on the same points as Hamish, losing out on countback. Oliver Blackburn was first Laser Radial in ninth overall.

In the small but competitive 4.7 fleet, Tom Parkhurst from Beaver won all three races and was often pacing the bigger rigs upwind. Adam Din of Hollingworth Lake and Lewis Coop from LLSC rounded out the top three.

Laser Open at Leigh & Lowton - photo © Adam Klewin

At the prize giving, Hamish (first visitor) thanked the club for a well run event and offered Haydn a long sleeve rash vest – the arms appear to have fallen off his!

Overall Results: