Laser Open at Fishers Green Sailing Club

Fishers Green Laser Open © Claire Chown

Saturday the 15th of July saw a combined Laser and Cadet open at Fishers Green Sailing Club. A number of parents who brought their children to the Cadet open decided to either bring their own Laser or charter a club one, so we ended up with 24 Lasers on the water in what was a bright day with a small amount of cloud and a moderate breeze blowing from the south west.

Race Officer Colin Hill ably assisted by Alan Appleton had their work cut out for them with 4 races for each of the two fleets. The wind was shifting between a westerly and a southerly making the first beat difficult to set: a long start line was the order of the day and due the shape of the lake 2 beats were needed. The intention was for three 15 minute laps which would allow the Cadets starting 5 minutes after the Lasers to do 2 laps in a similar time.

Race 1 got away cleanly with the fleet spread over the whole start line. The first beat showed the competitors that whoever mastered the shifts upwind would be at the front end of the fleet. Much place changing occurred over the whole course with the results at the end of each lap different to the previous lap. A few stronger gusts were always present to catch some out whilst providing decent planning conditions for others. Local top sailor Matthew Aldous-Horne was in the lead at the end of lap 2, but lost it to visitor Daniel Wigmore on the last lap for a fairly close finish. In third place was Adam Meekings with James Leeming in 4th, setting the pattern for the rest of the day.

Fishers Green Laser Open - photo © Claire Chown

With another boat joining the fleet we were now up to 24 boats on the water. Same course for Race 2, but a right shift just before the start made the pin end of the line biased: a large group formed on the starboard end but only one boat was over the line. Thankfully he was well aware of it and came back to start again and was back in the race in no time. With similar place changing as the first race throughout the fleet, the top 4 were the same as in race 1 but with slightly different finishing places.

After a quick lunch break, Race 3 got underway with a slightly modified course as the wind was now steadily in the South West: using a temporary mark as the windward mark the RO helped keep the fleet away from the tree lined shore in clearer wind. First to the windward mark was Jamie Mears in a chartered club boat. This time Matthew got swallowed up on the first beat and rounded in the teens, but immediately went low on the first reach to get clear air. Whilst the leaders luffed each other on the western shore, Matthew and Daniel were running by the lee (on opposite tacks, but only a couple of boat lengths away from each other!) and got to the next mark of the course in the lead. Matthew made no mistakes this time and held the lead to the finish from Daniel in second, followed by Jamie Mears and Aaron Chadwick in 4th.

Fishers Green Laser Open - photo © Claire Chown

On to the 4th race and the wind looked like it had gone back to the west so everyone opted for a pin end start: with about 5 seconds to go a couple of boats were over the line so everyone thought they might as well go for it resulting in the inevitable general recall. As per the briefing the Cadets started on time, so the Lasers had to wait a further 5 minutes for the restart. The fleet got away cleanly this time with Matthew and Daniel again fighting each other for the lead which again changed places a number of times. As time was getting on now the RO decided to finish the race after 2 laps which found Daniel and Matthew very close to each other at the leeward mark. They decided to push each other as hard as possible finishing the race off with a tacking duel all the way to the line with Daniel keeping his cool to take the win by a couple of feet. Adam Meekings finished third to give him the third place overall.

A special mention is due to Jack Graham-Troll who completed all 4 races in his Laser 4.7 and looked spectacular reaching in the gusts. Also worth mentioning is Aaron Chadwick who finished 5th overall with two 4th places in a battered old club Laser demonstrating superbly that the equipment bears no relation to the results.

Overall Results: