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