RC Laser Northern Summer Series and TT at Fleetwood Model Yacht Club
by Tony Wilson on 25 Jul
23 July 2017
A close watchful eye on the weather pattern leading up to this Laser contest was appearing to be a bit of a lucky dip, with every scenario thrown in. Light rain showers, unsure of wind direction, so what we were going to get on the day was going to be anyone's guess.
As I came around the corner onto the Fleetwood promenade you caught a glimpse of the lake and it looked flatter than a mill pond, but hey wait a minute there was a boat cruising along and it was our furthest traveller for the day John Armstrong from Mid Wales. 150 miles travelled each way, what a keen Laser skipper. We also had the Southport boys Skip and Colin from West Lanc's (Alan T. was away on holiday) and a handful of our local Fleetwood clan.
Our Laser captain Trevor had left provisions down at the clubhouse for us to tend for ourselves as he had some family commitments to see to, and also had a long drive in the opposite direction. After deciding on a suitable course we had a quick chat over the route to be taken and it was agreed for just a lap and a half in the light A rig conditions.
Eleven skippers took to the water and it was John from Wales that took the first win. We had our new member to Fleetwood John Sharman and Susan with us and it would be this John that we would consider the threat for the day. Finally the third John, John Plant turned up and must have thought it was the normal later club time start as he missed the first race, but don't count John P. out of the running as he knows the local water well.
Peter Isles although entered for the day was taking the scores in between racing, and as he had hurt his leg, decided to take it easy for the day and just assist and helping a few passer by potential newbies if they fancied a trial go with one of these fantastic boats.
By lunchtime it seemed to be working well with just the short course and we had managed six races. John Sharman was in the lead followed by Tony and then John Armitage in third.
After lunch break the wind had luckily got up and all had gone straight for the B rig. Again the same course and all that changed was the start line bias due to very slight wind fluctuations.
A well behaved pack of skippers gave us a complete number of 12 races by the end of the day.
John Sharman had won followed by Tony, although not actually winning any race but consistently keeping his scores in the top 5 and then in third place was Hugo Chandor.
It was a good day and the weather played to our favour.
Thanks to Peter Isles for taking on Race Officer and score duties.
As this was a double event, scoring can be found on both the Fairhaven and the main RC Laser sites. The next Northern event is in August at Ardleigh Sailing Club on Saturday 19th August (Near Colchester). Remember that to qualify for the league event and TTs you need three separate scores to count with at least one event at another club.
Top five results:
1. John Sharman, Burwain SC
2. Tony Wilson, Fleetwood MY&PBC
3. Hugo Chandor, Burwain SC
4. Garry Benson, Fleetwood MY&PBC
5. Skip Reasor, West Lancs SC