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RC Laser N. District Champs at Fleetwood Model Yacht Club

by Colin Hartley 5 Oct 2010 11:58 BST 3 October 2010

Eleven boats made it to the 2nd RC Laser Northern District Championship at Fleetwood on 3rd October. We had hoped for a bigger turn out but given the torrential rain and little wind most skippers will have taken one look out of the window and gone back to bed!

Those slightly unhinged skippers who did make the trek to Fleetwood found light winds from a direction that made setting a decent course difficult. Race Officer Tom Pearsall and scorer Eric Watkinson made the most of the conditions by setting the best course possible and making course alterations during the day to accommodate changes in wind direction.

As the morning progressed the racing became closer and closer as skippers started to master the light weather conditions. It was common for half a dozen boats to be contesting the best position at a mark and the final leg to the finish line could be nerve rackingly close with only centimetres separating boats. As is usual in this class rule observance was very good and where occasional collisions occurred penalties were accepted without argument.

Mid fleet racing was highly competitive; only 8 points separated the 4th, 5th and 6th places of Colin Hartley, Richard Price and Damian Chisholm. Andy Kissick pushed hard with some good consistent results but such was the standard at the top of the fleet this only merited him 3rd place.

By lunchtime most of the skippers looked as though they had been swimming in the lake and they retired to the club house cold and hungry and ready for hot drinks and changes of clothing.

By the start of the afternoon session the rain had eased slightly and was later to die away. That was the good news - the bad news was that what little wind there was also dropped. Constant sail adjustments between races were essential to tease the last bit of power from the rigs to get a few inches ahead of opponents.

Adam Kissick finally got to grips with the conditions and produced his best results of the day, including three 1st places. However his late run of form wasn’t enough to catch Dave Fowler who won the event for the 2nd year running.

The Northern District Championship will return to Fleetwood on 2nd October 2011 when competitors will do their best to wrest the trophy off Dave Fowler.

Fleetwood Travellers Trophy Event results

1. Dave Fowler, Kingsmill, 11 pts
2. Adam Kissick, Preston, 19 pts
3. Andy Kissick, Preston, 26 pts
4. Colin Hartley, Fleetwood, 38 pts
5. Richard Price, Fleetwood, 44 pts
6. Damian Chisholm, West Lancs, 46 pts
7. Skip Reaser, West Lancs, 52 pts
8. John Plant, Fleetwood, 57 pts
9. Alan Tickle, West Lancs, 62 pts
10. Fred Robinson, Fleetwood, 76 pts
11. Tom Walton, Fleetwood, 104 pts

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