Sailingfast and Noble Marine ILCA 7 open meeting at Weymouth & Portland Sailing Academy

Sailingfast and Noble Marine ILCA 7 open meeting at Weymouth © WPNSA

A smaller than usual fleet arrived at WPNSA expecting more wind than was actually on the water; twelve ILCA 7 sailors launched in a shifty and gusty 6-12 knots. Starting next to a large cruise ship on the race course in the south eastern part of the harbour under Portland Bill led to some difficult races to keep consistency.

In race 1 it was a battle for the committee boat end with Dan McGaughey coming out on top. One by one each sailor tacked onto port to hitch into the pressure on the right-hand side. It wasn't as simple as banging the right corner however, and playing the shifts on the right-hand side was vital with James Foster coming out on top and leading at the windward mark.

A difficult reach and downwind searching for the pressure saw the fleet spread out and on the second beat big gains were made by several sailors including Kai Wolgram and Jack Hopkins who flipped their leeward mark roundings around to be in a couple comfortable positions at the second windward leg. Their gains were helped by being on the right side of a big left-hand shift. Foster was able to hold on for a comfortable win, rarely being challenged for the race lead. Kai Wolgram's impressive second beat saw him claim third place in race 1.

Race 2 saw priorities change with a battle this time for the pin end. The first start was abandoned with 30 seconds to go due to a big left-hand shift coming in at 4 minutes to go and not swinging back right - the sailors were joking around practising their port hand flyers! Jack Hopkins won the pin end with Finley Dickinson above and possibly judging the lay line slightly better. Jake Farren-Price was off to a great start also and himself and Hopkins were showing some speed on the upwind leading the way onto the reach.

The wind was still veering left so a bad start was hard to come back from. Jake made some slight gains on the second beat giving himself a little breathing room over Hopkins with a chasing pack behind.

On the final downwind there appeared to be more wind on the left-hand side looking downwind, with five out the leading six heading that side. The one competitor to go to the right-hand side was Jack Hopkins who made the gains as the others tripped over themselves by giving each other dirty wind. At the leeward mark Hopkins had a reasonable gap over Angus Kemp with Finley Dickinson and Jake Farren-Price hot on Angus' heals. However, all three sailed the final reach a bit too high with Ben Flower able to scab his way past and take second behind Hopkins who was first over the water.

Going into the final race of the day there was still a lot to play for as there was no discard for the event written in the Sailing Instruction so nothing was guaranteed. Even though it is now mid-May the sailors were getting cold waiting for the start and it was important to stay warm and make sure to keep an eye on the priorities for the next race.

Sailingfast and Noble Marine ILCA 7 open meeting at Weymouth - photo © WPNSA

Once again it was pin bias with Finley Dickinson winning the pin with Jake Farren-Price rolling over the top of Flower. Farren-Price showed his speed once again leading at the windward mark from Finley Dickinson, once again a bad start was hard to come back from with the left side of the course being the place to go and the leaders both came from the pin. Once again it was a patchy and shifty downwind so looking back and spotting the pressure was key and not sailing too far away from the run line was also important as being stranded on a side would lead to the possibility of struggling to get back in. Farren-Price and Dickinson were fighting it out for the win with Foster, Kemp, Hopkins and Charlie South in hot pursuit.

With most the fleet deciding to try and work the left-hand side there was a lot of tactical warfare. However, the big gains were made by the sailors going up the right-hand side of the course, Kai Wolgram was one of these sailors flipping his leeward mark rounding into an impressive windward mark rounding. With rain imminent again the final downwind had a dying breeze, Farren-Price extended his lead over Dickinson to have a comfortable lead heading into the final reach back to the committee boat to finish.

However, carnage was about to ensue as the ILCA 7 sailors reaching on port to the line saw the race committee were starting the ILCA 6 sailors! There were a few shouts from the starboard ILCA 6 sailors, but all were able to avoid each other with results not being affected when all is said and done.

Overall, it was great to be back racing with nearly seven months off for most the competitors. Thanks to the UKLA and WPNSA for hosting the event and our sponsors Noble Marine Insurance and Sailingfast for providing the prizes, we all look forward to the next event.

Overall Results: