Laser Open at Sutton Bingham Sailing Club
by Chris Jones on 3 Oct
30 September 2017
Rob Dyer in fine form to win the Laser Standard Rig at Sutton Bingham © Saffron Gallagher
On Saturday 30 September 5 visitors joined 8 club members for the annual Laser Open Meeting at Sutton Bingham Sailing Club, which this year was a qualifying event for the South Coast and SW regions Grand Prix Series.
A moderate to fresh south south-westerly breeze blowing straight down the Halstock leg of the lake provided great sailing conditions and a good long beat followed by a series of runs, reaches and gybes. The three rig sizes: Standard, Radial and 4.7 raced together with a single start.
In the Standards, Rob Dyer demonstrated why his name already appears a couple of times on the trophy by hitting the front of the fleet early on in the first two races and extending his lead to win the event without needing to sail the final race. The battle for second was more closely contested with Chris Jones and Dan Newall fighting neck and neck all the way round the course, changing places several times during the first two races. It was Jones that came out on top in these exchanges, with close covering towards the finishes. Dyer sitting out the last race meant that Jones could not afford be complacent as Newall could still beat him with a win in the final race. A capsize at the bottom of the run, however, gave Newall too much to do to get back on terms with Jones who secured the race win and 2nd place overall with Newall in 3rd.
Kelsey Green, in spite of several capsizes, had the speed to beat Hollie Coleman in the first two races to take the Radial title.
The main contest in the 4.7 rigs was between Arther Farley and Max Robertson. In the opening race Farley led, but missed out passing through the finish gate on the penultimate lap allowing Robertson to take the win. Race two was closer and Robertson believed Farley, who won the race, hit a rounding mark. A protest was placed, but was lodged out of time, so the result stood undisputed. In the final race Farley sailed superbly to win by a good margin, beating several of the Standard Rig Lasers on the water to win the 4.7 fleet.
Overall Results:
Standards
1st Rob Dyer, Sutton Bingham SC
2nd Chris Jones, Sutton Bingham SC
3rd Dan Newall, Starcross YC
4th Pete Barnstable, Sutton Bingham SC
5th David Thomson, Sutton Bingham SC
Radials
1st Kelsey Green, Sutton Bingham SC
2nd Hollie Coleman, Sutton Bingham SC
4.7s
Arthur Farley, Royal Victoria SC
Max Robertson, Sutton Bingham SC
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