Laser 2000 Open at Lee-on-the-Solent Sailing Club

Laser 2000 Millennium Series at Lee on the Solent © LOSSC

There was much activity and anxiety at LOSSC as the upgrades to the Signal Station were completed just in time for the first Laser 2000 Millennium Series event of 2010, held over the bank holiday weekend 2-3 May. This effort was not in vain, with 28 teams making an equally commendable effort despite the poor weather forecast.

With the wind in the north east, launching was easy and conditions on the water appeared relatively benign. This proved not to be the case however, with wind against tide and a steady series of rain squalls of up 25 knots passing though the race area it soon became clear that the upwind legs would be a hard slog whilst the ride downwind often equalled the best from Alton Towers.

As a consequence there were several capsizes throughout the fleet, but big gains available for those that mastered the ‘long’ leg towards the shore followed by the shifts on the final approach to the windward mark. The afternoon’s racing was dominated however by Rob and Katie Burridge sailing the aptly named ‘Wet n’Wicked’ to three bullets, with ‘The Hawks’ (Miles & Anderley Wade) second in the overnight standings and ‘Student Loan’ (Graham Sexton and Kristine Harborne) third.

LOSSC arranged an excellent meal and programme of entertainment for Sunday evening which, despite all the strenuous activity, was well attended and much appreciated by both visitors and club members alike. (We won’t mention the prominent LOSSC member who promptly fell asleep on arriving home and missed the entire evening!)

The early weather forecasts for Monday had suggested much warmer and steadier conditions, but this was not to be the case. The sun struggled to appear after a bitterly cold night – especially for those hardy souls who were camping – and the revised forecast was essentially a repeat of Sunday. Nonetheless the vast majority of the assembled fleet launched and were pleasantly surprised by the easy ride out to the race area.

Needless to say these conditions did not last, with another series of ‘wet and wicked’ squalls, steadily increasing in ferocity throughout Races 4 and 5. Not surprisingly the majority of the fleet then headed for the shore with only five boats staying on for Race 6, desperately trying to salvage a half-decent result with only one discard available. The stories from this last race, shortened to two laps after a 30 knot hail squall hit and flattened the fleet (fortunately on the beat) will no doubt live on for some time, whilst those ashore took some consolation from having made the ‘right’ decision.

So at the end of a lively bank holiday weekend the leader board threw in a few surprises. ‘Wet n’Wicked’ changed down a gear but retained their dominant position overall, whilst ‘Amygo’ (Tim Hulley with Linda & Tim) managed to discard their Sunday misdemeanour to claim second. Team ‘BuzzB’ (Andy & Mark Baldwin) sailed consistently all weekend to take third place and ‘Where Beagles Dare’ (Andrew and Will Sloper) moved up several places after a good result in Race 6. ‘Rob Roy’ (James & Jenny Macgregor) also put in a sterling performance to claim their best ever Millennium Series result.

Our thanks go to LOSSC for arranging a great event and extending some excellent hospitality. Also thanks to our series sponsors LaserPerformance and to Noble Marine for supporting youth entries and training.

Overall Results: